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There are many good ideas to augment our children’s classroom experiences, but I believe three stand out:
- First, fiscal responsibility is critical at this time of tight budgets. We need to carefully consider the things that we need versus the things that we want. We need to establish priorities and find creative ways to fund important projects. As a member of the board of education, I will take the responsibility of spending hard-earned tax payer dollars seriously.
- Second, we need to address teacher attraction and retention. We need to actively attend college job fairs, and seriously consider offering the best candidates open contracts in the late spring. We also need to find ways to retain teachers since a high percentage are eligible or will soon be eligible for retirement. Involving teachers in decisions at all levels will increase job satisfaction. Highly satisfied teachers will want to work beyond their retirement age, which will help curb a mass exit.
- Third, we need to carefully create a long-term plan for our aging school facilities countywide. At this time, as we experience a slowdown in growth, we need to evaluate the buildings in our school system carefully. We need to engage in long-term planning to ensure that needs are met systemwide, and that renovations, additions, and modernizations are a priority. Finally, at this time of limited resources, we need to find creative ways--through ventures such as business partnerships and grants--to help achieve our goals.
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