It is never easy to knock off an incumbent. But Valerie Amparan is looking to do just that.
Amparan is challenging eight-year-incumbent Rose Munoz for a seat on the Santa Barbara Unified School Board school district in Trustee Area 4.
Amparan appeared on the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina to talk about the performance of Superintendent Hilda Maldonado, tech policy, student test scores, and a variety of school topics.
“I’m coming at this from a very practical standpoint,” Amparan said. “I value facts and I value data to make my decisions. And some of the key factors around, you know, the superintendent doing their job is. Are they coming within budget? How are our clients, How are our students, doing?
“And right now, if 50% of clients cannot read or write or do math at their proficiency level, like that’s a problem. And I recognize that’s not only the superintendent’s issue because it’s more nuanced, but you know, when a football team is not doing well and their scores aren’t well, what do you do? You replace the coach and you start again.”
Check out the full podcast on YouTube by clicking here or the link above.
Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast owned by journalist Joshua Molina. He is the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press and worked as a reporter and editor at Noozhawk and the San Jose Mercury News. He also teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. Watch Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina on YouTube for hundreds of podcast interviews and commentary.
