Third in a series
[img]1190|left|Laura Chadiet||no_popup[/img]Re “Getting to Know an Educator”
Despite recent reports of a negative atmosphere, School Board candidate Laura Chardiet says it needs to be understood that School Board meetings “generally are not a hostile environment.”
Rather, these are special times.
“Because of the budget issues, many people are walking around with this huge level of anxiety,” she says. “That cannot help but lead into Board meetings where people’s livelihoods are being affected.”
Question: Since it is likely that budget squeezes, once considered temporary, probably will be a permanent staple, will the adversarial air ever change at Board meetings?
“We need to accept that the budget always is going to be a problem, and yet we still must find the opportunities to do better,” says Ms. Chardiet, mother of two and a longtime PTA activist. “We need to find a vision we all can buy into and support.”
What does Ms, Chardiet bring to the School Board race that is unique?
“I am a very creative person,” she says. “I am very resourceful and incredibly energetic.”
Does creative mean conciliatory?
“I don’t think so,” Ms. Chardiet says. “Usually I don’t see the same road that most people do. I am able to see various ways to reach the same objective.
“For example, right now through the PTA and the Education Foundation, we are working to create a better collaboration with parents who send their kids to Culver City.
Trying Something New
“I think that is an untapped source of revenue for our district because people who send their children to Culver City schools, really love Culver City schools. They don’t want the schools to be damaged by the budget. They want to maintain the present high quality. They want to maintain the arts program, the athletic program. They want to keep the teachers who have been hired.
“When we have furlough days, this costs the parents anyway. They have to hire a babysitter or do child care. They are going to pay for it somewhere. Why don’t we get them involved? Why not create a funding stream through the parents?”
The innovative Ms. Chardiet characterizes this proposal as “a different kind of fundraising.
“Let me say it this way. If you send your kids to preschool, you pay the preschool. Right? If we could get parents to agree to pay on a monthly basis, or make a donation to the School District every year, that way they won’t have to hire a nanny down the line and the child stays at home. Instead, the children can go to school and be with their teachers and learn.
“If you can frame the argument that way, people will understand that, yes, it is in the best interests of all of us to contribute.”
(To be continued)
