Preparing Students for Success

By Jeanie M. Nishime

Our state budget crisis threatens the educational quality of our schools. Preparing our students to succeed whether they choose a college or career pathway will take a Board with diverse experiences and proven leadership ability.

We need to deal with this issue on several fronts from recruiting permit students from other districts to broadening the support of parents and soliciting additional support from the business community through our Educational Foundation. We're fortunate to have a close relationship with the City which allocates a portion of their budget to the schools. It is those relationships which will help us get through the difficult budget times that lay ahead of us. Relationships I will continue to cultivate as a member of the Board.

I just returned from Washington DC where I and 30 other college leaders had the opportunity to discuss the President's College Completion Agenda with Undersecretary of Education, Martha Kanter. The agenda is an ambitious one + 60% of adults completing some degree of college by 2020. One of the ways to accomplish this goal is to better align the high school curriculum with what is expected at the college level so that students can get through the process in a timely manner whether they're looking for career and technical training or a BA degree. Our kids are living in a different world today where global competition means that 2/3 of all jobs in the future will require some college training.

But I also realize that not all students are interested in going to college and they should have choices as well. AB1330 was just signed by the governor and provides high school students the option of using a career technical education (CTE) course to fulfill the existing high school requirement to take a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. I believe the implementation of this bill will give students choices that are important to those choosing a vocational pathway rather than a collegiate BA path.

We are fortunate to have 3 current members of the Board who have come up through the PTA and a former Superintendent who knows El Segundo schools very well. However, diversity of experiences and points of view are needed on the Board to keep our schools on track to meet the goals of college completion and career readiness. One of the reasons I have chosen this time to run for the El Segundo School Board is because I want to use my experience and skills to make a difference and to assure that this generation of students is not short-changed by the fiscal climate during which they happen to be in school. By the time students get to high school, it's too late to begin planning for the future; planning needs to happen in elementary school and middle school to set the path for success. As a former counselor and dean of counseling, student success has been my passion throughout my career. I want all students to have the opportunity to choose well and to achieve their dreams.