AUSD’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) Round Table Questionnaire

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THIS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: HERE

QUESTION 1: Why are you running for the AUSD Board of Education?
My first adult career was in education, and though I have maintained connections to it since leaving the classroom, I have wanted to get more involved, especially locally, for some time. I have been deeply rooted in early childhood and addressing the need for early identification and feel that I have a place in making the connection to K-12 in recognizing the critical aspect of addressing needs in 3-5 year olds, to make sure they are kindergarten ready.

I have spent the better part of a decade being involved in local politics, volunteering, civic engagement, and this feels like the right next step for me. My background in SpEd, and the time I’ve spent on Girls Inc. of Island City board and Alameda’s Open Government Commission and the years working in childhood education advocacy have pointed me in this direction.

As the parent of two teenagers in Alameda schools, I am devoted to public education, and passionate about continuing to build a district of equity, inclusion, excellence, and innovation. I know families can be frustrated by systems that are meant to support them and have learned to ask of every proposal: which children will benefit, which will be left out, and which will be negatively impacted if this proposal passes?

I am ready day one to begin working for the district. I am prepared for the challenging discussions and decisions ahead, and will listen to stakeholders every step of the way.

QUESTION 2: What qualifications and experience would you bring to the Board that will help you serve AUSD families?
My entire professional career with Seneca Family of Agencies, Edison Learning, and First 5 Association, complimented by serving on the Girls Inc. of the Island City board, has been focused on improving the well-being of children, ensuring they have the strongest start in life and getting the support they need to thrive physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. I am a former special education teacher with a focus on moderate to severe disabilities and a deep understanding of early childhood development.

QUESTION 3: What are the three most important issues that you think currently impacts AUSD families, and how will you address them?

1. Special Education: Almost 25% of Special Education students identify as API (not including the multi-enthnic students). And 25% of SpEd students don’t graduate every year in AUSD.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion in education means better serving students with unique learning needs. One of my top priorities will be working with families, students, teachers, paraprofessionals, and AUSD district staff to improve special education services in Alameda. Few are satisfied with the current situation. Attempts to provide a greater sense of inclusion have resulted in parents reporting their children are made to feel different and they are still not receiving the services they need. Some Special Education teachers and paraprofessionals do not feel they or their students are properly supported. This is even more apparent during COVID-19, where many Special Education students are not just experiencing learning loss but are most likely regressing in their goals. Special education services comprise a sizable portion of the AUSD budget. If I am elected, I will lead efforts to prioritize putting these critical resources to use in a way that everyone agrees is best for students and teachers.

SOLUTIONS:
○ Recruiting and retaining qualified teachers and staff: ⅓ of our teachers were not credentialed last year. Currently we are fully staffed, but need to put meaningful district-wide supports in place to retain them. Increased opportunities for staff to collaborate and develop best practices is one step in the right direction.
○ Creating a culture of acceptance throughout the district so that our SpEd students, families, teachers and staff have a sense of belonging and are included in more day-to-day educational experiences and learning opportunities. Special Education is a service that is meant to support students whose learning styles are different from those used in the typical classroom setting, and to provide them with an equitable educational experience. Many Special Education teaching methods are grounded in practices that also benefit general education students. By encouraging this recognition, we can start to break down stigma and barriers often associated with SpEd and recognize it for the service it is meant to provide, rather than being a “place” where students are sent.
○ Ensuring greater service and communication consistency across the district to reduce impact of transition/change and promote greater predictability of what service delivery looks like.

2. Early Education: Pre-Kindergarten to 2nd grade: According to the National Literacy Project, almost 4 out of 10 children arrive at kindergarten without the skills necessary for lifetime learning.
The transition to kindergarten can be daunting for families, students and staff. It is sometimes a child’s first interaction with school or a classroom environment. The inequities some of our families experience are clear on day one in kindergarten and our teachers and staff in those grades are our frontline in recognizing gaps and finding support for those students. Too often, learning gaps in young students are overlooked and optimistically dismissed with the hope they have time to “catch up”. I don’t want the school district to wait until students take the state tests in 3rd grade to begin to fix the gaps. Early identification of the needs and proper support are huge cost saving measures for students down the
road. My current work at the First 5 Association has shown me that early identification of developmental concerns and connections to needed interventions can improve educational outcomes for students and also reduce the time a child receives special education services. This is a win win for families and the district.

