Meet Jarrod Weiss, candidate for the Columbus Board of Education

From Jarrod Weiss, October 2, 2007

I sincerely believe that Columbus cannot become a vibrant, prosperous city where people call home, make their lives, and raise their family without a world-class public education system.

A life-long resident of Columbus and a proud graduate of Columbus City Schools, I believe we can make our school system world-class and ensure that the children of today and tomorrow have the tools and knowledge needed to succeed.

What makes me think that a 25-year-old Columbus native, graduate of Columbus City Schools and The Ohio State University, can make the changes needed to bring our school district back to prominence? Simple. Passion, dedication and the ability to succeed.

I have spent the past three years as a public policy designer (fancy term for Legislative Aide) with the Ohio House of Representatives. I know how policy works and I understand what it takes to not only develop good legislation, but can see into the future and understand how the decisions we make are going to affect us on the production side of the equation.

Not only do I have a background in creating and implementing policy, but I have a desire to ensure that the children of Columbus City Schools are given all the opportunity in the world to succeed -- just as I had as a Columbus City student. I volunteer with my high school's theatre department, tutor 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in the State Proficiency tests at Innis Elementary School, and I am taking classes that will one day (hopefully) lead to my becoming a high school social studies teacher or higher education administrator.

Now, just because I have the passion and experience doesn't mean that's the end of the road. Let's talk ideas. I can break my platform into three segments -- Innovation and Creativity, Opportunity and Experiences, and Involvement and Outreach.

Innovation and Creativity: We must use technology and innovation to find creative ways to manage our school district. It is important that we cut costs at the administrative level, streamline our services, and become an efficient manager of the district. No more spending needless amounts of taxpayer money on overpaid administrators and wasteful practices. If we can become fiscally responsible, we can save funds and divert those funds where they are needed most -- classrooms and in the hands of teachers. We don't need to ask for more bonds and levies. We need to stop spending needlessly and use our money wisely. In addition, not only should the Board be the entity that sets the mission and vision for the school district, but we must demand accountability from our administration. We cannot be a Board of "yes-men". We must ensure that the goals we have set forth are being reached and if not we need to correct those problems and correct them now.

Opportunity and Experiences: We all know that one of the biggest challenges we face is the loss of students to Charter Schools. The fact is that most charter schools fare just as well, if not worse, academically than CCS. So, why are we losing those students? It comes down to opportunity and experiences. When I was in school (both secondary and post-secondary) the thing that made my academic experience as positive as it was were the opportunities I had out of the classroom. We need to make sure we stand out from Charter Schools and Suburban Schools. We need to protect and expand our arts, after-school, and extracurricular activities. We need to expand the experiences that our students receive outside of the classroom. Studies show that students in the arts and other extracurricular programs do better academically and we must protect these opportunities.

Involvement and Outreach: I am a guy who likes to be involved, who likes to "get my hands dirty". As a school board we need to be involved in the lives of our schools, our students, and our teachers. That means being an actively involved school board. Attending sporting events, art programs, teacher meetings, professional development seminars, PTA gatherings, etc., should be a major part of our duties. We also need to do a better job of involving teachers, students and community members in our process. We need to seek their input and allow them to become engaged in the work of the school district. Involvement is a two-way street and it starts with the school board leading by example.

This is an opportunity for me to give back to the school district that gave me the tools and opportunities to succeed. We have the ability to make our schools world-class. Our teachers, our parents, our students, are all thirsty for leadership and are waiting for their chance to shine. We need to give them that opportunity and as the next member of the Columbus Board of Education I can tell you that it will happen.

There will be more posts to come on my ideas on how to transform Columbus City Schools into a world-class education system.

jarrodweiss04@yahoo.com........www.friendsforweiss.blogspot.com

VOTE for WEISS for Columbus Board of Education