John Witt has been a school board member as long as his opponent has been alive. Between Witt's previous three terms on the county Board of Education and an additional 13 years on the San Diego Unified School District board, he has had 25 years on the dais.
Michael Blow, 25, is listed on the ballot as a polysomnographic technologist, which involves recording biophysiological changes that occur during sleep. The Point Loma resident did not file a candidate statement with the Registrar of Voters and did not return numerous phone calls and e-mails seeking an interview for this story.
They are running for the District 1 seat to represent San Diego neighborhoods from downtown to Del Mar and east to Scripps Ranch.
The county board is the policy-making body that oversees the education of about 4,000 students in the juvenile court and community schools (which handle students on probation, expelled students, pregnant and parenting students, and others referred to them by traditional schools). The board also gives broad direction to the San Diego County Office of Education, which audits budgets, registers teacher credentials, does employee background checks, certifies attendance records and develops countywide programs to serve special student populations for the county's 42 public school districts.
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Michael Blow
Age: 25
Residence: Point Loma
Family: n/a
Party: Republican
Occupation: Polysomnographic technologist
Education: n/a
John Witt
Age: 77
Residence: Clairemont
Family: Widower; three adult children
Party: Republican
Occupation: County school board member
Education: Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, 1955, University of Illinois; master's degree in mechanical engineering, 1969, San Diego State University
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Witt, 77, a retired mathematics professor at City and Mesa colleges, has served on the county Board of Education since 1996.
“I'm pleased that we've been able to raise test scores in the county schools and we've been able to partially close the achievement gap in county schools,” said Witt, adding that he hopes to do more of the same in another term.
He has long emphasized a basics-first approach to education, and on his ballot statement he emphasizes his approval of millions of dollars in funding for reading and basic skills. Witt also states that he supported increased funding for charter schools, publicly funded schools with their own governing boards that are free from many regulations in return for meeting academic goals.
Witt's support for charters is not unconditional. He voted last year to deny a countywide charter to Literacy First, which sought blanket approval to open new campuses without the approval of host districts.
Chris Moran: (619) 498-6637; chris.moran@uniontrib.com
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