Our School Board, Our Voice: 2015 Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education Voter Guide

OUR SCHOOL BOARD

2015 Saint Paul Public Schools Board Voter Guide

October 2015

OUR VOICE

Minnesota

OUR SCHOOL BOARD OUR VOICE 2

About This Election and This Guide

Candidates at a glance

Q1 Deciding to run

Q2 Priorities

Q3 Role of a school board member

Q4 Challenges teachers face

Q5 Opportunity gaps

Q6 Testing

Q7 Racial equity

Q8 Inclusion practices

Q9 Cultural competency and racial equity training

Q10 Teacher diversity

About Educators 4 Excellence

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Contents


School board elections help determine the future of our district. Make an informed vote to help shape your classroom and your career.

About This Election and This Guide

• The questions contained in this voter guide reflect education policy issues being debated locally and nationally and were developed with input from educators who live and/or work in St. Paul.

• All candidates who filed with the Ramsey County election office were invited to complete the survey.

• All candidates received the candidate survey by email. Can-didates who responded within the guidelines presented have their responses printed within this guide.

• All candidates were informed that they had a limit of 200 words to respond to each question. To ensure fairness, only responses to the survey questions were included. Any responses exceeding the word limit were cut at exactly the 200th word. Candidates who did not submit responses are noted accordingly.

• All responses in this guide are printed exactly as written by the candidates, without edits for content or clarity. The responses sub-mitted solely reflect the opinions of each individual candidate and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Educators 4 Excellence transmits the responses without any knowledge, actual or constructive, regarding their truthfulness.

How We Engaged the Candidates

Educators 4 Excellence (E4E) is a teacher-led organization working to elevate the teaching profession and increase student achievement by ensuring that educators have a meaningful voice in decisions that impact their classrooms and careers.

About Educators 4 Excellence

The Saint Paul Board of Education, or school board, is responsible for the care, management and control of the school district. All seats for the school board are elected at-large across the city. This election, you may vote for up to four candidates.

About the Saint Paul Board of Education and this election

When and How to Vote

Tuesday, November 3, 2015 General Election Day

You will have the choice of voting for up to four people for at large seats.

Learn more about how and where to vote from the Ramsey County Board of Elections website at https://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/elections/VoterInfo.htm. If you’re not registered to vote, you may register on Election Day at your polling place.


Name Current job title/occupationRace/

EthnicityGender

Have you been a teacher?

Aaron Benner^

Greg Copeland

Trying Not Be Retired; Public Administration, former City Manager of Maplewood; Contract Monitor, Job Training Partnership Act Council; Deputy Director, Community Action Agency;

Newspaper Education Reporter

White Male Instructor of Christian Conformation

Zuki Ellis*

Linda Freeman

Licensed teacher/ Montessori director and consultant. Currently working as an early

childhood consultant for a startup preschool and permaculture in a remote village in Sierra Leone.

White FemaleYes. I am an

experienced urban teacher

Keith Hardy*,i

Steve MarchesePro Bono Director, Minnesota State Bar

Association / Attorney White Male No

Scott Raskiewicz

Writer (author of the book “ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY: Ending the Corporate Domination

of Our Lives”) and semi-retired tennis teaching professional

Other: Human Male Yes

Jon SchumacherExecutive Director, Saint Anthony Park

Community Foundation White Male No

Mary VanderwertPrivate Contractor with the National Children’s

Oral Health Foundation White Female No

i incumbent* These candidates did not submit a response to the questionnaire.^ This candidate has withdrawn since filing.

School Board Candidates at a Glance

The responses expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Candidates At a Glance


What inspired you to run for SPPS school board?Q1The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

Two Primary factors: 1)The opportunity to make a change in the direction of the Lame Duck School Board. 2) The need, to hire a new Superintendent of Schools due to the poor performance record over nearly five years of Valeria Silva.

The single most important decision any School Board makes is whom it hires as Superintendent. The collective responsibility to determine the Superintendent’s retention or non-renewal belongs to the Board, but in Saint Paul that authority was usurped by three Board Members who will not be accountable to the public for even one day of Silva’s service under the new contract they supported. These three put up half the votes, and the other three incumbents, not on the ballot this year, put up the other three votes of the six cast in favor of a New Silva Contract with a 4% boost in pay and lifetime health insurance!

