To the editor:
Thanks to all who serve on the school board or step up to run for a seat on the board. Your willingness to serve is admirable. You have my sincere appreciation, but this Tuesday Eddie Diaz will have my vote for Perry School Board.
You can easily find information about Eddie and his platform online. He has a passion for education and the planks in his platform are: 1) family engagement, 2) academic rigor and 3) recruitment, retention and development of high-quality teachers.
Hard to argue with any of those if our goal is what’s best for students.
While I was already familiar with Eddie’s experience and leadership, the forum sponsored by ThePerryNews.com allowed me to learn more about Eddie’s fitness for the role.
Eddie knows how to effectively bring diverse perspectives together in order to get the largest positive impact for students. More folks at the table creates better solutions and increased buy-in. He envisions a role for the board beyond policy creation, fiscal responsibility and superintendent choice, to include building upon and widening the village of support and advocacy for our kids.
Everyone who touches the school system needs to be engaged and driving toward the same challenging goals to continually improve the school system and the education provided to our children. Eddie is driven to help every child and work toward equity for all students.
He is determined to attract and keep high-quality teachers who are skilled in adjusting and individualizing their approaches to students’ unique needs. He has creative ideas about how to provide incentives that create a culture in which teachers are respected and can thrive—providing the best results for students, families and the community.
He advocates staying connected with Perry graduates who pursue degrees in education and providing incentives for them to return to the community. Pay is important, but it’s beyond pay — it’s being heard, appreciated and involved.
This is a non-partisan race. In making your choices, focus on what is most critical for the success of our students and our community: 1) families who are engaged with the school because the school board has fostered ways to make this happen, 2) high expectations for every student and every employee of the district, providing resources and support and holding everyone accountable to those standards and 3) providing students with the highest-quality teachers possible and fostering a culture that develops and retains them.
Vote Nov. 2. As Eddie said at the forum, the real work takes place after the election. Eddie has demonstrated that he can seek out and listen to all stakeholders, widening the net of voices that are engaged and heard and resulting in more effective solutions.
Laura Stebbins
Perry
