In July 2018, my second term will end. I will not run for another term. Serving on the board and representing our community is one of the most rewarding experiences of my educational career. I particularly want to thank Superintendent Chris Steinhauser and the members of the board with whom I’ve had the privilege to serve – Diana Craighead, Megan Kerr, Jon Meyer, Dr. Felton Williams, as well as previous board members David Barton and Mary Stanton. All are consummate professionals. Finally, our teachers, administrators and staff are extraordinary in their commitment to our students and their families. They are the reason Long Beach Unified is one of the best and most highly acclaimed school districts in the nation. It’s an honor to work with all of you! Thank you!

Thank you for re-electing me to a second term on the Board of Education!

Serving on our Board has been a highlight of my career in public education. The past four years were challenging due to the economy, which required us to make severe cuts in staffing and programs. But our school district continued to serve our students with distinction. Student test scores continued to climb due to the dedication and professionalism of our teachers, principals, staff and district administrators.

I look forward to serving our students and teachers as our economy steadily improves. With the implementation of Common Core State Standards, Local Control Accountability Plans and other initiatives, students will continue to achieve academic success!

Thank you giving me the opportunity to serve another term! I am proud to be in the company of such great professionals in the Long Beach Unified School District!

With just one month to go before Election Day, the campaign is getting very active. I’ve been out walking and talking with residents in my local neighborhoods.

Many great community leaders as well as the Press-Telegram and Long Beach Register have endorsed my re-election. Im proud to honor their endorsements by running a positive campaign. Thats easy to do when you serve on the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified District, one of the best urban districts in California, and in the United States.  Contributing to my community by serving on our school board for the last four years is a highlight of my 44 years in public education. I hope to continue in that spirit for another four. I ask for your vote so I can continue to serve our students, our teachers and our community!

Heres some helpful information on registering to vote, voting by mail and finding your polling place.

Thank you for your support and your vote on April 8!

Sacramento, CA, January 16, 2014: John McGinnis, president of the Long Beach Unified School Board, and Chris Steinhauser, superintendent, addressed the State Board of Education today in support of the proposed template and emergency regulations for the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) that school districts must adopt this year. Read text of John’s remarks here.

McGinnis and Steinhauser, joined by John Deasy, superintendent of Los Angeles USD and Mike Hanson, superintendent of Fresno USD, led a long list of education leaders from across California speaking in support. Governor Jerry Brown also made a rare appearance before the State Board to speak in support the template and regulations.

In his remarks McGinnis said, “Our district, the third largest in California, supports the LCAP template and regulations because they ensure strict accountability while allowing local control.”  He closed his remarks by stating, “Long Beach has earned international recognition for closing achievement gaps, but we have more work to do.  We must accelerate gains in achievement for all students if California is to remain competitive.  The template and regulations provide a path to success.  We strongly support approval.”

McGinnis, who is running for re-election, was first elected to the Long Beach Board of Education in a special election on December 29, 2009, to finish the last six months of his predecessor’s term. He began his first full term in July 2010. On July 15, 2013, he was selected by his colleagues to serve as President of the Board of Education.

McGinnis is endorsed by all his fellow Board members, Superintendent Steinhauser, Mayor Bob Foster, Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, former mayors Dr. Beverly O’Neill and Dr. Thomas Clark, Congressman Alan Lowenthal, Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.

During his first term he served on the Board’s Instruction Committee, Business Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Committee and as the District’s delegate to the California School Boards Association (CSBA). He worked on CSBA’s Delegate Assembly, Linked Learning Task Force and its Annual Education Conference Committee.

I am running for reelection in order to use the experience I gained in my first term to help reinvigorate visual and performing arts, school libraries, career and college counseling, nursing, early childhood education and other programs that were reduced during the past recession. As money returns, our school board will work collaboratively to restore these programs with strategic planning and experienced leadership. And we’ll continue to assure the safety, equity and respect of all students regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

I was first elected to the Board of Education in a special election on December 29, 2009, to finish the last six months of my predecessor’s term. I began my first full term in July 2010.  On July 15, 2013, I was honored to be chosen by my colleagues as President of the Board.

During my first term I served on the Board’s Instruction Committee and its Business Committee. I also served with Dr. Felton Williams as a Board representative on the District’s Strategic Planning Committee. In addition, I served as the District’s delegate to the California School Boards Association (CSBA), where I worked on CSBA’s Delegate Assembly, Linked Learning Task Force and its Annual Education Conference Committee.

