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Pleasanton school board candidate Joan Laursen said the experience she already has working with schools makes her “uniquely qualified” for the board.
“I have spent 15 years volunteering and working extremely hard with our staff and parents in our community. That’s why I want to run,” Laursen said.
She worked in banking for twelve years, she said, which gave her experience analyzing data, setting up systems and measuring goals.
“I’m very comfortable with numbers and budgets,” Laursen said. “The job of a school board member isn’t to get down in the minutia of a budget, but it is to understand “is what you’re getting out worth what you’re putting into it?'”
Laursen has also served on school site councils, a number of district-wide committees, including budget advisory committees; in band booster groups, and on the Parent Faculty Association & Parent Teacher Association boards.
“Most recently, I was the President of the Pleasanton PTA Council, representing over 5,000 members in Pleasanton,” she said, noting that in 2009, the Pleasanton PTA Council was named Outstanding Council for California by the state PTA. “During my tenure on the PTA Council, we hosted flu vaccination clinics, trained and mentored PTA officers at school sites, conducted a school board candidates’ forum, and held many parent education workshops.”
Laursen said her work as a volunteer has given her an understanding of educational issues and how complicated the system can be.
“Getting changes made, that has to do with having the knowledge and the background so that you have an understanding of the process,” she said.
Laursen said the school board needs to be able to set policy and have a vision for what the Pleasanton school district is going to look line in the next 5 to 10 years.
“This community is taking a deep breath and we’re ready to look forward and move ahead to decide what they want to change and what they want to keep in the next few years,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Laursen and her husband, Darrel, have two children. Their son is currently attending the University of California San Diego, majoring in engineering physics major, and their daughter is an 8th grader at Harvest Park Middle School.
A kickoff event was held last month.
Laursen is one of three candidates seeking election to one of two open seats on the school board in the Nov. 2 election. The others are Jeff Bowser and Sandy Piderit.
Two current board members, Jim Ott and Pat Kernan, are stepping down, choosing to not seek re-election to their posts.
The other members of the school board, whose terms expire in 2012, are Chris Grant, currently the president, and Valerie Arkin and Jamie Hintzke.
Not nearly as offensive as paying $220,000 which we do not have for a superintendent which we do not need. PW Editor leave the article at least it makes sense.
Witch Control,
Wow! take a chill pill and do not take life so serious. You must be a lib because everyone who does not agree with you is either stupid or a racist. I am curious, what in your inventive mind would make you think Debbie is a racist by what she wrote above?……
Joan
A question how can PUSD “be able to set policy and have a vision for what the Pleasanton school district is going to look line in the next 5 to 10 years”, when they have to cut another $6+ million? Where do you see the cuts coming from? How is the district going to deal with GATE, AP, Special Education and children with behavioral issues? I know PTA’s, PFC’s and Boosters, made up of parents, are stepping up to the plate to fill holes left by the state. But how can we plan for the future, when we can even budget for now?
There’s only three ways to balance the budget:
More teacher layoffs. Class sizes will balloon and quality will suffer.
A parcel tax. Never going to happen in Pleasanton. That much has been made abundantly clear.
A recovery in state revenues. Not going to happen for years to come.
The new reality is that our public school system in California, and in the USA as a whole, is slowly bleeding to death. As the public schools fail, charter schools will take their place, and they will push struggling students out.
The idea of universal education, one of the cornerstones of a true democracy, is going away. What takes its place are charter schools that exclude “difficult” children and young adults and which enrich private contractors (including the family of a very prominent PUSD critic who blogs frequently on the Pleasanton Weekly) at the expense of the taxpayers.
It seems inevitable that this will happen within five or ten years.
Of course you conveniently left out the most practical way to balance the budget. Four percent reduction in pay across the board makes it all go away. Maybe 98K per year is too much to pay for part time employment.
Yet Another Teacher,
Why don’t you fully disclose who you are so I can complete my case of libel against you? It will be interesting and informative for this community. Or are you not willing to stake your reputation on your false assumptions about other posters?
‘Yet Another Teacher’ left out options dealing with staff compensation which take up ~80+% of the PUSD budget.
Libel, Stacey? (Against an anonymous blogger? Really and truly, your grasp of the law is dazzling…)
Hm, I notice you don’t directly refute my assertions of fact.
Try answering these questions, “yes” or “no”:
1. Do you favor converting PUSD schools into charter schools? Yes or no?
2. Does your family stand to gain financially if PUSD schools become charter schools? Yes or no?
Think carefully and be nice to me, or I’ll sue you for libeling the good name of “Yet Another Teacher”!
