LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Teachers endorse DUSD incumbents

Dear Editor:

President of the Downey Education Association (DEA), Jim Mogan, publicly announced DEA's endorsement of the four incumbent Downey Unified Board of Education members who will be up for re-election this November. This declaration in support of Tod M. Corrin, William A. Gutierrez, Donald E. LaPlante and D. Mark Morris, was made on Wednesday, July 15. 

Tod M. Corrin, currently serving as President of the Board of Education, has represented Trustee Area Two for 12 years. Serving since 2003, Corrin has been re-elected three times. Presently a member of the Board of Education and previous 2014 Board President representing Trustee Area Three, William A. Gutierrez has been an active member since 2001. The longest elected member, Donald E. LaPlante, has served on the Board since 1979 and represents Trustee Area Four. Throughout his 36 years, LaPlante has served as Board president six times and in 2012, was elected as Director for Region 24 for the California School Boards Association. The final incumbent for the November election is D. Mark Morris, who represents Trustee Area Six. Following close behind LaPlante, he has served on the Downey Unified Board of Education since 1982. Elected as president five times during his 33 years on the Board, Morris was previously a member of the Delegate Assembly for the California School Boards Association.

The Downey Education Association has endorsed these four incumbents because of the countless accomplishment throughout their years of service, especially during the worst economic crisis in decades from 2008-2013.

"Downey Unified has soared above and beyond because of the decisions that have come out of the board room," stated Mogan. In the 2014-2015 school year alone, Downey Unified has unveiled two state of the art buildings at the high school level that has expanded the educational offerings for many students. Downey Unified was also selected for the College Board's AP Honor Roll, has had a feature story broadcast on public radio highlighting the exemplary implementation of curricula in comparison to other school districts, has been selected by the State Superintendent for a $6 million Career Pathway Trust grant and have had 26 high school students compete at the national SkillsUSA Competition, four of which received gold medals becoming National Champions.

This past year, Downey Unified has also reached a record high graduation rate of over 93 percent. 

For these reasons and countless others the Downey Education Association is proud to endorse these four incumbents for re-election to the Downey Unified Board of Education.

Ashley Pryor
Downey