Election 2018: Who is Abdur Sikder?

Name: Abdur Sikder, 50

Job: Entrepreneur/professor

Why are you running for School Board? 

I am running for Berkeley School Board because I want our District to be a place where all children have an equal opportunity to have high quality education, all students are taught to enjoy learning not that they have to. As a parent I know what kind of environment requires for students to become lifelong learners. I attended Schools in Bangladesh, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and USA including UC San Diego, being founder of a nonprofit educational institute and a for profit Software company in Berkeley I have the diverse background to understand all the stakeholders in Berkeley Unified School District.

Why are you qualified for the position?

Having a professional higher degrees and training in Teaching & Learning in higher education; I have the skill, experience and commitment to ensure that we use our resources efficiently. I will listen to all stakeholders and will incorporate their suggestion in the decision making process. Together we can achieve impossible. If elected I will work to have a safe, fun and friendly environment for our children to be successful including special need students. My goal is to facilitate practical oriented curriculum for our children to be ready to go to college or enter into workforce and live a productive life.

BUSD is headed toward painful budget cuts, for the second year in a row. How would you get the district in a better financial position?

I grow up in Bangladesh with limited resources. I know how to use resources efficiently. I would look for the area we can save and use that resources in the most important areas. I also try to negotiate with state to get larger budget for our district.

There are persistent, significant academic disparities along racial lines in BUSD. How would you work to close the achievement/opportunity gap?

I will be working closely with parents, teachers and students to identify issues and compe up with a best solution to resolve this gap.

This election follows recent violence and tragedies on school campuses, and the growth of a national movement to prevent those incidents. How would you make Berkeley schools safer?

Educate, Educate, Educate students, parents and other residents that we can achieve things by non-violence protest.

What are your two other top priorities?