Google Engineer Launches School Board Campaign

A greater effort to raise the achievement of lower income and minority students must be made to help the ones who are struggling, says Ken Dauber in his freshly published campaign literature.

Mr. Dauber is Google Engineer who wants to win a seat on the this November.  His support staff announced the kick off of his campaign Tuesday night, with the release of information that will enable voters to understand what he would prioritize if elected to the school board.

“The highest purpose of public education is to meet each child where they are, and to enable them to achieve their full potential,” Dauber says.  “Palo Alto has historically embraced this purpose, yet we have struggled to realize this promise for lower income and underrepresented minority children.”

The California Department of Education reports that numerically significant portion of the student population in the district are socioeconomically disadvantaged.  The latest data shows that 834 students out of the 8,774 who were enrolled in the district in school year ending in 2011 fell into that category.  4,675 of the students enrolled in the district are white.

When , , and ’s terms expire this year, three positions on the five-member board will be available.  As of noon on August 15, four people want the seats, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

Incumbents Caswell and Townsend are both running for re-election.  In addition to Dauber, Heidi Emberling will be running for position on the PAUSD Board of Education this November.

Dauber’s goal, if elected, would be to create an academic environment that fosters good social and emotional health.  He says that his research indicates that high achievement and good health are correlated.

Dauber also wants to set clear priorities for the district and use data to measure whether district employees are reaching goals.

“Our kids deserve our best work and our best thinking,” Dauber said.  “I am committed to building consensus on the board for full transparency, streamlined decision making, and a data-driven governance process,” he added.

The Board of Education will be holding a meeting to talk about regular business from 6:30p.m.-10p.m. in the Staff Development Center located at 25 Churchill Avenue. It is open to the public.

You can read Ken Dauber’s full ballot statement here:

Statement of Ken Dauber, Candidate for Governing Board Member, Palo
Alto Unified School District
Occupation: Software Engineer, Education Data Consultant, Parent

Education and Qualifications:

     I am a father, Google engineer, and former college teacher who
will bring to the Palo Alto School Board an understanding of
educational data and technology, a commitment to transparency and
accountability, and a strong concern for student well being.

     I understand Palo Alto schools as a parent and volunteer whose
children have attended Nixon, Barron Park, JLS, Terman, and Gunn. I
have a B.A. and an M.A. from Yale, a Ph.D. in sociology, and was a
faculty member at Northwestern University. I bring expertise in
educational data and policy through four years at the Stanford Center
for Innovations in Learning and consulting over the past decade for
organizations including the US Department of Education and the Gates
Foundation. At Google I have led teams to successful product launches.
In 2011, I joined with other parents to urge PAUSD to implement
Project Safety Net’s plan for improving student social and emotional
health, including successfully advocating for a district committee on
homework. As a committee member, I helped build consensus for a new
PAUSD policy setting homework time limits.

     I look forward to working collaboratively with stakeholders to
advance our community vision of schools where every child can thrive
academically, socially, and emotionally. To prepare our students for
the 21st century economy, our excellent schools should continue to
provide a rigorous curriculum to high-achieving students while also
providing challenging paths for average and struggling students. I
will work to reduce academic stress, improve student health, increase
counseling support, and raise the achievement of lower income and
minority children. To support these goals we need to identify and
implement best practices district-wide, and build bridges to centers
of excellence and innovation in Silicon Valley.

     These values are widely shared, but our school board must
transform these intentions into actionable policy. I will work toward
transparency, streamlined decision making, and a data-driven
management process with clear accountability for results. The district
will benefit from an open process that invites public input and
participation. These reforms are particularly important as we face
complex issues including budget constraints, school overcrowding,
improving student health, closing the achievement gap, and supporting
our excellent teachers. The payoff will be higher academic achievement
by more students and healthier, happier kids. That's the vision that
spurred me to run for school board. I ask for your support.

For more information about this candidate, visit kendauber.com.

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