Don’t worry – not the CST test.  This is just a test to see if the blogging function on this website works.  I’ve never blogged before but I think this will be a useful way for me to comment on various issues facing the Berkeley schools.  I will link to the blog posts on my Facebook page, so if you want to make sure you don’t miss one, go ahead and “like” my Facebook page, which you can find here: http://www.facebook.com/tyalperforschoolboard.

I want to experiment, during the campaign, with different methods of communication – not only to reach more voters, but also to further my thinking about the ways in which BUSD can improve its communication with parents, guardians, and the larger community.  There’s been some real improvement over the past few years in that area, but I still think that, as a District, we don’t reach enough of our intended audience with important school-related information.  Some of the District’s methods of communication are outdated and therefore less effective than they could be.  If we want parents to be engaged in their children’s education, we need to clearly and effectively communicate with them — all of them (not just those who, like me, are on email all day long).

So this blog post is a test just to see if I successfully figured out the blogging function on this website.  And the blog generally is a test of one method of communication that I plan to use during the campaign, and hopefully as a board member as well.