Unlike you, since I post with my first name _and_ my account is registered _and_ I received unasked-for private email regarding this matter, I may be able to prove that I’m indeed recognizable and identifiable. It would only be your own mistake to continue to believe that I’m entirely anonymous.
As I wrote in the other thread, all I have to say is that you’ve got the wrong person. I have no obligation towards you to print details about my family here. There are ways for you to verify your information about me independently of this website in order to discover your error.
What else are you wrong about? You’re wrong about me wanting people to leave their unions. I’ve never advocated for anyone to leave their union. In fact, whenever I’ve written here with information that could be interpreted as such, I also wrote that I was not advocating for anyone to leave, that such a thing was a personal choice. Moreover, I have friends who are union members and they know that I’ve never once advocated to them to leave their union.
Your mistake is to conflate legitimate analysis of the pros and cons of public employee unions and their effect upon the system with advocating for people to leave. I find that interesting coming from a teacher, if you really are a teacher, because doing so removes the basis upon which academic freedom is founded. How can any critical analysis of a subject take place inside the classroom when you apply different rules outside the classroom?
Go yet another teacher!!!!! Stacey deserves it!
Stacey, if you want to sue me for libel, you have to use your real name. Last as well as first 🙂
See you in court?
Let’s face it, you just made a bullying threat against me to try and shut me up, and now you’ve exposed yourself a bit more as to the sort of person you are, and the sort of tactics you use.
Very illuminating.
My advice to you is to stop digging when you’re already in a hole. But you keep shoveling away.
Ironic, isn’t it, that the very anonymity that protects you from accountability for your anti-teacher, anti-union, anti-tax (not just parcel taxes, but all taxes) pro-charter schools campaign, makes it impossible for you to claim credibility? Or to sue anyone?
Besides, you can’t libel an anonymous person. You fancy yourself a legal expert. Google it, same as you did the other law cases you quote with such assumed authority.
Have a nice Labor Day weekend, everybody!
I have no obligation to reveal details about me or my family here in order to refute your lies. What do I get out of it? The advantage of using the courts is that I get something in return for the public disclosure of myself: your identity, justice, and protection for my children from you. Why on earth should I be afraid of that?
The reason I mention the courts is not to bully you into silence, but it was my hope that such a threat would send a very clear message to you that you’ve got the wrong person. If I were not VERY confident that you are absolutely wrong, I would never have made such a threat. The response would have been much different if you were right! So then I tried another tactic, inspired by how SSL certificates work, where a third-party vouches for the owner of the certificate. All you need to do is go verify with those who already know me that you’re completely wrong. It’s not difficult to do and would save both you and me a lot of trouble.
Here’s another tactic: If you’re so confident that you know who I am, why don’t you print my full name or my husband’s full name here? I dare you.
‘What do I get out of it?’
A good question, Stacey, and one that seems to be at the heart of “teacher”‘s and other posters’ queries about why you seem to have made crusading against teachers, unions, and parcel taxes on this forum a full-time job. It’s a legitimate question, and very relevant to your credibility on this site. Just what DO you get out of all of this? Is it possible that this is motivated by selfish, economic interest? Dodging the question time and again only strengthens that perception, so why not come clean?
By the way, threatening people who dare question your motives lends you neither credibility nor sympathy.
Nurse Shark,
I’ve been posting here on other local issues long before there was a budget crisis and schools became such a hot topic and I’ve done it as frequently, if not more so, as on school topics. That detail would tend to indicate that I am not posting here as part of some sort of planned “crusade” against teachers, unions, and parcel taxes. I’ve posted quite extensively over the years in support of Oak Grove and have been told I must be working for the developer. So which is it? I’m either someone paid by the Lins or my husband runs a company related to charter schools. You’re entirely free to believe whatever you want. The truth is that I’m just a long-time Pleasantonian who feels that I have an obligation to pay a deeper attention to local issues than I have in the past because I believe that what is really wrong with our country is that too many of us don’t pay attention to what’s going on in our own towns. What’s YOUR reason?
“What’s YOUR reason?” My reason for asking how you’re financially invested in all of this? I suppose because I wanted to gauge the merit of your arguments by seeing if you would come clean about your personal stake in education.
I’m sorry that you haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to address the concerns of those on the forum who think you’re shilling for charter schools. It would have given you some credibility on this issue if readers could believe your motives were altruistic instead of opportunistic.
Nurse Shark,
I have though. I’ve quite clearly indicated several times that “Yet Another Poster” has misidentified me, has the wrong person. The choice facing you is which poster are you going to believe if both “Yet Another Teacher” and I refrain from revealing who we are? You’re free to believe what you want. That you’ll readily believe what unregistered “Yet Another Teacher” wrote means that you should readily believe what I write.