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Yolo Board of Education, Area 2
What’s the difference between the Davis School Board and the county Board of Ed? Even though the job descriptions may sound similar, the biggest difference lies in the populations served. Our city’s School Board Trustees deal with issues specific to the DJUSD, while the County BofE serves students in the unincorporated areas (read: not in the cities but in the rural areas and small towns). It’s easy to imagine how different the challenges facing schools under the county’s responsibility are.
Now, the first question to answer is: is this even on my ballot? For many of you, the answer is NO because we are only voting in “Area 2,” otherwise known as Don Saylor’s supervisorial district. If you live in Provenza’s area, your trustee’s term isn’t up until 2020.
If you live in Saylor’s district, you will choose between David Murphy and Melissa Moreno. The presenter here made sure to disclose that she’s biased towards Moreno for having kids at the same school and knowing her personally, but just being a friendly acquaintance of a person is never really a good reason to vote for her. RIGHT? Glad we all agree on that.
No one in the assembled group had any specific concerns regarding David Murphy, a career administrator who spent 20 years as school superintendent (11 for the El Dorado Union High School District and 9 years for the DJUSD). But it’s clear that his experience derives from the issues of city school populations, not especially rural or migrant ones. Plus, isn’t he retired? What does he need this job for?
Moreno is younger, but she’s arguably better qualified for this role. Although she is busy as a professor and the Director of Ethnic Studies at Woodland Community College, she is willing to heed a call to public service because this is the arena she views as her life's work: the creation of educational opportunities available to those who need them most. The daughter of farmworkers, she grew up in poverty, attended Head Start, Migrant Education, and English as a Second Language programs as a child. She went on to defy the odds by becoming the first elementary, high school, and college graduate in her family, and then to earn a Master’s and a Doctorate in Education. Providing quality education to traditionally underserved populations is not an academic question for her, it’s her own story.
Moreno’s got impressive endorsements. She’s got the passion. And she truly represents those she’s trying to serve. Give her the job, people!
Straw Poll
Moreno -- 13; Murphy -- 0; Abstain -- 2
No, not yet, we’ve still got to do the propositions.
