Name: Maria Waleska Cruz
Age: 44
Party, Position Seeking: Democrat running for the Board of Education.
Family information: Single Mother of three young adult children.
Occupation: Social Worker.
Political Experience: Currently hold a seat on the executive boards of the Manchester Democratic Town Committee; the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus; AFSCME Council 4 and serving on the Manchester Board of Education as an elected official.
Other Experience: Former President of the Manchester Latino Affairs Council.
Why did you run for office?
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I chose to run for re-election in order to continue the work that was begun during my first term with respect to the hiring of a Superintendent, a High School Principal and balancing a budget in 2012, which will present the challenges of balancing a budget with the loss of the Federal Stimulus grants, implementing an unfunded state mandate that requires our District to begin a pre-school program that the estimated cost would be approximately $600,000 for the first year and $400,00 each year thereafrter.
If elected, what would be your primary areas of focus?
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Hiring a Superintendent, hiring a High School Principal and balancing a challenging budget in 2012.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing Manchester today?
The hiring of a new Superintendent.
What skills do you have that you could bring to the community?
I come from a very strong Social Work background with an equally as strong expertise in the development and implementation of policy. I strive for every child within our school district to have an equal opportunity to an education and afford every child an opportunity to be able to achieve academic excellence in a safe and positive learning environment.
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