The March 17, 2015 Lame Duck School Board decision to grant a new three year contract to Superintendent Silva was a breach of institutional trust. Political expediency, once again, beat out democratic process, community trust and fiduciary duty owed Saint Paul voters. Given that only one incumbent is seeking re-election in the

This candidate has withdrawn since filing.

Our schools are in an optimal position to empower our children and families with hope and opportunities. The school board is in an optimal position to assure these opportunities reach all our children, and I am prepared to actively serve our district, through my early childhood and elementary teaching experience and Montessori training, plus my willingness to make necessary time for school board activities.

This candidate did not submit a response to the questionnaire.

Aaron Benner^ Zuki Ellis*

Greg Copeland Linda Freeman


Our kids. I’m running because our school community has to come together to give our kids the education they deserve. I am a community builder with a background in board governance and mediation. I want to bring the skills, experience, and relationships I’ve built over my 23 years working with our schools and city, to develop a more collaborative approach that leverages the talents, passion and expertise of our school communities. I can help bring people together to rebuild trust, find consensus solutions and develop the sustainable foundation needed to transform these solutions into successful outcomes for all of our amazing students.

Jon Schumacher

As a parent and school volunteer, I’ve watched the central administration take decision-making authority away from schools and bring it to the central office, leaving educators, families and staff with little influence over what happens in their own buildings. Time and again, the administration with the support of the current board has pursued a well-intentioned effort to increase educational equity only to have that agenda undermined by poor communication and questionable administrative decisions

I believe we need a more inclusive, transparent and effective district that involves families, educators, staff and community members as partners in improving our schools and reducing opportunity gaps in our community. We need clear goals, objectives and strategies for improving achievement. We also need an independent school board that holds the superintendent and administrators accountable for both their promises and their performance. I believe I have the ^pprofessional and personal experience to bring thoughtful, strategic and pragmatic leadership to the St. Paul Public Schools Board

I want every family in Saint Paul Public Schools to have the great experience that my family had. As an educator I want to support teachers so they can help families achieve their educational goals and see their children thrive. I believe quality Public Schools are the critical to our city’s future success and viability.

I have spent my entire 25-year career working with young children and their families in early childhood education, most of the time in Head Start and programs locally and at the at the Minnesota Department of Education as the Head Start State Collaboration Director. I also managed the child care programs at the Wilder Foundation for five years. My experience in early childhood education would be unique on the School Board.

I raised three children as a single parent. I understand how decisions are made in families when there is limited time and even more limited resources, and how important schools are to families in reaching their goals and dreams.

Steve Marchese Mary Vanderwert

As a social worker, substance abuse counselor, coach, tennis teaching professional, and for seventeen years, a substitute teacher in the St. Paul schools I have worked with youth for over forty years. I understand education and its importance in developing an authentically democratic society that works for EVERYONE. Furthermore, as a writer and philosopher focusing on the political economy and human development I understand why the American education system (and society) works for some but not all. I also understand why political and economic leaders deliberately underfund education and try to turn education into a joyless, one size fits all, dehumanizing, technology and testing based system that does little more than serve a deeply inhumane and antidemocratic status quo. I am running for school board to use my knowledge and experience to focus on the ROOT CAUSES of the problems facing education and our society and to pursue solutions to those problems.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



If you were to win this election, what would be the first three priorities you would take on as board member? Why?Q2The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

2.1 Hire a new Superintendent to decentralize District administration and embrace an Empowerment Model of School Site Councils where parents, faculty and guidance staff take responsibility for developing priorities with the principal, that places Student academic growth at the heart of each school’s mission as resource allocations are made.

2.2 Redirect dollars that funded former Central Office Administration functions to Direct School allocation for hiring new guidance counselors, based on one guidance counselor for every 250 students (currently 1:435) to develop with parents, teachers, support staff and the Student, an Individual Education Plan to be monitored and amended as changes in academic progress and personal goals take place. Reduce allocations under the current budget model of District and School Support Services that now accounts for 51% of SPPS General Fund spending that places an annually increasing majority of funds in Direct Allocations to Schools. Dollars should follow the Student, especially with regard to poor students whose educational instruction experience is supposed to be supplemented by services purchased using $20 Million in Federal Title I funds and $70 Million in MN Compensatory Funds.

