ERIC SAHAKIAN RUNS FOR GLENDALE SCHOOL BOARD
by Vincent Lima
The Armenian Reporter
c-sahakian-runs-for-glendale-school-board
Friday March 27, 2009
Glendale, Calif. – "Having been across the desk as an administrator
from parents, especially English-learning parents, I know that
they’re a little bit reluctant, anxious to be going and discussing
their concerns about the school board during a meeting, timed, five
minutes, at a podium, on live TV. It creates anxiety in anyone. It’s
not a very inviting situation."
So says Eric Sahakian, who hopes to win a seat on the Glendale Unified
School District Governing Board in the election scheduled for April
7. A main plank of his platform is improved communication between
the district and parents.
"Not a survey," he explains. "No assessment. Just open dialogue."
His campaign office, across the street from Glendale Community College
is full of energy, as it has drawn many former students who remember
him fondly as a counselor at Hoover High School or a vice principal
at Toll Middle School. Mr. Sahakian now works for the Los Angeles
County Office of Education, where he oversees the career technical
education programs of four districts and nine high schools.
Voters will choose three school board members on Election Day. The
three incumbents are facing a challenge from Mr. Sahakian and Chris
Walters. The two challengers have been endorsed by the Armenian
National Committee of Glendale Political Action Committee, California
State Assembly member Paul Krekorian, and the Glendale Teachers
Association (GTA) – which has had contentious relations with the
district administration.
Asked whether he hopes to see changes in the administration of the
school district, Mr. Sahakian said he respected current board members
and school administrators, but intended, if elected, "to bring forth
more proactiveness."
In a nod to tight financial times, Mr. Sahakian is careful about
the costs of initiatives he advocates. Thus, for example, he does
not call for smaller classes across the board. Rather, he suggests
specifically that Algebra I for 8th and 9th grades should be targeted
for class-size reduction.
Indeed, he argues that such a targeted step would save the district
money. Remedial classes for juniors and seniors constitute an
important expense for the district, and Mr. Sahakian expects that
greater teacher time with students in the 8th and 9th grades will
reduce the need for expensive remedial classes later.
Likewise, Mr. Sahakian showed concern about fiscal discipline when
asked whether he would support gathering data about the performance
of students by background. The point of such data collection would be
to identify problems that may be particular to members of specific
immigrant groups or subgroups. Mr. Sahakian preferred to gather
information at no cost by encouraging partnerships with civic
organizations.
The district could achieve the same result, he said, "if we
have opportunities where we could actually start working with and
communicating to community organizations within Glendale, whether it’s
a Korean community organization, an Armenian community organization,
communicating with them for them to pretty much assist us in assessing
needs of a particular group of folks we serve in Glendale Unified,
and then working with them and dialoguing with them about the feedback
we’re receiving."
Mr. Sahakian was born in Los Angeles and attended Armenian school. A
product of the Cal State University system, he holds a master’s degree
in counseling psychology. His civic involvement includes working
collaboratively in identifying at-risk youth for the AGBU Generation
Next mentorship program.