Here’s the other half of the list sent to me by the city: the candidates who paid their $35 to run for CSD school board.
At-Large – Valarie D. Wilson (incumbent) Robert H. Pope, Elizabeth A. Hagberg, Carla Melissa Anderson
School Board Dist 1 – Marc J. Wisniewski (incumbent), Judith Lomas, Garrett Goebel, Alan Greenberg
School Board Dist 2 – Bernadette J. Seals (incumbent), Stephan Yurman, Dr. Catherine W Carter, Mildred Thompkins
Who are all these people? This is quite a flock of folks. It would be nice to get some info on them and find out what they stand for.
See http://www.robpope.com
Whoops, I mean http://www.robpope.org. I can never tell what should be *.com and what should be*.org.
Garrett Geebel should actually have been Garrett Goebel. And that would be me.
I am running for the District 1 seat because I would like to see positive change.
If you wish to apply a label, you might say that I am a fiscal conservative and social liberal. I have children at Renfroe and Clairemont. I am a full time father and a part time computer programmer. I have been involved in coaching at Decatur Active Living. I assist with the chess and science clubs at Clairemont, and the STEMCELL club at Renfroe. On Tuesdays I help out in Ms. Persaud’s 1st grade class. -In short, I’m an involved parent.
In my recent past, I have worked with organized groups of parents to influence positive changes into the petition to become a charter system. I also worked in a similar capacity on reconfiguration and in the reconfiguration committee. I try whenever possible to attend SLT, school board, and the occasional city commission meetings. Through these experiences I have developed tremendous respect for our leadership and staff. I believe we can work well together, seek effective compromise where we differ, and influence issues in a positive direction.
As a charter system, we need to see increased self-governance coming from the bottom up to compliment the strong leadership we have coming from the top down. I would like to see the governing role of the School Leadership Teams (SLTs) expanded. Toward this end, I have started to contact and meet with SLT and PTA leaders. We have a lot of great leaders in our schools. I will build my platform around what I learn from them. I will also make myself available at regular times to meet and chat with anyone and everyone.
I believe the City Commission and School Board need to find a better way to bridge the gap on issues like annexation where the decisions of one group impact the other and vice versa.
I would like to leverage new means to facilitate open and public discourse. If we can’t bring the water cooler talk to school forums, then we need to bring the schools to forums like Decatur Metro. We can leverage technology to survey teachers and parents on issue of significance.
I support our award winning implementations of the Expeditionary Learning curriculum, and would like to see both Advance Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) coexist at the High School.
As a charter system, we receive exemption from state regulations in return for achievement test results. I think we need to examine in detail the appropriate use of testing and its limitations. We need to make sure that we are teaching not to the tests, but to the children.
Does this answer your questions?
Do you have any specific questions you would like to ask? Other issues?
What are your thoughts on the issues?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Garrett
I am somewhat surprised by the number of candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring, particularly since we had really only previously heard about one of them – Rob Pope.
Is it a good thing, in that people want to participate, or is there some specific anger towards the school board that so many chose to run against incumbents this year – other than the standard “we need new blood” reason?
I’d say that’s for the candidates to answer. I commend Rob Pope for being very forthcoming with his positions — where he supports CSD and what he’d like to change — and Garrett Goebel for chiming in here. The silence thus far from the other candidates is a little disappointing but it may just be that we’re early in the game.
I’m interested in hearing the others address your question, Tyler. What are the weaknesses that need to be addressed and how would they do so? Otherwise, I see little reason to arbitrarily replace an incumbent.
I am thrilled to see so many people running for school board!
I’ve never seen so many candidates……. Looks like a shot over the bow to me.
I think that the admins and school board have woken the sleeping giant..
This will be interesting. Thank goodness we will actually have a race for a change. Let’s hope that all these candidates have their acts together enough to communicate how they are different than the current leadership. Also, let’s hope that all the families that have been grousing about the status quo are paying attention.
Best wishes to all.. may the best ideas win.
I’m glad there is a race, but I suspect that if they had their acts together, they would have gotten together among themselves and presented themselves as “the alternative candidate” instead of having 3 to choose from. Now, as things stand, the challengers will have to fight each other to demonstrate who is the best alternative instead of taking on the incumbent.