2.3 Eliminate Silva’s ‘School Attendance Zones’ and provide Students with transportation to the school of their Parents Choice.


• A new early childhood education model that is age appropriate - 3-6 year-olds, and incorporates Montessori principles. I’d like to see this implemented as a universal early childhood program. A sound foundation is essential for student success.

• Closing the achievement gap and increasing opportunities with a focus on racial disparities. Why? Education is a right all our children must have access to, and it is our responsibility to assure we provide it. We should wisely prioritize school needs to function within the available budget.





First, we need to take an honest look at our schools, evaluate what’s working so we can build on it, and prioritize our budget to support those classroom successes. Together, we need to develop well thought-out strategies to address the challenges we face, especially around issues of equity, communicate them clearly to everyone, and manage a structured implementation.

Second, we have to re-engage and rebuild trust – among students, educators, parents, and administrators. The Board must set the expectation and tone of collaboration for all District members and we must open the lines of communication to engage parents as true partners in their children’s education.

Third, we need to work to ensure adequate classroom support for students and teachers. I have heard from too many teachers that we don’t have enough support in the classroom to meet their students’ needs, particularly for EBD, SPED, and ELL students – and this affects the success of all of our students. In addition, we need to take more responsibility for preparing our graduating seniors for post-secondary pathways to success.

Jon Schumacher

1) We need a more independent, active school board committed to representing the public’s interest and holding district administrators accountable for results.

2) The district needs to do a much better job of engaging all stakeholders in the work of our schools. Parents, educators, staff and community members all have a stake in the St. Paul Public Schools. We need district leadership committed to transparency and open input as part of all major decisions.

3) The district needs to address inequities within our schools, as well as develop a focused commitment to excellence for all students. Every family should be able to believe their children can receive a top-notch education in a St. Paul school regardless of location. Unfortunately, that is not so today.

Support Teachers in building relationships: Improve the culture of the schools to one that is collaborative, creative, supportive and exciting; one that values the contributions of staff and provides them with a voice in decision-making.

Parent Engagement: Provide a greater focus on supporting and engaging families with children in the schools.

Mental & Physical Health Services: Provide systems and strategies that will improve the overall physical and mental health of students, and improve the health literacy of families and staff.


My first priority would be to focus on the ROOT CAUSES of the problems facing education and our society i.e. inhumane and antidemocratic economic and political systems supported by a corporate cartel that controls all major media. These system are designed and function to concentrate wealth and power into the hands of a morally and intellectually corrupt ruling class and their collaborators while causing the rest of us to struggle and suffer needlessly. Focusing on ROOT CAUSES is the best way to prevent and solve problems.

Secondly, I will work to reduce class sizes. This will help end the dehumanizing assembly-line approach to education that is failing students and society.

Third, I support a richer, more diverse, human centered curriculum with ample opportunity for the humanities, arts, fitness, and social interaction. I want every student to remember, as I do, school as among the most joyful and meaningful experiences of one’s life. Growing up if struggle for everyone but schools must become a safe and joyful harbour that helps everyone succeed with that struggle.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



What do you see is the role of school board member? How will you effectively fulfill that role and strengthen the school board?Q3The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

School Board Members make District policy, hire the Superintendent and in an area of special interest to me, work with the State Legislature to tell the District’s story too. Legislators to increase District funding and support state policies that enhances the education of SPPS Students.

The Board must restructure its meetings and processes to include parents, faculty and the larger community on the front end of policy making. Eliminate the Committee of the Board meeting. Hold two monthly regular meetings, workshop meetings as required and broadcast them all on Cable-TV. All District Advisory Committee Meetings should also be televised, as should all formal public hearings and meeting held outside the Board Room at individual schools.

