This was written by someone else but I found it to be a nice summary of Dave Cortright's qualifications:

1) Dave has a designer's approach to education. By that I mean that he starts with the fundamental question, "what's the problem that we're trying to solve?" -- an approach that is key to creating a future that is consistent with our desires. He specifically talks specifically about this in the context technology in the classroom -- social media in particular. I agree with his basic premise that technology is not some magical solution to education and am supportive of anybody who wants to take a step back and pursue a more measured inquiry.

2) Dave believes that inspiring and supporting teachers is critical to educational success. Teacher's are one of our nation's greatest assets and their contributions and dedication should be celebrated and honored by all of us. We ask them to take on an impossible job and then we vilify them for having the audacity to ask for fair pay and benefits. Regardless of what the anti-union, witch-hunting crowd might claim, teachers are NOT the enemy and I am proud to stand beside a candidate who is willing to stand up for those who take on the heavy responsibility of educating future generations.

3) Dave believes that the SCCBOE needs to strengthen and improve its relationship with the local school districts under its control. This is consistent with his philosophy about teachers and indicates a fundamental philosophy that services start at the micro-local level and that the higher-up administrative organization, such as the SCCBOE, should be working WITH AND FOR those service providers to empower them. This is indicative of the type of bottoms-up approach that I believe is absolutely essential to the success of locally-delivered governmental services such as education.

4) Dave believes that the SCCBOE should take a more active role in the dispute between BCS and LASD. In the video he explicitly states that the SCCBOE is the third party in the relationship between BCS and LASD. He is dead-on right. Unfortunately, the SCCBOE has completely abdicated their responsibility in the debate as seen by Candidate Mah's utter lack of leadership on this issue. In her statement, she completely withdrew from the issue, stating that it was solely up to BCS and LASD to resolve the facilities dispute. This from the very chartering authority that should be monitoring and governing all the charter schools in their domain.

5) Dave's belief in and dedication to public education is fundamental to his being. In his closing remarks, Dave spoke of his family's multi-generational commitment to public education -- a commitment I never heard from the other candidate. Although Candidate Mah is clearly more experienced, even she admits that experience is the advantage of the incumbent. By contrast, Dave has a personal commitment, civic mind, and new perspective that will be invaluable to the impact of the SCCBOE in the coming years.

Excellent summary RR.
Could you pls post this on the Palo Alto Online. Or would you be ok with me doing it? The Post has had some horrible articles that do not describe Dave at all!