Culver City Observer -

The Association of Classified Employees Culver City, along with the Culver City Federation of Teachers, recently endorsed three extraordinary candidates for the Culver City School Board: Karlo Silbiger, Claudia Vizcarra and Vernon Taylor.

Here are a few reasons why they are supporting these individuals, according to Debbie Hamme. President of the Classified Employees.

Karlo Silbiger is an incumbent running for reelection. Karlo is a teacher in LAUSD and a member of CTA. As a member of our school board for the last four years, he has championed environmental sustainability in the district and has successfully seen through to fruition a solar panel project that will, over time, save our district millions of dollars.

To his credit, Karlo took a measured approach to the placement of a bond initiative on the November ballot, asking that the board consider the financial ramifications to both the district and the community before doing so. Karlo is a man of integrity, a consensus builder and honors the tradition of public service by representing all stakeholders knowledgeably, thoughtfully and respectfully--that is why we need him on the school board for another four years.

Claudia Vizcarra is the mother of two children in our schools and serves as the Policy Director for Steve Zimmer, Vice-President of the LAUSD Board of Education. Prior to this she worked for Jackie Goldberg, a two-term California state Assemblywoman.

Claudia's extensive knowledge of the complexities and challenges of state funding issues will be an asset to our board. She is a passionate advocate for all students and is especially interested in the challenges our ELL and economically disadvantaged students face. Additionally, Claudia, if elected, will be the first Latina to serve on our school board since the 1990's, which will provide long-overdue representation for the considerable number of Latino families in our district.

Vernon Taylor is the father of three sons who have attended or are currently attending Culver City schools. Vernon is a local businessman and banker and possesses financial expertise that will serve us well on the board. He has volunteered extensively with the youth in our community as both a Boy Scout leader and a coach. His focus of bringing equity to all of our schools and ensuring that all students have access to the same educational opportunities regardless of economic circumstance resonated with us very strongly.