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By Robert Niles

As parents of two children at PUSD’s McKinley School, I hope you will not overlook the school board runoff when you go to the polls to vote on Measure V next week. We need your help to put Bob Harrison and Mark Mastromatteo on the PUSD board.

PUSD’s finally begun to show some signs of improvement over the past five years. Test scores are up across the district, and, when compared to schools with similar demographics, PUSD’s schools now outperform even those in South Pas. Last year, the Los Angeles Music Center last year honored our McKinley School as the best elementary school for arts education in all of L.A. County. One of the other finalists for the award was Poly, making the win even more sweet!

Curriculum reform, enacted by a slate of school board candidates elected six years ago, has helped. But, ultimately, it is parental involvement that makes schools great.

That’s why I’m supporting Bob Harrison and Mark Mastromatteo, and I hope that you will, too. Dozens of parents and teachers I know from McKinley are rooting for Bob and Mark. Both Bob and Mark have raised significant amounts of money for PUSD schools, and, more importantly, they’ve been there to encourage talented parents to get involved in the district, and to help support them when they step forward.

My wife, a professional violinist and trained Suzuki instructor, is now teaching 50 first-graders Suzuki violin at McKinley. That program would never have happened if it were not for Mark’s support as president of the McKinley PTA. And what Mark has done at McKinley, Bob’s done at the district level, through his work as president of the Pasadena Educational Foundation. Bob co-owns the Green Street Restaurant and is a former president at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, so his roots in this community run deep.

Incumbent Bill Bibbiani talks about reform and accountability, but during his four years on the board has worked to roll back efforts to improve curriculum and engage talented parents in the district. His idea of “reform” seems to be to undo the good work that’s been done in PUSD over the past five years in favor of… what? I don’t know.

We do not need a curmudgeon on the school board. We need leaders who will inspire more of the many talented parents in Sierra Madre, Pasadena and Altadena to get involved in our public schools.

I’m not a Sierra Madre resident. Diana Day was a student in my online journalism class at USC when she created this site for her final project. I’m grateful that Diana’s given me this opportunity to write to you on such an important issue for Sierra Madre, Pasadena and Altadena.

So please, even if you do not have kids in PUSD, help us out. We cannot afford, as a community, to write off public education. I hope that you will cast your votes in the PUSD run-off for Bob Harrison and Mark Mastromatteo.