SOLUTIONS:
○ Early Identification of students in need of Pre-K support: Pushing our resources upstream into the earliest years possible, when interventions are less costly, more effective, and yield greater long-term outcomes, will be critical as we take a hard look at our fiscal flexibilities and limitations over the next several years.
○ Better communication between early care and education providers with Elementary
teachers: Creating communication and relationship building opportunities to ensure teachers have the necessary information to best understand the strengths and needs of their incoming students, including interventions that have already been implemented.
○ Increase participation of new families in AUSD Orientation: Having a strategic communications and outreach plan that exhausts all avenues to ensure participation in orientation activities so that families are informed about AUSD.
○ Work with the city to continue and/or develop partnerships with organizations like Girls Inc Island City, Alameda Point Collaborative, Alameda Family Services in order to build out and enhance opportunities for broader community-based support and services available to those families whose children do not quality for mandated services through Regional Centers and SELPAs.

3. Equity & School Parity and Addressing Bias: In a 2018 California Healthy Kids Survey - only 65% of Alameda’s 9th and 11th graders felt safe at school.
When it comes down to it, I want a school district that builds confident leaders and that uplifts students who are furthest from their educational goals in safe, welcoming educational environments. I want AUSD to live up to its motto of “Everybody Belongs Here” by championing policies and procedures that truly reflect these words, not just as a motto but as a culture. A culture where students and families of all structures, races, ethnicities and abilities have a voice, where they feel included, and where they have access to the same technology, classes, resources and innovations no matter which end of the island they live on or which school they attend.

SOLUTIONS:
○ Continuing current programs and training in Restorative Practices, Anti-bias education, and Universal Design for Learning.
○ Looking to innovation and best practices: I think COVID-19 has provided us with an opportunity to explore some innovative ways that we could address these issues, such as harnessing the use of technology to open up learning opportunities to students district wide. For example, if foriegn language classes are not offered at Wood Middle School, those students could potentially participate online in a class offered at Lincoln.
○ We also need to be listening to and following the lead of our own youth, who have made it clear that anti-racism must be a core value within our district and our community. So many youth leaders have been organizing and demanding change. Their voices need to be empowered, uplifted and taken seriously.

4. How will you ensure that AUSD adequately serves its many diverse communities, including Asian Pacific Islander students and families?
I want all my decisions to be thoughtful, well-researched, data-driven and culturally responsive. Guided always with a lens of equity, inclusion, excellence and innovation. It is a complex balancing act to make sure one is not lost to the other. These are more than just “buzz” words for me, as I have been working to address the needs of California’s diverse communities for the last 20 years and consider them to be central to how I approach the various conversations that come into my personal and professional life.
I believe the school board member’s role is to ensure the district’s actions, budgets, policies, and guidance are reflective of the districts and community’s values and priorities; and to advocate on behalf of all the children the district is serving. School board members should be willing to work with one another, even
through disagreement in order to set the tone and the direction necessary to achieve the goals set forth by the district and in adherence to CDE guidance.

And finally, the school board should be responsible and responsive to the needs of stakeholders, providing opportunities for engagement and being mindful and purposeful in ensuring Alameda’s diverse populations receive equitable attention from the board members to better understand needs.

5. How will you ensure that you are accessible to AUSD students and families, including families whose first language is not English?
In order for a school board to be truly effective it must engage with stakeholders and the communities it represents. I plan to have a public presence at local events (like I normally do) and attend PTAC, ELAC and Roundtable meetings at least a few times a year to stay engaged and involved. Given that 13.6% of our
students are English language learners - it is also important to work with community leaders and district staff to make sure materials and communications are culturally responsive. That I am aware of, my campaign is the only one to translate some materials into the Vietnamese, Chinese and Tagalog - three of
the top six languages spoken in AUSD student’s households.

6. How do you see current local and statewide ballot measures impacting AUSD and the families it serves?
LOCAL MEASURES:

• YES ON MEASURE Z
  Article 26 became part of our city’s charter in 1973 under the pretense of wanting to preserve Alameda’s Victorian houses. It established a ban on multi-unit housing and limited density to one unit per 2000 square feet of land resulting in a system that blocked development and cut off access to homes affordable to people with lower incomes. Yes, it has prevented many people from calling
  Alameda home. Let’s be clear. This is a question and a position that is absolutely relevant
  to the Alameda School Board race because school success is linked to real estate. Think about it: one of the first questions people ask before buying a property is “How are the schools?”. And having a stable, safe place to call home is paramount for educational outcomes. But more importantly, exclusionary zoning like Article 26 has always been the pathway to segregated schools. Housing is the basis of where children go to school (attendance boundaries) and resources allocated to schools and districts
  (taxes and state/federal funds). And the lack of workforce housing for teachers also continues to be an issue as more and more of our teachers can’t afford to live in Alameda.

