Charlie Jones, a new member of the Pleasanton School Board, is starting his term on the PUSD Board of Trustees. Jones has been an integral part of the Bay Area community for decades.
“I graduated from Amador and I moved up to Hayward where I was a teacher and still am a teacher. The opportunity of being a school board member came up to me as I was passionate about improving student’s experiences, ” said Jones.
Jones strives push forward the core fundamentals that he wants to see within Pleasanton’s education system. As Pleasanton rapidly changes, PUSD has been seeing dwindling numbers in staff despite an influx of administrators coming to Amador in the beginning of the year; retention is something Jones is deeply concerned about.
“Our district has a problem with teacher retention – we’re good at attracting teachers but we’re not very good at retaining them,” said Jones.
Charlie Jones’ journey from educator to civic leader serves as an inspiration for those seeking to change in their communities and be leaders.
“I would love to increase funding of the dual immersion program; it’s good from Kindergarten to fifth grade but we peter off in middle school, this is the program where students can learn in Spanish and English. With this program, we can support people whose first language is not English,” said Jones.
His background as an educator plays a key role in observing and evaluating the crucial places that might be lacking.
“Right now, there is a big gap in CAASPP testing scores between our white students and Latino & black students. I would like to close that gap during my tenure on the school board,” said Jones.
Charlie Jones’ journey from educator to civic leader serves as an inspiration for those seeking change in their communities. He looks forward to his tenure on the school board and hopes his commitment to persistence and policy will serve him well in the future
