Candidate Q and A: Mike Gautreau

Glendora Patch asked the candidates for Glendora Unified School Board to answer questions before the Nov. 5 election. All the candidates answered the same questions via email.

Their answers will be posted in the next few days.

The third Q&A is from candidate and incumbent Mike Gautreau.

Name: Mike Gautreau
Age: 54 years old
Occupation:
8 year Glendora Unified School Board Member (Current).
Former High School Principal.
Former Middle School/High School/Community College Teacher.
Current Small Business Owner.
Current Swim Coach (Club and High School).
Current Football Official

1.     Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background and why you should be elected or reelected to the GUSD School Board:

I have been honored to serve the past 8 years on the GUSD School Board. We have one of the finest school districts and communities in the country. I have been in positions of leadership my entire life-these leadership roles include years as a high school principal and assistant principal in our Valley, as well as 10 years teaching here in GUSD. I have also served as the Instructional Chairman for the California Football Officials Association where I was responsible for implementing the instructional programs for over 3,000 high school football officials in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Japan.

These experiences give me a huge advantage on the School Board as I not only have decades of experience in education, I understand what our policies mean at the implementation levels to our schools. School District and State budgets are very complex; in my former positions, I not only had to help develop school budgets; I also had to implement them and make sure they met the needs of our students. I understand what our policies mean at the school site and exactly how they will affect our students.

I have two daughters who have gone thru our Glendora schools (one daughter is still attending GHS); I believe we need to offer the best schools/programs for all our students and make sure none of our students "fall thru the cracks". Education is a people's business; we are only as good as the teachers, support staff, and administrators we hire and retain. We need to create an environment of success for all our employees, which will help lead to an environment of success for all our students. 

2. What are your thoughts on Local Control Funding Formula? How do you think this will impact Glendora Unified?

The Local Control Funding Formula is an example of why government needs to stay out of the education field and let locally elected school officials and parents/communities as a whole make education decisions. The federal government and the state have taken more and more control of education and given us policies, laws, financial regulations-most of which have hurt students and education as a whole.

The LCFF is nothing of the sort; it actually takes more control away from the local school boards/districts. It is very simply a form of Income Redistribution that allows Sacramento to decide which kids in which communities get the monies. Under this new law, the students of Glendora and every other middle class community will get far less monies from the state for their education, than students in communities where economic success is not as prevalent. Basically communities like ours who pay higher property taxes than many other communities, will receive less and less of those dollars back for our children's education. By the end of this decade, students in GUSD will receive 30-40% less money from the state than some other school districts/communities. Once again, those in power in Sacramento have lied to the public about their intentions.

3. What are the most pressing issues facing Glendora Unified? How do you think the district should approach or resolve these issues?

The new common core standards, the new LCFF, the continued troubling economy, and the ever-changing social norms of our society are all areas of concern. Education, our state, our world are changing rapidly; we need to make decisions that will enhance our children's futures, and do our best to meet the needs of all our students.

We have great leadership in Glendora, and I am confident that all involved make decisions based on doing "what is best for kids".