Fact Sheet

Sandra Nichols:

• is the only candidate for Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools who is a career teacher and a 20-year member of the American Federation of Teachers. She has 28 years experience teaching in California public schools.

• is the only candidate who has experience overseeing the county's largest school district budget.

• is a speech and language specialist for Santa Cruz City Schools, fluent in English and Spanish, and the Coordinator of Special Education for Spreckels Union School District.

• was twice elected to the governing board of the county's largest school district, Pajaro Valley Unified (2000, 2004), currently serving as board Vice President.

• is the only candidate who publicly and continually works to "hold the line" on administrative salaries and even reduce administrator stipends and positions so funds can be targeted to classrooms.

• is the school board leader in the creation of an "opt-out" statement on student emergency cards to protect the rights of parents to withhold student information from military recruiters.

• is the only candidate with a record and a reputation for publicly supporting environmental protection. She placed a proposal on the Pajaro Valley school board agenda to fuel the county's largest fleet of school buses with renewable bio-diesel. The proposal was promptly implemented.

• organized and led a coalition of county educators (www.CampaignSOS.org) to lobby legislators and local media for improved school funding and better teacher compensation, and against the Governor's attack on schools and public employees. Members included County Superintendent of Schools Diane Siri, PVUSD Superintendent Mary Anne Mays, and SCCS Superintendent Alan Pagano.

• worked to bring healthy food choices to student lunches and reduce junk food in local schools as a Pajaro Valley school board leader and member of the County's Children and Youth Commission.

• is the only candidate who is publicly outspoken against racial, ethnic, and socio-economic segregation of schools.

• was the lone vote on the school board against a plan to privatize social security for part-time and temporary school employees.

• is the school board leader in the three-year struggle to name the first Watsonville area school after a Latino hero.

• is the county's leader — for three years — advocating for an alternative to a high school diploma, and a standard for all high schools issuing a Certificate of Completion, for those students who meet all graduation requirements except the High School Exit Exam.

• is the only Santa Cruz County educator known to serve as a teacher, an administrator, and a trustee for three different school districts at the same time.

• is a published author and monthly columnist on matters of interest to educators and parents (www.Education-Matters.com).