Chris Guerrieri announces run for school board district 5 seat

MEDIA RELEASE

Dec 21, 2011

Contact: Chris Guerrieri, guerrieridistrict5@gmail.com

Jacksonville, FL – Teacher and Quality Public School Education Proponent, Chris Guerrieri is announcing his intention to run for the District 5 seat of the Duval County School Board. Guerrieri is in the process of gathering the required signatures in order to qualify for the race. He is also working with other local education activists in an attempt to raise the required $1,400 fee to run for office. “I am committed,” said Guerrieri, who has taught in the Duval County School System for eleven years. He currently works at
Palm Avenue Exceptional Student Center. Many Duval County residents will recognize Guerrieri for his regular writings and commentaries regarding local education issues since 2007 in local news media outlets as well as the blog, Education Matters, www.jaxkidsmatters.blogspot.com.

Below are some of Guerrieri’s comments and position statements.

I believe there are common sense solutions to solve our problems that don’t require breaking the bank, reinventing the wheel or blowing the system up. The first step is to thank Superintendent Pratt-Dannals for his dedicated service and then to hire a strong Superintendent to lead our district into the future. The next superintendent must be interested in doing what is right for our schools, our children and our community, not just in the appearance of what is right, even when what’s right is difficult. He or she must be committed to disciplined schools, rigorous course requirements, as well as realistic and multiple curriculums that serve all our kids needs. The next Superintendent must also treat teachers like partners not like easily replaceable widgets. I want to be part of the process to find this bold new leader.

For nearly two decades, the politicians at the state level have usurped local control at the detriment of our children. I say enough. I want to be part of the process that pushes back against the authoritarians in Tallahassee who have not only has deprived our schools of resources but has also saddled them with unfunded mandates. They’ve confused quality education with clever catch phrases like “school choice” which in reality is the privatization of our schools. It’s time we put the fate of our children back in our hands instead of leaving it to Tallahassee. It’s time to take back control of our students and our community’s future from far away politicians who are seemingly more interested in campaign contributions from charter schools, virtual schools and testing companies. Our children not their war chests, should be our highest priority.

Finally every penny that comes into our schools should be treated as precious. We MUST maximize the resources we have. The best way to do so is to allow local school boards like ours to control their entire budgets and determine for themselves how best to spend the money for the benefit of our students, not be forced to follow edicts from Tallahassee. I am tired of them telling us to jump and we asking them how high.

I invite anyone interested in improving free, quality public school education in Duval County to contact me so we can work together and move Duval County in the right direction, so we can make it a district we are proud of from top to bottom and so we can make it one of the top school systems in the nation.

These goals are within our grasp.

Chris Guerrieri