Best for Hacienda La Puente Unified schools

San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 10/31/2007, Local - 4

IT says something about the community when it raises up so many excellent candidates for school board. This is the case with Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, the east San Gabriel Valley's largest school district.

On Tuesday, voters must choose only two from a very capable field of six candidates. Therefore, we also will endorse two, not because the other four are not worthy, but because there are only two seats up. We recommend voters return veteran board member Norman Hsu and elect newcomer Jay F. Chen.

...For the second seat, we first would like to thank Sandy Johnson, who is stepping down, for her selfless and indefatigable service on the school board. While filling her shoes will be a tough job, we would like to hand that opportunity to Jay Chen.

Chen grew up in Hacienda Heights and graduated from Mesa Robles in 1992 and Wilson High School in 1996. He is a Harvard graduate, was a business consultant and is now in real estate and speaks Spanish as well as English and Chinese.

Chen has his ear to the ground concerning issues in the district. For instance, he has been persuading parents not to send their child to Troy High School in Fullerton, a school the district loses many students to. He's agreed to set up a blog to communicate with students and parents, as well as a MySpace page.

Chen believes that many parents would keep their children particularly at Wilson High School if they were aware of the school's excellent offerings and programs.

He also said many district residents would not support a new bond, so his advice is to hold off on such a proposal.

Others who are very strong candidates include: John Eckman, whom we have endorsed in the past, and B.J. Moore, an administrator from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Once again, we endorse Hsu and Chen but urge all registered voters to go to the polls and vote.