• In the near future, a large segment of the current teaching corps will reach retirement, and it is of critical importance that our school system finds ways to attract passionate and intelligent applicants to replace the veterans that have done so much for this system. We will need to address issues surrounding teacher certification programs if we want to attract qualified non-traditional teachers.

•One of the primary duties of the Board is to set state academic standards The board must be sure that the city is offering enough student assesment so that students can demonstrate knowledge of material without our schools becoming “testing factories”.

• There has been much focus in recent years on preparing students for standardized tests. It is also important that we determine what is “essential” knowledge so that our teachers can prepare students for exams, while focusing on depth rather than breadth.

• The Board has recently been creating standards for the arts, PE and languages. It is important that these subjects are not ignored to focus on testing. We want our students to be well-rounded, healthy and engaged citizens.

•Getting more children to enroll in preschool programs will be a great investment for our future. The board needs to set policies to make certain we have world class pre-school programs.

• DC has great parents! The Board needs to find ways to increase outreach especially among families who are not sure how to get involved.

•The Board needs to be sure that the city is contracting tutoring services and programs that offer challenging academic achievement standards.

•The board needs to ensure that the schools are meeting “Adequate Yearly Progress”. To accomplish this, the board will need to effectively target two testing “subgroups” that most typically fall short — ESL and special needs students.

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