MUSD Board Candidates Face Off
By Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou, EGP Staff Writer
Two challengers and three incumbents are seeking votes in the Montebello Unified School District, which has three seats open on Nov. 3.
While incumbents point to their successful tenures, which they say have resulted in a 91 percent graduation rate and a 95 percent attendance rate, one challenger has called such statistics into question, saying the district is still in dire need of improvement.
While the district has yet to make any layoffs, a potential worsening of the budget crisis also looms on the horizon, according to many candidates from both the challenger and incumbent camps.
Each candidate for the MUSD board seats responded to a questionnaire and follow-up questions from EGP. Here is some of what they said about themselves (in alphabetical order):
Incumbent Hector Chacon, 42, president of a public and governmental relations company, is the longest-running board member with sixteen years. He first ran for the board during a previous period of financial instability, when the district was on the “verge of bankruptcy,” an experience that he says is valuable for taking on the budget dilemmas that face school districts today. As a parent of an MUSD student, he says he also makes his decisions from the parent’s perspective. He says he led the two districts toward two successful bond efforts, and pushed for more rigorous academic standards during his tenure. He says he has been a “staunch advocate” for higher graduation rates. He is also an advocate for safety in schools, and says that during his time on the board, the district obtained a public safety grant that he asked staff to seek out.
Incumbent Edwin “Ed” Chau, 52, is an attorney with a varied career in the fields of engineering and public service. As an incumbent with 10 years on the board, his top priorities if re-elected are to keep a balanced budget for the district, provide safe schools, and improve student achievement. Chau, who immigrated from Hong Kong and attended Belmont High School in the LAUSD, believes education is a “great equalizer.” He has received a “great deal of education” himself, and wants “[MUSD] students to experience the same.” If re-elected, he would place his immediate attention on monitoring, assessing and implementing solutions in the MUSD schools that have been flagged by the federal government for “Program Improvement,” and to place English Language Learner programs as a top priority whenever money becomes available in the budget. He believes there is no “one-size fits all” solution to improving student achievement, and looks to not only conventional methods, but also to allowing school principals to try more creative and individualized ways of reaching students.
Incumbent Gerri Guzman, 52, a grant writer and substance abuse counselor, says her background and experience in grant writing will help, and has helped, the district in identifying and securing funds. Her top priorities are to balance the district budget and to increase student achievement. Her approach to education includes addressing the “peer and social pressures” that affects how students perform in school, as well as developing the students’ skills in “civic responsibility” and “strong character development.” She says she wants to focus programs on not just the student’s academic performance, but also their skills in music, art, leadership or sports. She wants to take ideas that have worked in some schools, such as teaching parents English that they can use to tutor their own students, to help improve performance in the district’s “Program Improvement” schools.
Challenger Carlos Illingworth, 28, a public affairs and government relations manager for Vons, challenged the accuracy of the district’s graduation rate, reported by incumbents as 91 percent. He says the district needs to do more in preparing students for A-G requirements of the University of California school system. Illingworth, who kicked off his campaign in March with a roundtable meeting with MUSD students, has placed an emphasis on students taking responsibility over their own education. He says as a district board member, he would work to engage and empower students to take on more academically challenging goals. His top priorities include making sure tax-payer money is used efficiently, improving student achievement especially in “key academic areas” and “expanding college and career preparatory programs” and bringing more community and parents participation into the schools.
Challenger Mary Lou Saavedra, 71, has served on the California School Personnel Commission to which she was appointed by appointed by State Superintendent Jack O’Connell in 2001 and is a long-time follower of the direction of the school district. Her background is in serving as an employee of MUSD, where she was the administrative secretary in the Pupil & Community Services division. Saavedra says she wants to facilitate communication and to serve as a representative and advisor for people who bring issues to the district. She believes parents have the power to improve their children’s education and wants to convey this message to them. Her job would be to listen to the ideas and concerns of parents at board meetings: “There are lot of parents who need to bring forward their problems,” she says. In particular, she believes Special Education should receive more funding.
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October 29, 2009 Copyright © 2009 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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