As a neurologist, community advocate, and mother of two daughters at Berry Miller Junior High, I want to ensure that every student has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

 

I grew up in the Greater Houston area and earned an A.B. in History of Science from Harvard College. After college, I came back to Houston and founded a youth civic engagement program that tied academic achievement to service in 13 public schools in the Greater Houston area. I earned my MD and PhD in neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, where I also finished my residency and fellowship training in neurology and epilepsy. I moved to Pearland in 2004, and my two daughters have grown up in Pearland schools, from kindergarten through 7th and 8th, respectively. I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve my community.

 

I am concerned about the dangerous nationwide trend of pushing academic excellence to the exclusion of developing the whole child. Mental health and counseling services have been grossly under-resourced and can serve our children and families better. I believe that when our schools focus on social and emotional development, in addition to academic achievement, we help our children grow into adults who contribute to a healthy community.

 

The emphasis on standardized testing results continues to strongly influence the material that teachers cover in class. I have spoken with many teachers who feel they must devote themselves heavily to teaching to standardized tests, leaving them little time to creatively teach individual students who need help. Our children have an intrinsic value beyond their standardized test scores–scores that mirror economically and racially segregated expectations and perpetuate achievement gaps rather than closing them.

 

As a second generation Korean American, I joined the board of the Korean American Association and Community Center of Houston, where I push for language accessibility in voting and civic engagement. As a progressive feminist, I founded Pantsuit Republic, through which I’ve made extensive efforts to engage immigrants and communities of color, as well as youth who face multiple challenges.

 

Overcrowding is a problem for our district. Pearland ISD has grown rapidly over the last five years—a predictable trend when we see economic development and expressway construction, signs of overall growth throughout Pearland. In 2016, the district was forced to address overcrowding by rezoning hundreds of students. However, PISD may not be prepared for more students. According to Templeton Demographics, a consulting firm hired by PISD, the number of students will stop increasing and dramatically stabilize over the next ten years—in spite of the obvious continued growth of our community. We must be able to anticipate the future so that we don’t overcrowd our schools, fail to build new schools when needed, or under-resource critical services like mental health and counseling.

 

While we must address the continued growth in the number of students, we must also meet the needs of an increasingly diverse community. 27% of our students come from economically disadvantaged families while 15% are African American, 35% are Hispanic, and 11% are Asian American. The Pearland ISD Board of Trustees must deal with these issues in the face of a Texas-wide financial crisis in our schools. This is best achieved when the Board represents the backgrounds and challenges of all Pearland students and families and carefully weighs the input of all stakeholders in PISD.

 

I firmly believe that education and civic engagement are the bridge between a healthy individual and a healthy community. Join me, and together we can improve whole child health and ensure educational equity for PISD.