  Housing exclusion means our schools were less vibrant and diverse and less welcoming. The school board ought to support the city living up to its values. Measure Z, which will repeal Article 26, will open the opportunity of affordable, safe and stable housing for many families and students as well
  as our school workforce. Housing security is a crucial element for better educational outcomes.

STATEWIDE PROPS:

• YES! I Support Proposition 15
  Prop 15 closes the property tax loophole that wealthy corporations take advantage of and would reclaim billions of dollars every year for California schools. It is estimated that AUSD could get millions in new revenue every year. With projected budget shortfalls for our district, this new influx of money is crucial.

  A good example is Disneyland. They only pay property taxes based on what its land was worth way back in 1975. I think they can afford to pay the new cost to help California’s schools.

  COVID-19 and the economic crisis has chipped away at other school funding sources like Lotto revenue. We need to find new sources of revenue without adding more burden on people already paying their fair share. Prop 15 restores the balance during this challenging time and protects
  homeowners and renters by making corporations pay their rightful share of taxes for our schools.

• YES, I Support Proposition 16
  In the US only nine states BAN affirmative action. California is one. Proposition 16 is our chance to end the ban and expand opportunity for all. Proposition 16 would allow public universities and government agencies to consider race, ethnicity and sex along with myriad other factors, aligning
  California with 42 other states and the federal government. While there is opposition in California’s Asian community because of a fear that enrollment will be cut to ensure racial parity, what Prop 16 would do is benefit the API community even more.

  First, disaggregating data about APIs by ethnicity would help identify specific ethnicities within the diverse API populations that need more support in education and services. And also, almost 50% of California’s API students begin their freshmen years at community college and Prop 16 would make sure those numbers are increased to reflect the API population in California.

• YES, I Support Proposition 18
  Allows 17-year-olds who will be 18 at the time of the next general election to vote in primaries and special elections. It is so important that people who are able to vote on November 3 have a say in the final ballot that they are able to vote on. I am 100% in for increasing voting rights and getting our young community members involved with politics, working to have a voice in the future community/state/country they want to live in, and exercising their democratic right to vote.
  

• YES, I Support Proposition 21
  Prop 21 expands local governments’ power to use rent control. Housing security and consistency is a crucial element for better educational outcomes. With more than 50% of Alameda residents living in rentals, it is imperative that we provide the greatest amount of security and predictability related to rental increases. Since the city found a balance with our current rental guidance, renters have
  experienced a reduction in anxiety and a greater ability to plan for their time while living in our community.

7. Is there anything else that is important for us to know about your views regarding public education in Alameda?
The first priority of public education has always been about education, but the priority of the district during a pandemic has to also be public health. It is ensuring that our students and staff and their families, while learning and working are not at risk. The board has the mighty task of weighing the greater good in these unprecedented times.

Like every school district in the country, Covid 19 has exposed the insecurities and inequities in our education system. We were ill prepared for the learning that needs to occur at home. It has shown many of us that dependence on family support in a successful education is paramount and that innovation and
technology could support its strengthening.

While it will be tempting to move on once the height of the crisis is over, it’s important that the Board of Education evaluate what worked and what did not and take advantage of the lessons learned. It is incumbent of the board to evaluate and work with the district staff so that these gaps for our most underresourced students don’t widen. If I am elected, I will ask an evaluation of the COVID-19 crisis response takes place.

The pandemic and economic crisis have potential long-term impacts, to the classroom and to our budget. I am also committed to addressing potential budget shortfalls and getting us through the longer - term impacts of COVID-19 while still being fiscally responsible and transparent. It will take committed partnerships from the entire community, and most importantly teachers and staff, to weather this storm.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions. Communication is critical - and even more so when circumstances like COVID-19 are changing and evolving plans weekly. I will strive to be accessible and approachable as a school board member. I have answered so many other great questions during this
campaign - if you’d like to see this answers you can find them here -
https://www.little4ausd.com/ask-heather or you can also look at my Website at
https://www.little4ausd.com/.