The Board should return public comment to the agenda of the Regular Meeting. Public comment should welcomed by the Board as it is discussing the individual business items as they appear on the agenda. The rendering of public comment outside of and before the Regular Meeting must be ended. All public comment should be heard during the Board meeting and Cable TV broadcast to the public.

The Board should also initiate Legislative Action to eliminate city-wide School Board Elections, and establish School Board Elections by


My role as a school board member will be to manage and direct district policies and initiatives, and establish clear accountability and metrics for district staff.

I’ll be part of the critical link that connects policy and the public. I will listen, reach out, ask questions, and dialogue. I’m prepared to be advised and work collaboratively with other board members to build concensus, establish goals and policies, and seek accountability. I seek imagination along with strategic planning in developing and piloting scientifically based, creative initiatives.

I’ll keep our children’s education in the forefront of our decisions, beginning with the communities’ views on their children’s needs.

My background as a licensed teacher and a Montessori director/consultant, experience with second language learners, an early childhood initiative on a remote reservation, in disadvantaged communities, and as a support teacher working with children with IEP’s in an inclusion model will serve to strengthen the school board.





I believe the board has a responsibility to ensure that open pathways of communication exist so the voices of all members of our community are heard and responded to in a timely manner. The board has ultimate authority and accountability for the superintendent’s performance and must provide clear expectations. I will work to set the expectation for a detailed, prioritized blueprint for success for all of our students; a well thought out and actionable implementation process; a transparent, effective and ongoing evaluation process to determine how that implementation is working; and a strategy for adjusting and tailoring the plan to meet the evolving needs of our students.

Jon Schumacher

The School Board is responsible for setting the overall goals and direction of the district, hiring and oversight of the superintendent, engaging with and representing the public (including families, students, educators and the community at large) and advocating for the needs of the district’s students. The Board has the primary responsibility for establishing strategic goals and holding the senior administration accountable for results. In addition, the Board should be the focal point for rallying the larger community to help accomplish major initiatives, such as reducing achievement disparities. I expect my duties to include the following:

• Meetings with administrators, key staff and other board members• On site visits to schools and engagement with staff, families and

students• Periodic listening session to assess community needs and school

performance• Coordinated meetings with local and state government

representatives• Review of district performance and budget information in

preparation for meetings• Availability for media regarding district needs and priorities

I expect to:• Define the organizational culture we want in our schools.• Communicate our (the Board’s) vision and expectations to the

Superintendent and school leadership.• Provide supervision, guidance and support to the Superintendent

and hold her accountable to meet the goals articulated by the Board.

• Ensure that policies and procedures promote equal access and voice for all stakeholders and students.

• Determine significant policy issues for the school district that ensure the desired culture and student outcomes are achieved.

• Develop and approve a budget that reflects the priorities/goals of the District.

• Listen to and respond appropriately and transparently to the community, parents, staff and teachers when concerns or ideas are presented.

• Keep abreast of the latest research and new ideas related to education.


We all know the basic role of the school board – to help schools run more effectively, efficiently, and fairly. I believe that role must expand to include addressing the ROOT CAUSES of problems. For instance, the school boards of our nation must join together to lead the fight for something long overdue in America – a universal Single-payer health care system based on corporate and individual accountability. Nearly a third of American health care spending is taken by corporate profit, exorbitant executive salaries, administrative costs higher than anywhere else in the world, and, in general, an approach centered on corporate profit rather than human health. This approach takes tens of billions of dollars away from socially beneficial uses such as education. Similarly, school boards must all for an end to the “War on Drugs.” This war is fought mostly against poor people of color. Like the health care system this war wastes tens of billions of dollars yearly that could be used for positive purposes, like education, rather than negative purposes like locking up human beings, many of whom are non-violent “drug offenders.”

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



What do you see as a main challenge that teachers face, and how do you plan to advocate for them, or help them with this challenge? What role do you see teachers playing in designing and developing district policies?

Q4The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

School Discipline has been a growing area of complaint from teachers as the SPPS classroom’s academic focus has been disrupted during the Silva era: 6th grade to Middle, Mainstreaming Special Education and English Language Learners, and Millions spent on Race Training, while Teachers and Aides were given layoff notices. Principals are responsible for their individual school, and the New Superintendent will have to hold principals accountable for maintaining a secure, healthy and safe learning environment. Classroom teachers are not police, are not principals, and should not bear the burden for student discipline.

