Dear Friend,

 

Over the past few months, hundreds of students from across our county have urged me to run to be the Student Member of the Board of Education. These requests have a consistent theme; MCPS students are frustrated with the achievement gap, the appalling state of our crumbling schools, as well as the alarming increase in enrollment and class sizes. They’re frustrated with a system that gives them rhetoric, not solutions.

 

I share every one of these concerns.

 

This year, I am proud to be asking for your consideration and support to serve as your Student Member on the Board of Education. I’m running because you deserve positive, visionary leadership that you can trust and communicate with, all while solving our school system’s historic challenges. That is my mission. Fighting for the values and policies that will impact the daily lives of every single student, while leading a team that shares our beliefs is what animates my service as an advocate.

 

I’m asking for your support because I have the capacity and experience to serve at this critical time, and because I can help lead us in the battle of ideas as we fight for the direction of our county. Through my proven record of achieving change in our county, I have formed a vision for MCPS that can be translated into reality, molding a clear path for MCPS towards a better future.  My past experiences have allowed me to create a planned structure for how to approach the issues we face, and my experiences at various levels help me understand how to create change that the students can benefit from.  Working side-by-side with our past SMOBs, as well as county and state leaders, I have mastered how to make changes at our local and state levels.

 

By definition, the position of the Student Member on the Board job is collaborative, and must draw on relationships that transcend boundaries and groups.  At this tumultuous time for our county, the possibilities for our school system are countless. We need a SMOB who comes in prepared to address the issues at hand, with a command of policy, and the character necessary to reach out to the students in order to fulfill their vision. We need a SMOB who will rigorously and relentlessly bring the student voice to the board, a SMOB who won’t settle for less than the students deserve. We need a SMOB who will be able to translate their vision into tangible change that the students are able to experience every day as the changes improve their quality of life.

 

I look forward to speaking with you about my plan to elevate our prized school system, and bring it back up to the top.  I will work with you to help steer MCPS into the future. I will listen to and incorporate the views of every student in our school systems policies.

 

I’m asking for your vote, and I am grateful for your serious consideration.

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

Eric L. Guerci