Leadership needed to stop Fresno’s brain drain

Social activists clearly want to sacrifice Fresno Unified School District Board President Brooke Ashjian on the altar of political correctness. It would be a terrible loss of the active leadership needed to retain Fresno’s lost students.

Since 2001, Fresno’s taxpayers passed three school bonds totaling $704 million while FUSD’s enrollment actually dropped 9 percent. Tracking a single age group, Fresno Unified lost 27 percent of their white students between the time they enrolled in the first grade in 2009 and returned for the eighth grade in 2016.

While I support sensitivity for LBGTQ persons, strong leadership is critical to stop the district’s “brain drain” to Clovis, Central and Sanger Unified.

Mr. Ashjian was concerned about student retention when we met after my annual Fresno Bee column criticizing FUSD for hiding their high school dropouts in alternative schools. We discussed data rarely shared with elected school boards and toured the Crescent View West Charter School. They enroll over a thousand former FUSD high school students but this was their first visit by a district official.

He is clearly a leader focused on student success – including the need for more diversity among teachers and adult role models. Classroom safety was another high priority to retain teachers and students.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Leadership needed to stop Fresno’s brain drain."