Meet the Candidates: Joe DiPaola

Editor's note: This is the third and final profile of the candidates  vying for a seat on the Dixon Unified School District's Board of Education. Check out the other profiles we have done on and .

Two years ago, local attorney Joe DiPaola was in the running for one of two seats on the Dixon Unified School District Board of Education. DiPaola didn't win, but came close.

But that was then.

Today DiPaola's chances are better than ever as he vies for one of two seats on the DUSD school board -- in which incumbent John Gabby and basketball coach Guy Garcia are also in the running.

DiPaola is an 11-year Dixon resident and parent of one, who decided to give it another go for a seat on the school board because of his growing concern that the quality of education within Dixon's schools is declining due to lack of funding and resources, especially at the elementary school level, he said.

Having volunteered in the classroom once a week for seven years to tutor elementary school students with their reading, writing and math gave DiPaola a strong desire to do more for these students as a school board member, he said.

With the being in its 4th year of program improvement, DiPaola’s primary concern is the quality of education.

“One of the problems is,” said DiPaola. “We’ve cut too deep into the programs and services that we offer at the schools and the kids are suffering as a result.”

DiPaola feels that while financial stability in the district is a key goal, the focus on proper education has been lost.

“On the financial side we have to be careful, we can’t be reckless” said DiPaola. “But getting our schools out of program improvement is urgent, and it has been overlooked.”

In order for our schools to improve and solve many of the problems that they currently face, DiPaola says that where possible, the schools need parents, volunteers and assistants to become more active in schools; staff and resources are in short supply due to budget cuts and could benefit greatly from this.

Dixon has a high number of students whose primary language is not English and DiPaola believes that their success in learning English as a second language has been limited due to cuts resulting in lack of resources.

“Our English-language learners are not getting the resources and help they need because we’ve spent too much time studying the problem and talking about the problem but not fixing the problem,” DiPaola said.

Another of DiPaola’s concerns is that with classes and programs being cut, one of the many consequences is an increase in the number of students in each class.

“Because classes are so large, teachers don’t have enough time to be able to devote extra time to kids who just need a little extra help here and there,” he said.

DiPaola, after tutoring many kindergarten through 3rd grade students, believes that increasing the amount of reading assistants, while decreasing class sizes within the district is an important part of the equation. He feels that a more personal connection between teachers and students is instrumental for a better learning experience, but that it has been compromised with over-sized classes.

In addition to improving education and balancing the budget, DiPaola also mentioned the physical condition of and the elementary schools. “All the schools except the High School, essentially,” said DiPaola. “Need some sort of facility repairs and we need to go back and budget better for those repairs.”

In the upcoming term, DiPaola would like to see English-language learners and students, as a whole, excelling on their tests and becoming proficient in their core classes.

He also would like to see one or more and eventually all Dixon schools getting out of program improvement which would allow for more academic and extracurricular programs and activities for the students. DiPaola also says that this would allow for a better use of physical resources and facilities.

“We can move in the right direction, we can fix these things,” said DiPaola. “And I want to fix them in a way that benefits my son and his friends and all the other kids in the system … this is all about the kids and there should be no other agenda.”

DiPaola encourages anyone who can, to participate and volunteer wherever possible in Dixon’s schools to better the education of the students.

“The unions, management, the board, the community, parents… we all need to cooperate together to fix these problems, otherwise none of it will get fixed,” he said.

DiPaola currently owns his own practice as a lawyer and real-estate broker with 20 years of legal experience with degrees from Stanford University, law school of Washington University, and business school of UCLA.

For more information about Joe Dipaola, visit: http://www.1us1.com/