As a Deputy Attorney General with 25 years of experience, I have a deep understanding of the complicated budgets and finances of government entities. I know how to mix state and federal dollars so we get the biggest bang for our buck. I am an expert at finding missing money and tracing how funds are spent. Our community deserves to be certain education funds are spent on students.

To right the ship, SCOE needs to support districts with managing their budgets by offering fiscal expertise and know-how. When districts are fined, guess who pays the price? Today’s students and tomorrow’s students.

Every dollar must go into the classroom to support student success. We need to stop this cycle of boom and bust to build districts across Sacramento County that have budgetary expertise. Our schools need to be a place of stability for students and families. Until we fix Sacramento school finances for the long term, the financial crisis so many districts feel will never provide a stable base for student success.

We Must Do Better.

As a student advocate for the last two decades, I have seen districts avoid responsibility for educating our most vulnerable students, those with special educational and/or medical needs. Families should not have to fight, sometimes for years, for their child’s fundamental right to a public education. SCOE can work to expand its offerings to districts, especially where SCOE has expertise, such as special education, and set a higher bar for delivery of education.

We must improve education at Juvenile Hall to provide justice-involved youth with options for a brighter future. Not only does this prevent crime, but it also creates opportunities for generational change and wealth. Today, students are given packets because SCOE cannot fill permanent teaching positions.

Special education deserves our highest standards and unwavering focus. Too many families face insurmountable barriers when advocating for their children. After years of hitting brick walls, families are forced to sue districts to get mandated services for their children.

As a lawyer, I can very confidently say that is a monumental waste of precious education tax dollars.

Instead of paying huge lawyer bills and larger settlements, let’s use those dollars to dramatically improve special education and use those best practices — especially individualized education plans — to improve every child’s chance for success.

After decades of focus on college readiness, we now know our education system has failed to prepare generations of students for future careers. Students graduate high school with a diploma, but without life or job skills.

As board chair of Northern California Construction Training (NCCT), a nonprofit that provides free education and job placement for people needing a second chance or a career change, I see it every day.

Sacramento’s high school graduates do not know how to use a measuring tape, cannot add fractions, and do not know how to take direction from a supervisor. Worse yet, students are preyed upon by for-profit certificate programs that make big promises but fail to deliver. Graduates take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to attend these programs, but no job materializes when they complete them.

Youth unemployment is at an all-time high. We need to do something different to give Sacramento’s youth a chance at a future.

From my work with NCCT, I know how to build a successful program that provides access to careers for everyone. We can work together with community members and other government agencies to create high-impact programs that put students on track for a fulfilling career.