Dear editor,
Conventional wisdom says you write a letter to the editor in support of a single candidate. But I am on the school board now, with two seats available on the Nov. 8 ballot. And I want the best qualified, best prepared, caring people with the most relevant experience to join me in working to make our school district the best it can be. So, I write to say that I am unequivocally supporting and endorsing both Laura Chardiet and Scott Zeidman for school board.
Scott, as the incumbent, has had a fantastic record of accomplishments over the past four years. He deserves our community’s support in reelection for the best of reasons: so that he can continue getting good things done for our kids and schools.
Laura, a newcomer to the board scene, is no newcomer to the field of education or to our Culver City schools. As a former classroom teacher, she knows how important it is to keep our focus on the classroom. Currently, the administrator of a $15 million literacy grant, Laura knows how to run a large budget and make the most of every dollar.
She is also the mother of two Culver City Unified School District students and has been a passionate, dedicated volunteer throughout their school years, holding numerous PTA positions, including serving as president of the district-wide Culver City Council of PTAs. She is incredibly creative, smart, driven and energetic. She understands immersion education, the issues at our Title I schools and the importance of having both college-prep and career and technical education programs available at our high school. She is an avid supporter of both our arts education programs (she did the makeup for the “Darn Yankees” performers) and our athletics program (her son is on one of our high school teams). She would bring an impressive array of leadership and consensus-building skills to the board.
Both Zeidman and Chardiet are smart, effective, active parents with kids currently in our schools. They stand above the rest of the candidate field as compassionate, experienced and well-qualified professionals with relevant, broad-based resumes for the realities we face in these recessionary times.
For the sake of our children’s education, please vote for Laura Chardiet and Scott Zeidman on Nov. 8.
Kathy Paspalis, CCUSD school board
Culver City
