Teresa Castellanos 

My Commitment:

I am proud to have represented you as a San Jose Unified School District(SJUSD) Board Member for almost 12 years and am running for reelection. My children and I are successful products of SJUSD, and it has been an honor to represent its families. While SJUSD has made strides in improving education for the benefit of all our students, there is still much work to do.

 

Four years ago due to the pandemic, SJUSD was forced to reinvent itself as we met the needs of our community by offering meals, providing devices for all, and having live full-day instruction. I am grateful to our extraordinary employees, parents, and students. 

 

Always seeking to move our students forward, I have been a strong advocate for several important initiatives which include increasing mental health resources, TK expansion, Ethnic Studies classes expansion, and post-pandemic learning recovery. In addition, I have worked to affirm Student Rights in addition to the SJUSD Uniform Grading Policy, and the SJUSD Equilty Policy. All these efforts are keys to expanding student success, inclusion & belonging.

 

Where I Stand: (the issues)

As a school board member, I  acknowledge that the challenges facing SJUSD are complex. 

 

To start, California funds public education with the bottom 10 states of the nation. It funds in the same group as Mississippi and Alabama. Within the 31 school districts that make up Santa Clara County, the range of per-pupil funding ranges from $10,000- $23,000+. That means that there is no equity in the distribution of resources.  SJUSD receives $13,200 per student. In the context of the Bay Area housing crisis, teacher shortage, and specialized staff shortage, SJUSD perpetually competes with other districts for teachers, specialized staff, and principals. 

 

After twelve years,  what’s next?

• Safety is always a top priority for everyone in SJUSD. Listening to the concerns of students and parents is an important component of continuing to improve education at SJUSD. Together school communities must come together to construct a safe community. 

• SJUSD must continue to promote literacy & civic literacy skills in the context of AI.

• We must continue the dialoguing  & constructing  social emotional health so that it is incorporated in academic learning and building school safety.

• We collectively address equity challenges that are bigger than the school but greatly impact public education, e.g. housing, health access, fear of the virus?

• What can do to help with the mental health of students that need community for their academic development?   

• Other issues I commit to continue focusing on include: planning for SJUSD facilities in the context of climate change, staff retention,  post-pandemic issues, and the expansion of high quality education. 

• I vow to continue to share the responsibility and accountability with  SJUSD students and parents for quality education.

 

I  do not claim that I  alone know the answers to these issues. I  hold that it takes a community to face these challenges. In my 36 years of being a local leader, I have been a strong champion for developing consensus, and collective goals and bridging across multicultural, multilingual, and multi-generational communities. Join me in ensuring that SJUSD students continue to move toward their full potential of being a reflection of Silicon Valley: resilient, innovative and contributing members of a global society.

 

I respectfully ask for your vote.

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-Teresa Castellanos 

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