CRAIG'S LEADERSHIP

Leadership / Biography

Some people talk about leadership. Craig Mann is the only candidate who has a track record of walking the talk and delivering results for your benefit for more than 10 years.

As a Trustee of the Santa Clara County Board of Education since 2006, Craig
. Is helping to lead the search for a new Superintendent to lead the County Office of Education in its mission to provide services to 32 school districts (254,622 students) in a county of 1.8 million residents
. Led the Board in approving a charter school revision for Bullis Charter School and an appeal for ACE Charter School which will open in the 2008-09 school year
. Helped save Pathfinder, an alternative school for at-risk students

As a past President and Trustee of the East Side Union High School District Board from 1998 to 2006, Craig
. Led the building of a new 30,000 square foot building (opened in July 2007) on the Evergreen Valley High School campus to eliminate overcrowding
. Initiated a strict Proof of Residency requirement at Evergreen Valley High School, and launched a middle college program at Evergreen Valley College to help reduce overcrowding at Evergreen Valley High School

. Led a successful fight to cut $1.3m from administrative costs to save school librarians, psychologists and career techs and keep the budget balanced
. Conceptualized and pushed the building of Evergreen Valley High School, the first new high school built in Santa Clara County in over 25 years

. Established accountability systems to include external audits which helped eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, which in turn realized approximately ~$3m in efficiencies, monies that were redirected to the classroom
. Led the charge for public school choice, granting charter school petitions for Mexican American Community Service Agency (MACSA

. Academica Calmecac), National Hispanic University (NHU - Latino College Prep Academy), Escuela Popular, San Jose Conservation Corp and Leadership Public Schools
. Championed East Side's enhanced & strengthened dress code as a compromise between a then proposed "Uniform Dress" policy and not dressing for success
. Aided passage of Measure A, an $80m bond measure to help fund the building of Evergreen Valley HS
. Aided passage of Measure G, a $300m bond measure to bring Silver Creek, Mt. Pleasant and other older East Side high schools up to 21st Century standards
. Crafted and negotiated a cutting edge Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Santa Clara - San Benito Counties Building & Construction Trades Council which guarantees high quality modernization work while also protecting your Measure G tax dollars from the threat of labor stoppages. Also, our students benefit directly from this PLA by receiving priority placement for apprenticeship opportunities, plus 30 interested East Side students also receive summer internship opportunities each year
. Created the Construction and Building Trades Academy, designed to give all of our students yet another success path choice
. Led the fight to allow community groups (i.e. Little League, Pop Warner, etc) to have access to the outdoor field facilities
. Prevented the Valley Transportation Agency (VTA) from taking district property through eminent domain to build a "park n' ride" lot, instead requiring VTA to negotiate in good faith with East Side ultimately securing ~$4m in cash and property improvements

About Craig