CMS School Board, District 5

• Schools and teachers encouraging academic excellence and personal growth for children of all abilities throughout their K-12 career.
   
• A school as close to their home as possible, to increase the likelihood of parental involvement, important for academic success.
   
• Education customized to their child. I raised three very different children and know the importance of teachers who understand each child's individual needs and learning style.
   
• Predictability of the schools their children will attend. A home is the largest investment most of us make, and the primary determinant of a home's location is where children will go to school.
   
• A rational voice that will listen to both sides of an issue, and decide based on the facts and their values. In fact, taxpayers and our children deserve this too.

• Their money, taken involuntarily, to be well spent. CMS consumes a sizable portion of our Mecklenburg County property taxes. Even if most is well spent, there is clearly room for improvement, as we are finding out this year.
   
• Higher graduation rates, fewer dropouts, and graduates who are better prepared to contribute as adults. A well trained work force is critical for the future prosperity of our community. 

• Academic successes they can use as building blocks. My children created progressively larger successes that started small and kept growing.
   
• High expectations. Minimally, I believe this means being a high school graduate with the life skills needed for a productive adult life. For most, it is much more than this. Not all children are college bound, but all have room for growth.
   
• Strong encouragement to not drop out. Dropouts start at a severe disadvantage to the rest of us. This disadvantage must be reduced. Further, most crime is committed by high school dropouts. I will work tirelessly to break the dropout cycle and improve graduation rates.
   
• Self worth that comes only from personal accomplishment and creating value for others. It has to be earned through hard work. I strongly believe in the development of the human spirit, but know it doesn't come easily.
   
• At least one connection to their school all the way from K through 12. That may be academics, athletics, music, art, or friends. This is one of many approaches to the dropout rate.