Education Activist Enters School Board Race

By Jorge Casuso

Education activist Allan Paul Shatkin entered a growing field of candidates vying for four open school board seats on Wednesday with a call to restore the community's confidence in the board's ability to make tough choices.

"It's time we restored our community's confidence in the decision-making ability of the board," said Shatkin, who chair's the district's Special Education Advisory Committee.

"We can't keep doing things the same old way and expect a different outcome," Shatkin said. "We need fresh ideas on the board of education."

Shatkin -- former teacher, school principal and education policy maker -- said that the seven-member school board needs to forge closer ties to the City and the College.

"The City Council, Santa Monica College and the district really need to enter into a compact and make this an education city," said Shatkin, who has an 11-year-old daughter in middle school. "They really need to work together in a much more formal way."

Shatkin criticized the council for being stingy when it comes to school funding, adding that the quality of the schools impacts all of Santa Monica's 90,000 residents, as well as the city's property values.

"People tend to think the school system is something only parents are interested in," said Shatkin. "It can have a broad impact on our economy. They council really needs to be involved in a big way in funding our schools."

Shatkin criticized the school board for budgeting $100,000 to hire a public relations officer, saying it sends the signal that the board is "more concerned with how things look than with how things are."

Shatkin said he is a strong supporter of "opening up the policy-making process in a way which empowers parents and school based governance teams." He also called for creating campus environments that encourage students to become more active citizens.

"We must redouble our efforts to teach respect for self and others," said Shatkin, who is the Director of Development of Children's Community School, a progressive elementary school in Van Nuys. "Our schools must also, in their policies and practices, honor every student, not just those who get high grades.

"Every child in a Santa Monica or Malibu school needs to feel that he or she is special, is appreciated and is a valued member of their educational community," he said. "This doesn't develop in children by accident."

A former member of the Santa Monica College Personnel Commission, the Education Commission of the States and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Shatkin said he will "seek the endorsement of everybody."

"I want as broad a support as I can get," he said. "Education ought not to be a partisan issue."