Strengthen our Students
Are our students getting the best education possible? Are their outcomes on par with the other communities? Are we preparing them to excel in college, the workforce, or wherever they head after graduation?
Our test scores are too low. Third grade reading test passage rates are only at 40%. That cannot continue. It’s ten points lower than it was ten years ago. It’s been declining every year. Our high school SAT average scores are 70 points lower than the state average. That’s unacceptable. Our first focus needs to be academics. That is where I will hold everyone accountable, from the top down. If we cannot get our literacy rates right, we are not serving our kids. If we don’t get the academics right, nothing else matters.
How do we solve it? We need to implement more phonics initiatives and reading corners. We have to include parents more, encouraging them to promote reading at home. Fixing our literacy problem will take all of us. We cannot afford to ignore it.
Uphold our Teachers
Our teachers are the engine of our educational system. They are many times our children’s top role model outside of the home. A school district might be able to run without administrators. But if our teachers don’t show up, everything comes to a halt. I hear too often that our teachers are sometimes not getting the support they need. As a member of the school board, I will do everything I can to uphold and support our dedicated teachers. At the same time, I will seek to hold accountable any teacher that might be lagging or underperforming. We do not have the luxury to either neglect our teachers’ concerns or to retain anyone who isn’t giving us their all.
Represent our District
In Dearborn, diversity is our strength. Currently, our student body is at least 75% Arab American, while only two out of our seven school board members are. Our governmental should look like the communities we serve. Of course, this doesn’t mean representation for representation’s sake. It means we should identify qualified and dedicated people to serve our communities, while keeping equitable representation in mind at all times. I believe I have the qualifications, and I know I have the dedication.
SPECIAL EDUCATION ATTENTION
Our special education students and programs are simply not getting the attention they need. Making sure these students are never neglected is a top priority for me.
Invest in Parents
Our parents are not as involved as we want them to be in all aspects of their children’s school experiences. At the board and district level, we must implement aggressive parent outreach efforts. Let’s have our board meetings in our neighborhood schools. Let’s exert every effort we can to get our parents more involved.
The Books…
I believe in freedom of expression. And as a lawyer and educator, I’m against banning books unless under very extreme circumstances. At the same time, if a parent doesn’t want their child to check out certain books, of course that parent does have and should have that right. But we shouldn’t be banning books because they express experiences of a certain lifestyle. That’s a dangerous slippery slope. Parents should be deciding what intimate issues their children are learning about.
Dearborn is a special place. And our diversity is our strength. If we allow the disparagement of one group, then when does it stop? We have to make sure no group feels targeted, from left to right, from conservative to liberal. If we want to talk the talk of inclusivity in Dearborn, then we need to walk the walk.
Do I have all the answers?
Um, no. Any politician that says they have all the answers is insulting the voters’ intelligence. Here is what I do know. As a lawyer, academic, and activist, I will always ask the right questions to get to the truth. And I won’t back down. I’ll be laser focused on one question: How is this helping our kids?