Classroom teachers should be driving academic achievement, ideas for innovations in teaching, and expanding the students academic growth and experiences driving student curiosity for independent learning. Support for these professional roles of teachers to advance in their careers as successful academic leaders, the District should take advantage of the staff development funds SPPS has been leaving on the table for a decade; Quality Compensation, Q-Comp. The Board must act to work with the SPFT Union, and the MN Department of Education to develop an approved Q-Comp Plan to tap these Millions of dollars to benefit our teachers and ultimately our students academic growth.

My previous recommendations under #3.


The main challenge teachers face is the time and/or ability to document routine observations and assessments. The documentation and assessments guide our teaching and our consultations with specialists and volunteer coordinators.

This requires additional classroom staffing and professional development.

I will welcome input from teachers. I expect that a channel already exists for teacher input. If it does not exist, we need to build one.





Our teachers are being held responsible for unlocking the potential in all of our students without adequate support or voice. I will advocate for:

• Staffing our schools with the professionals needed to support our students’ diverse physical and mental health needs. I am a proponent of full-service schools and will urge a strategy of staged implementation to increase our numbers of schools with these wrap-around services.

• Decreasing the importance of high stakes testing so our teachers can spend more time ensuring our students achieve grade level competency.

• Smaller class sizes so our educators can build relationships with our students and their parents/caregivers to truly understand their potential and challenges to learning.

• Increased teacher training with an emphasis on effective and practical tools for the classroom.

The teacher-student relationship is the heart and soul of any successful learning approach. Our teachers need to play a central role in designing both strategies and implementation. They also can help to create opportunities to collaborate with parents and students to provide and receive information that can lead to better outcomes for students.

Jon Schumacher

Teachers face competing demands to educate a broad range of students without a lot of the necessary supports (staff, curriculum, etc.) to get the job done. They do this work in an environment that places an extreme focus on standardized assessments as measures of student learning and teacher effectiveness. I believe we need to spend more time listening to how classroom teachers do their work in both the planning and execution of district initiatives. One example would be in enhancing the role of teachers, along with parents and building administrators, in site-based planning.

As a board member, I would need to meet with teachers on a regular basis at schools throughout the district. Having a solid working relationship with SPFT leadership would also be a means of soliciting teacher input and obtaining feedback on the district’s work. The most essential relationships my children and all SPPS students have with the adults in their building are with their classroom teachers. They needed to be treated with respect and given support, even as we ask them to work in challenging environments.

There are many issues confronting the Saint Paul Public Schools. Our students have more serious and diverse needs. Many of them are living in low income or poverty and all of the social ills that come with that. Many of them are learning two languages. Many have experienced trauma in their lives. Many have disabilities – developmental, emotional and physical. Many have health issues and limited access to services. And many children are very talented and require more challenge in their education. Meeting the needs of all students with a limited budget and many regulations from the state and federal governments is very challenging.

These challenges require leadership that is visionary, responsive and effective in bringing all of the stakeholders along when changes need to be made. We need to look at ways to leverage community resources, seek new resources and advocate for changes in regulations. We all have to work together to find the solutions that will work in Saint. Paul.


The main challenge teachers face is society degraded by the moral and intellectual incompetence and indifference of the ruling class and their collaborators. America spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on what Eisenhower warned us about nearly 55 years ago – the military industrial complex. And yet we can’t find money to reduce class sizes and offer a richer, more diverse, curriculum. Even worse, of the millions of people who have died in America’s imperialistic wards since WW II about 90% have been civilians. This is madness and inhumanity on a massive scale, all financed by our tax dollars.

Teachers also are challenged by the fact that so many youth (and adults) are mesmerized and even addicted to a gadget filled pop culture that debases our humanity and hinders us from pursuing higher goals such as education and living in harmony with the natural world and everyone in it.