This strategy has a tendency not to work and helps the incumbent, even if the incumbent would otherwise be vulnerable.
But I’ve yet to hear why any of these incumbents should be vulnerable … and therein lies the even bigger problem.
You are absolutely correct. It’s still interesting.
I’m glad there’s several races too. Incumbents don’t have to be vulnerable for another good candidate to come along. And no matter who wins, it’s good for the candidates to get questions and comments from their future constituents and it’s good for the public for candidates to articulate their positions and thoughts on the latest issues. Given a tight budget, a complex system of educators ranging from paraprofessionals who only earn about $20,000 per year to administrators earning over $100,000-$150,000, increasing testing pressures, a diverse student body in terms of educational need, enrollment that changes quickly and is hard to predict, competition between programs and construction loan payments for the operating budget, and the challenge of implementing a charter system that is supposed to increase parenteral involvement and local school governance, critical decisions are coming up for CSD. Voters need to understand the issues, voice their opinions, questions, and concerns, and make sure they elect officials whose decisions, values, and competence they can trust.
Good points. Every candidate brings more people into the process and engages more people in the discussion of the issues. And as you’ve pointed out, there are a lot of issues. The more we understand the issues and talk these things through, the more our schools will benefit.
As I did in my involvement in the reconfiguration issue, I will look closely at finances. I will work to develop and support measures which maximize systemic efficiencies to the degree which it is possible to do so without moving our system of small schools toward a configuration with fewer or larger schools.
I think we need to look closely at our million dollar transportation budget. -Our family has begun a significant renovation to our primary residence on Huron. We are invested in Decatur and are in for the long haul. While we are in temporary residence elsewhere, we are walking about a mile to Clairemont most mornings. While all parents can’t do this, with Safe Routes and walking school buses, we can make it possible for more children to walk. We can support healthier lifestyles and further reduce the number of buses and routes required.
I think your choice of words on the issue of the charter system and local school governance is very insightful: “a charter system that is supposed to increase parental involvement and local school governance”. The simple fact is that there is a lot of frustration on this issue. We do not have local school governance. We have a lot of parents and teachers engaged in the process who are frustrated by the difficulty of influencing it. With small exceptions, the role of the school leadership teams (SLT) is almost entirely passive and advisory. The SLTs need to be empowered and given a real voice in the governance of their schools.
I want to see parents and teachers play a more active and empowered role in the governance of our schools. Our current board members in recent years have shifted the City Schools from being a “small school system” to a “system of small schools”. It did so by shifting governance from the local schools to the central office. The result has rightly corrected some imbalances and allowed us to deliver more consistent educational experiences across all schools. However, it is important that we now re-establish a balance of top down and bottom up governance. We’ve got a lot of great people working to make our schools better. We need to empower them to do so.
There is a loophole in our charter on self-governance which needs to be closed. It is the slippery slope where the goal of providing a consistent systemic experience, enables governance of all issues of significance to be pulled from the SLTs to the central office. We need to change our charter to empower the system charter leadership teams (which is composed of SLT representatives) with governing authority. Running a successful charter school system requires great management at the top. -Which we have. It also requires the engagement and involvement of the parents, teachers, and principals on the front lines.
Finally, one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and our community is to focus on closing the achievement gap. This does not mean that we should focus the schools resources on one group to the exclusion of others. But it does recognize that we must not fail to provide all our children with an adequate education which prepares them to lead successful and rewarding lives. Parents play a vital role in the education of their children. They need to be supported both in their involvement in the schools and at home.
Dr. Edwards has some great ideas on technical schools which, as the economy recovers and finance permit, I would like to support. Not all students will move on to colleges. We should strive to enable our students to be successful in non-academic vocations as well.
I would also like to recognize the important role that Decatur Active Living plays in helping us bridge the gap. The folks at Decatur Active Living know our communities and our kids. Through the Decatur Youth Fund they help connect kids with the sports and activities they are interested in. And they tie those interests to academic achievement.
This is a bit of an aside, but Decatur Active Living (formerly Decatur Rec) needs a big shout-out for all they do to keep the Decatur community connected. They make a substantial contribution to CSD’s success through their after school programs, tutoring, and summer camps that are so much more than just child care, but true learning programs that help kids succeed. And their youth sports programs connect all Decatur families. Without all of these youth programs and activities, CSD would have a much harder row to hoe. CSD is lucky to have such a collaborative partner that is so respected and beloved throughout the community.
