Can we get back to the issues?
I am a fierce fighter, and I will defend my position whenever it is misrepresented or attacked.
I will also fight more fiercely for our School District in as many creative and legal ways to insure that it gets enough money to survive this horrible economic mess we are in.
At Tuesday night's School Board meeting, we were all presented with some grim financial data that is coming down the pipeline. We have been able to cover the deficit by “robbing Peter to pay Paul” accounting methods. We have more than cut to the bone.
Deferred maintenance funding was incorporated into the General Fund to cover the deficit.
These are desperate times. They call for creative and desperate measures.
I have made many proposals that have been greeted with skepticism, but upon further reflection do make some sense.
My proposal to sell the Natatorium to investors who would then refurbish it and lease it back to the School District has been warmly received and validated by the real estate community.
I think Patricia Siever has some very good contacts with grant writers that will also help us bring money to the school district.
I promised to go to Sacramento to lobby for our District's fair share of Race to the Top federal grant money that will be available to California school districts.
Heck, I'll even go to Washington, D.C. on my own dime and contact Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Secretary of Education, and demand that federal grant money that has been allocated to Acorn be re-directed to help our school districts.
Renting Out Upper District Space
I'll even ask Kathy Paspalis to join me (if I can change her mind about Acorn).
I want to talk about some of my other programs and initiatives:
I was the first to propose that we rent out our roofs at our schools to solar companies. I think Chevron Energy Solutions has some good ideas and proposals. But I think we should have some competitive bidding on this issue.
I am a strong believer in internship programs. CCUSD and local businesses can team up to offer internship programs to students.
I was at a Culver City Chamber of Commerce mixer, and many members liked my proposal. It seems that Patricia Siever and I are the only ones who bother to consider the importance of the business community working with our schools.
I would like to see a Therapy Dog Program instituted throughout the whole School District. My friends from the Delta Society and Paws for Healing had to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get a successful program going at El Marino.
I will eliminate bureaucracy and red tape. I will do this by consulting teachers, administrators and parents to find better ways to deal with unnecessary paperwork.
One of the reasons I think Culver City schools are so much better than the Los Angeles school districts is that we have responsive and competent security guards. I do believe that we should have zero tolerance for bullying, grafitti tagging, and class disruptions. Students violating these rules will be asked to do restitution, which would include cleaning bathrooms and picking up trash.
If a student in the 10th grade cannot multiply 8×7, he has no business being in an Algebra class. It is frustrating for him, disruptive and unfair to other students in a class that need to learn. Students should be held back and helped with their learning problems before moving up to the next level.
I think “social promotion” to unqualified students is a load of crap.
Although we have a great Spanish and Japanese immersion program at El Marino elementary, why should they be the only school benefitting. I propose that we partner with Rosetta Stone language teaching programs that offer individual students a wide selection of 30 languages, which include Chinese, French, German, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and more.
I want to increase A.P. classes and have students be able to include field trips to universities.
I would like to expand foreign exchange student programs and increase cultural contacts with other countries. This cross cultural exchange will be a great learning experience for our students.
I will try and mediate a dialogue with PXP and the City Council to stop wasting taxpayer money on lawsuits that will cost the city money that could be given to help our schools.
These are some of my programs and initiatives.
I will also pledge that I will not vote for any measure that will involve firing of any teacher, classified or administrative employee without cause because of budget deficits. I believe with my programs and initiatives we will not have to take such drastic measures.
In any event, I will not be a party to any layoff. I will resign if I can't keep my word.
I am willing to listen to constructive criticism of my ideas.
So let's move on and try and make a better school system.
Mr. Zirgulis, a candidate for the School Board in Tuesday’s election, may be contacted at zirgulisr@yahoo.com
