Issues & Solutions

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Fiscal chaos with Measure E funds and organizational failure.

• We must administer measure E funds with accountability and oversight.(view BH countersuit file)
• We need to bring back experienced and highly qualified professionals with integrity in order to rebuild our schools.

A revolving door in our school district with 8 superintendents in 10 years.

We must hire an experienced and highly qualified superintendent who will select competent educational leaders to achieve the objectives set forth in a new Mission Statement.(view other school's mission statements)

• We presently have a Mission Statement in our district that does not mention academic excellence.
• We must rewrite our Mission Statement whose chief goal is academic excellence and achievement.

Beverly Hills has entered Basic Aid status. Our district will become the first district in Los Angeles County self-funded by local resident property tax dollars. The district has projected 518 non-resident Opportunity Permit students which will utilize over 6 million dollars in local tax payer funds for the 2009-2010 school year.

• We must notify opportunity permit parents as soon as possible that permits will be phased out.

The Academic Performance Index (API) scores have been trending downward for the last 10 years.  In 2007, Beverly Hills High School was ranking 118th in API score in the state.

New API scores were released Sept 15 that reflected marginal increases for all but one BHUSD School. We need to thank our teachers and students for this improvement.  

However, after years of steadily declining API scores, we cannot be satisfied with these recent incremental increases. We need to do much more to ensure exceptional academic achievement for our children.

To use one comparative example, San Marino High School scored 935 while BHHS scored 847 after the most recent increase of 42 in API. Districtwide, the disparity is 88 points, with an API of 874 for BHUSD and 952 for SMUSD.  
 
I am the only candidate for Beverly Hills School Board with a comprehensive six point plan to return BHUSD to excellence. The comprehensive approach that I am pledging to pursue is the only way we can consistently raise our API scores every year.  

• We must raise our API scores district wide with a collaborative effort between teachers, principals & administration.

Poorly maintained campuses including our new $40M science building at the high school.

Photos of Situation at BHHS

I am going to implement a community volunteer commitee to "walk" each campus on a monthly basis with maintenance and operation staff, disctrict representatives and a school board member. The clean and safe findings will be posted on a website devoted to maintaining clean and safe campuses charting a "to do" list and a "completed" list.

As a life-long resident, parent of children in our district, successful business owner, community activist and alumnus of our high school, I am the candidate who can effect the necessary changes and get our district back on track.

For the past 5 years, teacher morale has plummeted.

• Teachers have been leaving our district in record numbers, to work in a more competitive and welcoming environment.
• We are losing our best and brightest, and this is detrimental to our students.
• The relations between the School Board and the faculty have been contentious and unproductive for the last several years.

Teachers are the foundation of any successful educational institution.

• The district should actively recruit and retain the most qualified teachers.
• Our teachers should be given a voice in all curricular based matters that affect learning in the classroom
• They are on the front lines of educating our children. They must have a voice. We need open, constructive and respectful dialogue amongst our school board, administrators, and teachers.
• Parents and teachers make all the difference.

Teachers are the cornerstone of academic excellence. As the recent "Get Schooled" symposium sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation stated repeatedly, good teachers are the secret ingredient in any high performing school. Within BHUSD, we must work to make our teachers the best that they can be, and we must ensure that they are fully compensated for their hard work.

Lisa is endorsed by Beverly Hills Education Association and the Municipal League of Beverly Hills.