Opinion: FMSD mission realignment should be our top priority

Originally posted in the publication Opportunity Now.

Franklin-McKinley board member Marc Cooper made waves last year by getting elected, as a newcomer, with 17.5% of the votes — only 1.6% behind frontrunner (also first-timer) Steven Sanchez. In this Opp Now exclusive, Cooper outlines the FMSD’s need to refocus on quality academics and utilize experienced, student-oriented leaders.

What's your one big wish for the Franklin-McKinley School District for 2023?

We must change focus and direction! I ran and was elected second behind another new-to-the-Board-candidate Steve Sanchez. The community of the FMSD voted for me and another experienced, active teacher — yet, at the same time, just barely reelected an incumbent Board member of 22 years, who placed third in the voting for the three open seats. This shows me that our community members, our FMSD parents want something different; they want trustworthy local educators, not agenda-driven politicians, to make important decisions for their children’s welfare.

Furthermore, academic proficiency and school enrollment has been steadily dropping in the past seven years. This must change; our children deserve a quality education!

Even as I write this, the FMSD is in the process of filling a vacant Board seat vacated by Maimona Afzal Berta, who successfully ran for the Santa Clara County Board of Education. I ponder: Will the FMSD governing Board continue to change focus and direction by selecting effective new leadership, or will they continue with leadership that has overseen the decline in the past seven years in our schools’ academic proficiency and enrollment? We can only hope and pray for a change in direction. It's all about the children.

What is your biggest apprehension?

It is not the teachers; they are doing the best they can with the resources given them. It is not the parents; they are entrusting us with their most precious commodity — their children — to give them a quality education.

I'm concerned more for the leaders who make decisions for our schools. We must continue to change the focus and direction of our schools and our education system. We must get back to the basics of teaching to truly fulfill the Mission* of the Franklin McKinley School District.

As a newly elected Board trustee, I am looking at the schools and programs that are working. For instance, why is it that four of the six top performing schools in the FMSD are public charter schools?

Parents are looking for ways and schools that will provide their children with a quality education. As leaders, we must investigate and work together with all our schools in the FMSD to collaborate, cooperate, and change things that need to be changed and improve the things that can be improved — even if it means eliminating curricula, programs, and philosophies that do not benefit our children. It's all about teaching our children to be productive, educated, and socially/emotionally healthy citizens for our future!

*The FMSD Mission Statement reads as follows: “The Franklin-McKinley School District will ensure all 8th grade student graduates have the skills and knowledge to be ready for a college preparatory curriculum in high school. They all will have the ability to pursue a program preparing them for university and/or careers and lifelong learning.”

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