I am honored to be endorsed for reelection by Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, Vice President of the Board Diana Craighead, and Board Members Jon Meyer, Mary Stanton and Dr. Felton Williams. Mayor Bob Foster, Vice Mayor Robert Garcia and City Prosecutor Doug Haubert have also endorsed me. In addition, I am endorsed by Congressman Alan Lowenthal, Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal and County of Los Angeles Supervisor Don Knabe. And former colleagues from Cerritos College who have endorsed me include Dr. Adolph Johnson, retired Dean of Academic Affairs, Charles Tilghman, retired Dean of Fine Arts, and Mark Wallace, retired Director of Public Affairs and Governmental Relations.

The Board of Education has worked well together during these difficult economic times. I look forward to using my experience to continue our Board’s collaboration with administrators, teachers, staff and parents to improve student learning.

On Wednesday evening, January 13, I was honored to be sworn into office on the Long Beach Unified School Board by Superintendent Chris Steinhauser. I’m grateful to the voters and to the many community members who welcomed me to this city, advised me during the campaign and honored me with election to the School Board.

My wife Dianne and my son Paul, friends, teachers, librarians, staff and administrators attended the ceremony. I thank them as well as my daughter Michelle, her husband Richard and many more family and friends for their support and generosity during the campaign.

Finally, I thank Superintendent Steinhauser and Board members Mary Stanton, President, Felton Williams, Vice President, David Barton and Jon Meyer who’ve been so welcoming and supportive. I look forward to serving the students, parents, teachers, administrators and staff of the Long Beach Unified School District. Together we can preserve and promote the quality of education for the children of our District even during these difficult economic times. I’m proud to be a part of this endeavor!

For more on the swearing-in ceremony visit: http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_14184999

To learn more about the Long Beach Board of Education, visit: http://www.lbschools.net/Main_Offices/Board_of_Education/

Dianne and I want to thank the voters of Long Beach who entrusted me with the responsibility to serve on the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education. I will work hard to earn the trust you put in me.

I also want to thank those who contributed to our campaign, walked neighborhoods with me and made phone calls on my behalf. In those efforts we learned that the residents of our community care deeply about the education of school children. They were gracious and eager to discuss education issues with us. I’m honored to serve them.

I look forward to working with my new colleagues on the Board, with the administration, faculty and staff, with students and parents, and with the many business and community organizations that make Long Beach such a dynamic city.

Again, thank you!

John

The Long Beach Press-Telegram profiled me in its article McGinnis Touts Experience on December 17. The article highlighted my 40 years in public education, twenty as a teacher and twenty as a college administrator. It also covered my intention to use that experience to help preserve programs such as visual and performing arts, school libraries, career counseling and athletics during these economic hard times. Read the entire article here.

A few weeks ago my wife and I attended Renaissance High School’s production of The Wiz at the International City Theatre. The students were wonderful! Their singing, dancing, and acting talents and their enthusiasm brought back memories of my years as a high school teacher. Back then, my wife and I would take our own small children to high school productions. They later went on to become members of their high school bands. To this day our children’s participation in those school activities continues to shape their lives.

If you look past Renaissance High’s remarkable production values and the students’ amazing talents and enthusiasm, what you’ll see are young adults of all ability levels and backgrounds learning to work together to achieve common goals. What you’ll also see is the participation of those students’ families – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles – in the productions and in the audiences.

This is why I will fight to preserve visual and performing arts programs, school libraries and athletic teams at all levels. They are not extracurricular activities. They are integral to student success. They help close achievement gaps, reduce drop-out rates and propel students to become lifelong learners better prepared to succeed in higher education and to become productive members of our community.

Check out the article in the District online, “The Amazing Race?.” Theo Douglas’s story is accompanied by Luke McGarry’s political cartoon of the five candidates.

In the article, Douglas mentions two of my endorsers, Jon Meyer, member of the Long Beach USD Board of Education and former LBUSD teacher, coach and principal, and Delaine Eastin, who Douglas refers to as,  “…the race’s most prestigious endorser, having served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1995 to 2003. (Eastin endorses McGinnis, having worked with him during his time at the helm of the California Academic and Research Library Association and the California School Library Association.)”

One of the questions the article raises is whether any of the five candidates intends to use this seat on the Board as a jumping off point to other political offices. Douglas writes, “McGinnis is blunt: ‘I’m 64 years old. I have no intent of going on to higher office,’ he says. ‘I’m running because I have a long history of service to higher education.’”

My commitment is to serving the educational needs of our students as a member of the Long Beach Unified Board of Education.

This morning the Long Beach Press Telegram published my letter in support of Measure T. You can read the letter here.

Measure T is a parcel tax of $92 a year, 25 cents a day, that will help Long Beach Unified defray some of the enormous cuts imposed by the state legislature on public education. Without the passage of Measure T, Long Beach Unified will have to layoff teachers, clerks, maintenance workers and other staff. These layoffs will result in larger class sizes and the elimination of programs that have successfully and measurably improved test scores and reduced achievement gaps.

I fully support passage of Measure T. I encourage everyone in the District to vote Yes on Measure T.