Many of the schools in District 11 can be proud of their achievements in shepherding students into a life-long education, but many others are struggling under oppressive and nonsensical directives from the federal government, such as No Child Left Behind. Additionally, the State of California measures only a student’s test taking ability and not their intelligence or creativity. This leads to the de-prioritization of intelligence and creativity, with the attendant consequences for our national future. The cuts to music, foreign language, science, AVID, GATE, and sports are unconscionable, but they are the logical conclusion of allowing bureaucracies and politicians to micro-manage our schools. Jeff Takada has seen the benefits that releasing the bureaucratic shackles on public school teachers, local control by school boards, charter schools, and homeschooling, can have on student’s grades, happiness, and future success. He would work vigorously to cut as many tying bonds between the power centers and the classroom as possible, and cease the destructive practice of punishing schools and teachers for serving disadvantaged neighborhoods and students, as is currently the case. While Jeff Takada is a strident advocate for standards and teacher accountability, his is vehemently opposed to any system that manages a school “like a business” because, invariably, students become treated as products to be manufactured rather than individuals to be mentored. Basing teacher pay on student success would result in bloody fights for the honors students among staff and the disservice would fall most heavily on the students who need teacher help the most.
