Member, District 1 — San Diego County Board of Education

Mark Powell Vice-President San Diego County Board of Education would like to help save students lives from possible opioid overdoses by arming school officials with Naloxone also known as Narcan a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses.

San Diego County Board of Education Vice President Mark Powell states that one way to retain teachers and help them cope with soaring rents is by encouraging local school districts to build affordable housing projects exclusively for teachers.

Mark Powell, Vice President, San Diego County Board of Education stopped by Good Morning San Diego to show off a few devices designed to resemble flash drives, pens or lipstick tubes, vaping products are easy to hide from teachers and parents and students are vaping on schools campuses relatively undetected by school personnel. E-cigarettes are now the most frequently used tobacco product among middle and high school students surpassing traditional cigarettes. The County Office of Education offers short substance intervention programs for teens, to help them understand the risks of vaping and how to take steps to stop. The county office also hosts “Friday Night Live” events to train peer mentors to harness the power of peer pressure which is often a factor in why kids start vaping. San Diego County Office of Education recommends an online tobacco prevention toolkit offered by Stanford University, and the California Smoker’s Helpline.

Mark Powell Vice-President for the San Diego County Board of Education, would like every teacher trained in recognizing the signs of an overdose and would like every site administrator trained in the use of Narcam. Narcan can be used to reverse an opioid overdoses.

San Diego County Board of Education Vice President Mark Powell states that the draft California Ethnic Studies curriculum must add lessons on Jewish Americans and Antisemitism. Many feel that the entire curriculum reads as an extreme political agenda being presented under cover of an ethnic studies program.Critics say proposed Ethnic Studies curriculum focuses more propaganda than education.The California Board of Education has drafted an Ethnic Studies curriculum that could become a graduation requirement for high school and university students. It was drafted by an advisory committee of mostly K-12 teachers. The stated purpose is to have students think critically about cultural diversity and inclusion to eradicate bigotry, hate and racism, however the curriculum as drafted falls short of its goal.