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malibusurfsidenews.com election 2018
Malibu surfside news | October 18, 2018 | 11
SMMUSD Board of Education (Five for four seats)
Name: Oscar de la
Torre *
Age: 47
Occupation:
Founder/CEO,
Pico Youth and
Family Center
Elected Political Experience:
President of SMMUSD Board
of Education (2007-08) and 16
years of public service on the
SMMUSD Board of Education
Why are you running for a
seat on the SMMUSD Board
of Education?
As the first person in my family
to graduate from high school
and complete a master’s degree,
I understand that public education
is the most important institution
to reconcile social and
economic inequality. I am running
for re-election ... to continue
[to expand] access and opportunity
to an excellent public
education.
I want to ensure our schools
are safe [and] ... continue [to
close] the achievement gap. I
want to see more innovation in
our curriculum so students are
engaged and better prepared for
[their] careers. ... Finally, I want
to be a voice for [those] not represented
in our school district. ...
[Response truncated for exceeding
word count.]
What makes you the best candidate
for this position?
I am the only candidate that
is a former student and employee
of our school district.
In 1990, I was elected by my
peers as student body president
at Santa Monica High. Many
of my friends lived in Malibu. I
was also co-captain of the football
team and this has made me
a strong supporter of athletics
and team sports. I am also the
founder of a youth center, the
Pico Youth and Family Center,
that has served hundreds of underserved
youth in our community.
As a former counselor at
Santa Monica High and current
executive director of a youth
center, my commitment to serving
our youth is personal and
sincere. I am also a father of two
boys who both attend SMMUSD
schools so I provide a needed
and unique perspective to school
governance.
What are the Top 3 issues you
see facing the district, and
what would you do to solve
them?
1. Closing the academic
achievement gap: We need to
ensure that we have the best
teachers and staff. High quality
instruction and early intervention
for struggling students is
key. We need to increase parent
engagement and align our
in school teaching with after
school, summer school and enrichment
programs that are offered
by the various nonprofits
that serve our students.
2. Improving our food program:
We need to ensure that our
cafeterias are equipped to provide
fresh and nutritious meals to
our students. Healthy meals build
healthy minds. We need to learn
from other countries who have
made this positive change away
from food programs over-reliant
on cheap food, box cutters, microwaves
and can openers.
3. Greater accountability
and transparency: Public
schools must view parents as
partners. Every community has
a right to self determination and
local control of their public institutions,
especially the schools
that their children attend. I
am proud of my record of putting
students first and standing
on principle for what is right. I
have a successful track record
of making government work
for the people and I appreciate
your vote to continue my advocacy
on behalf of our students,
parents and teachers. For more
information, or to donate to my
campaign, please visit www.
vote4oscar.com. Thank you!
* denotes incumbent candidate
Name: Craig Foster *
Age: 60
Occupation:
Teacher/School
Board member
Elected Political
Experience:
School board
member since 2014 (one term)
Why are you running for a seat
on the SMMUSD Board of Education?
Education is my passion, specifically
ensuring all children
in our district receive excellent
preparation for college and career
in a physically and emotionally
safe environment full of relevant
and engaging opportunities
for growth. After completing my
master’s degree in teaching and
receiving my teaching credential
I had a choice to continue teaching
or to work to make public
education better for all students.
I have been honored to serve the
11,000 students of SMMUSD
these last four years. With your
support, I hope and intend to
continue to do so in the next four
years.
What makes you the best candidate
for this position?
As a parent with a child in our
schools, a teacher and a School
Board member, I am exceptionally
qualified to serve our Santa
Monica-Malibu communities.
Driven by my passion for public
education, I work every day
for our students and staff with
all my heart and skills. As your
board member, I have helped
create a shared vision with my
colleagues, district leadership
and our communities. Together,
we have expanded opportunities
so that every child in our district
is better prepared for college
and fulfilling employment. I am
proud to stand with all my fellow
incumbents; we have forged
a solid team and taken important
steps on this extremely important
task.
FOR RATES & INFORMATION
Call708.326.9170
What are the Top 3 issues you
see facing the district, and what
would you do to solve them?
1) Preparing each child in
the district for success in college
and career, 2) ensuring our
students (and their families) are
provided a learning environment
and a community that is both
physically and emotionally safe,
and 3) moving our children’s
educations to the forefront of
the growing 21st Century Education
movement, preparing our
students in innovative, thoughtful,
proven ways for success in a
world that is changing at an extraordinary
pace.
In my four years on the School
Board, I have worked hard and
passionately for our two communities’
shared goals.
In the hiring of Dr. Ben Drati
and in supporting his vision for
SMMUSD, we have moved the
district in a very positive direction.
We have created our vision of
SMMUSD’s 21st Century Educational
practices and empowered
teachers and administrators
to help lead the district in this essential
evolution.
We have implemented nationleading
Social Justice standards,
Restorative Justice and Olweus
Anti-bullying programs, and
American Cultures and Ethnic
Studies curricula.
We have implemented a quarterly
reporting cycle of leading
and lagging annual indicators of
success regarding both our process
and outcome goals.
We have hired new heads of
Community Outreach and Data
Analysis to provide expertise
and leadership for these critical
initiatives.
We have set board coherence
and focus as a goal for ourselves,
with already demonstrated success
in improved deliberation
and decision-making and shortened
meeting length.
We have worked together
to find shared solutions which
largely resolve the issues of
PCBs and Malibu unification.
We have worked as a Malibu
community to discuss, refine,
and implement a series of extremely
positive and muchneeded
changes to Malibu’s
schools.
There is much more of importance
to say but, in short, I ask
your continued trust and support
of me as I run again to be Malibu’s
sole representative on the
SMMUSD School Board.
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word count.]
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