The buck stops with the board. The incumbents at SBUSD must be held accountable for their voting record.
Vote for Phebe Mansur, a proven and respected public servant from Goleta for SBUSD District 4, and Efi Banales, a retired veteran educator, for SBUSD District 1. One reason to vote for Phebe and Efi is that they both support the “Heart” sex ed curriculum, in contrast to all of their opponents. The “Heart” curriculum starts out with a “parent interview” by the student about the parents’ values and is very sensitive and age-appropriate. As opposed to the highly graphic and controversial “Teen Talk.”
A weak “rubber stamp” board has created a crisis of lost learning during the pandemic, a crisis of mental health, erosion of classroom discipline, exponential rise in reported “thoughts of suicide,” the controversial and dangerous firing of the Safety Resource Officer at San Marcos High School, and a dramatic rise in race-related student incidents.
Perhaps most of all, the misguided “leveling up” which eviscerates the dedicated honors and GATE programs, the pride of our district, which were built up over decades. This was the last straw for teacher morale and for many parents, who have pulled their children out of the public schools in increasing numbers.
The current superintendent has a heavy handed, top down, leadership style, and is out to “change the world.” She has made the job of teachers nearly impossible.
If you think improvement must be made in school safety, literacy, vocational educational opportunities, teacher and administrative morale, and you want to see age-appropriate sex ed and dedicated honors classes in our secondary schools, vote for the two candidates who have your values and the steel character to hold the current superintendent accountable.