why i support june prakash for school board

Dear friends,

I’ll be voting for June Prakash in the Arlington Democrats’ School Board Endorsement Vote, and I hope you will join me. For information about how to vote in person or online, please see  HERE. Please note that voting concludes on May 10!

​I support June because I believe she will provide the kind of oversight and leadership that we need right now for Arlington Public Schools. When I think about some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing APS right now, these are top of mind:

Deep Knowledge of, and Experience with, APS Operations. As a board member for the past four years, I’ve seen firsthand the need for APS to strengthen various areas of its operation. And while there has been some good progress, it will require sustained effort.

June brings firsthand experience with APS operations, a deep understanding of the complexities involved, and a recognition of the significant impact that operational success or failure can have on APS’s ability to ensure that every student in our community learns, thrives, and excels.
 
These are among the most timely and urgent needs I see in APS today:

• Finance: How can APS employ sustainable budgeting practices, gauge the impact of its investments, diversify its revenue sources, and ensure that the budget is shared in a transparent and accessible way?
• Facilities: How can APS ensure that it is spending every capital dollar as wisely as possible so that it can attend to as many facilities as possible that are in need of improvement? Last year’s Facilities Condition Assessment provided an array of data about what needs to be done—now the School Board and APS leadership have to determine how it will get done. How will APS manage its debt service responsibly so that it does not place extra strain on the annual operating budget, as the second largest area of expense? How are facilities decisions informed by enrollment projections, which indicate that we will have a significant number of vacant seats in our elementary schools over the next decade?
• Staff recruiting and retention: Is APS doing everything it can to attract and keep great staff members, its most valuable asset? APS must recruit and hire in ways that keep it competitive with other local school divisions. Once hired, staff need resources, professional learning, time, and supportive leadership to do their best work. The recent audit of the APS Human Resources department points out many ways that employees’ needs are not being met—including the needs of HR staff themselves. This is a longstanding issue that requires ongoing attention.
• Operating procedures: How can APS increase its efficiency and ensure that it is handling operational issues in a consistent way? Multiple recent internal audits underscore the need for clear, well-documented standard operating procedures in the areas of finance, human resources, and more. Absent these procedures, there is increased risk for error, needless delays, loss of institutional knowledge, and inconsistent response to staff, family, and student concerns. 

Educator Perspective and Experience. It is not an easy time to be a teacher. Public education is under attack. Policymakers and the general public are asking schools to meet an increasing number of societal needs. Teachers often lack the time to learn about and apply new strategies that will improve teaching and learning. Many teachers cannot afford to live in the communities they serve.

These issues are not unique to APS, but they certainly apply here. On top of those universal needs, I see the following local challenges:

• Many educators in APS were adversely impacted by the shift in health insurance last year. From my vantage point, this was a significant blow to morale and carried very real consequences for many staff members who had to find new providers or even change or forego medical treatments.
• Many report difficulty in getting the information and services they need from Human Resources.
• There has been progress, but still work to do, in order to ensure that staff members have meaningful input into decisions that affect their work and the students they teach.
• APS should be proud that it is engaging in collective bargaining. It is still early days and there is much to learn and improve as the school division works to bargain in good faith and align that work with other areas of its operation.

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The School Board makes its best decisions when it is keenly listening to the perspectives and experiences of students, families, community members, and the staff members who are the lifeblood of the system. June has worked in APS as a kindergarten instructional assistant—she has firsthand APS educator experience. During her tenure as president of AEA, she has listened attentively to the needs of staff members in myriad roles and advocated constructively on their behalf with APS leadership. The School Board needs a member who will make decisions that are grounded in the goal of valuing, retaining, and developing a truly excellent staff. June brings that experience and orientation.
 
 
 I have deep respect for the other candidate in this race and I believe she is a tremendous asset to this community. I believe she brings strengths, experience, and perspectives that would also add value to the School Board. I wish a little bit that there were two seats open, because I think these two candidates would complement each other very well.

But when I ask myself, “What do the School Board and APS need most urgently right now?”, in my experience the highest-priority needs are in operational improvements and in the way APS values, supports, and learns from its staff members. I am confident that June Prakash will do great work in these areas, and in others, if elected to the Arlington School Board. I hope you’ll join me in voting for June.