I think one of the things that will change the board for the better is to have more members who are parents of young children. The board’s decisions have more of an impact when they directly affect the board member’s own families. While everyone in Decatur has a valid and relevant opinion on what happens with CSD, those with young children will bear the brunt of the board’s decisions most.
Snowflake, you are so right about our Decatur Active Living being an amazing benefit to living in Decatur! My friends who live in other cities are amazed by the opportunities that my kids have here in Decatur. Where else can a 7-year old go to Beekeeping Camp one week and learn how to operate a sewing machine at Sewing Camp the next week? BTW, I think the Oakhurst Community Garden is another of Decatur’s finest assets.
4 of the 5 current BOE members have children in the CSD system. Marc Wisniewski’s 2 (maybe 3) children went to CSD from elementary (Westchester) to HS graduation. All 5 board members have been CSD elementary school parents at one point in time. Most aren’t more than a few years removed from that stage. Most had children directly impacted by the last reorganization. I don’t think these people take their actions lightly because they don’t have children in a given school or grade.
BOE decisions impact everyone in the city. I am not sure it is fair to say any one group is more impacted than others. Sure the various impacts differ but i don’t agree with automatically saying one group’s concerns are more valid than others.
If anything , the under represented voice is that of the of households who don’t have children in the system.
Fifi, hadn’t seen you post in a while. Welcome back.
I agree. One of the largest challenges of school systems — especially small ones — is maintaining the support of those without children. They are, after all, the ones who pay the lion’s share of public education (in terms of dollars in vs. services taken out) and no school system is viable without them. Their voice is just as valid, as is their ability to look at the big picture.
When viewed through the lens of the childless, the school board’s actions over the past ten years have been a resounding success because they have made Decatur (especially certain parts of Decatur) more attractive to families, which has increased property values. When we moved to Oakhurst in 96, we and everyone we knew bought *in spite of* the schools. Now people buy specifically for them. That does not happen without solid leadership, and the benefits have been dramatic for both childless and family taxpayers.
I think that is exactly the argument of the incumbent school board members this year Scott.
Something like – Look at what our school system was like in 1996-2001 and look at how much better it is now. Why make any risky changes? This would particularly true for south-side voters.
I wish them luck, but I just don’t see “inside baseball” candidates – by “inside baseball” I mean arguments about the schools internal affairs as Mr. Goebel presented above – really winning over the majority of the voters who do not have kids currently in the schools.
The childless masses out there simply want to know if the schools generally doing a good job (I don’t know how you could argue that they are not) and are they spending our tax dollars wisely? If those answers are are “yes” then the incumbents get re-elected.
Scott –
I have been busy but still lurking around DM from time to time. I just couldn’t pass on this issue.
I agree with your assessment of the current situation. I hope for continuing improvement of CSD . I haven’t heard much about the many challengers – other than Mr Pope and Mr Goebel. I hope the other candidates will get their messages out soon. I want to know where each one stands on the issues and why I should choose him/her over the incumbent.
Above should read I just COULDN’T pass on this issue – sorry . I am a terrible typist.
DM – I wish there was an edit function on the page.
Fixed it for you Fifi.
Unfortunately, when it comes to comments, only I have the ability to edit.
Every sector of Decatur needs to be involved in discussions of CSD. We CSD families need the involvement of the non-CSD residents because they do indeed contribute a large proportion of the local funding that is needed on top of state funding. And all of Decatur needs CSD families to let them know how the schools are doing because if the schools were to become less attractive, it would hurt the general quality of life in Decatur as well as real estate values.
Incumbents are human beings like everyone else and can become complacent or set in their ways or overlook issues. Active discussion of issues and solutions keeps incumbents, challengers, and voters on their toes. There’s not many places that have the capability of carrying out the De Toqueville vision of American democracy, but the City of Decatur may just be one of them. We should be proud of that.
Here here. Let’s hope these many candidates take to the web or otherwise share their positions and reasons for change in short order. Decatur’s full of considered folks but they need content to consider. Candidates, feed the beast!