These two challenges, combined with an economy that causes so much poverty and suffering, leaves teachers in a very difficult situation. The best way to help teachers is to work for a fairer, more humane and democratic economy and society.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



Children of color in St. Paul experience dramatic disparities in education as evidenced by multiple academic, social, and emotional indicators. In your view, what are the root causes of these gaps? Furthermore, what do you believe is the board’s role in closing opportunity gaps in our community?


The real path to cultural diversity at SPPS is to focus on hiring academic leaders as diverse as the student body. A partial barrier is a shortage of home grown talent of people of color from our Colleges and Universities. However, the lack of affirmative grooming of the talent we do have is the first place to begin to work with our Minnesota graduates who want to enter teaching or counseling, but have multiple barriers which they need help to take down to break free of poverty and low wage jobs they are forced to take while attempting to gain entry the Education Professions. In speaking with applicants who have had trouble passing the MN Licensing Tests, who are working on re-taking the tests, there are financial barriers; testing fees and prep courses. These applicants would benefit from the District stepping in to ask the State to eliminate, reduce, defer fees and other costs, as well as improving the breath of the test preparation course content to be serve all applicants.

There are road blocks at The Board of Teaching which Governor Dayton is going to have to use his executive authority to open the door, if we are to


Children of color have had historical experiences of oppression and exclusion. Current objective data points to insufficient income, unhealthy environments and inadequate access to opportunities.

The Board’s role in closing opportunity gaps in our community is promoting equal opportunity in education. Administration, teachers and support staff must have an understanding of the diverse backgrounds and needs of all the children. We must identify individual student needs, provide learning opportunities specific to those needs, and provide achievement goals leading to post secondary success.





I believe there are numerous factors involved in the opportunity gaps, including the significant barriers to learning faced by our students, including learning disabilities, inability to self-regulate, physical and/or emotional health challenges, high mobility, housing instability, poverty, homelessness and the effects of institutionalized racism.

AS previously stated, I support the idea of full service schools where academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, job-training, and community development are housed together. Our district has two Achievement Plus Schools where this is starting. We need to work with our city, county, non-profit and business partners to create more of these wrap-around service opportunities for our families.

I believe our district’s policy on racial equity and the overall strategic vision for closing the achievement gap represent a promising start. I would work to ensure our curriculum reflects an accurate and balanced reflection of all cultures. Every school has to provide regular access to art, music and physical activity that celebrates and respects all cultures.

We also need to create a stronger system of community engagement, making educators and parents full partners in the education of our children. Finally, we need to set expectations for measurable progress in decreasing racial disparities.

Jon Schumacher

The achievement gaps reflect disparities in our city and society – income, family structure, housing, employment, safety and, most significantly, race and ethnicity. The reasons are many and complex. Some children don’t get early childhood care necessary for them to begin school prepared and ready to learn. Some children come from families under stress which affects how they are able to learn and thrive in school. Schools use curricula often predicated on white, professional/middle class norms – and some students don’t learn in ways that fit well with them. A mostly white teaching staff brings with it their own racial norms and preconceptions of children of color. Finally, our teachers often lack the resources, support and flexibility to meet individual needs.

The board must be connected to the community, committed to closing the gap and willing to set expectations for administrators, staff and students. The board should set a defined number of clearly articulated goals and outcomes for the district with the expectation that the board will hold staff accountable for progress. Decisions on staffing, curriculum, resources, etc. should be in alignment with these goals. If something isn’t working, we look at why and decide how or what needs to change.

Children from communities of color and communities with very low income have fewer opportunities for learning experiences in their lives because of a lack of money. Low income communities have less access to healthy, fresh food, safe housing and health care. There are fewer parks for physical activity and little exposure to nature. Access to health care is limited and mental health services. They have fewer books and words in their lives. And for too many, there is more exposure to violence, adult language and other negative influences.

Parents living in poverty are busy working two or more jobs or have mental illnesses or other issues that keep them from being supportive of their children or to be involved in their children’s schools. Consequently there is less opportunity for early childhood education for too many of our poorest children. When these children enter the schools they are not prepared for what awaits.

Too many of our children have lost hope. From what they can tell there is no point is working hard in school because their future will look very much like their past. They have seen their parents or siblings incarcerated and that is what they expect will happen to them. When they


I have indirectly addressed that question above. More specifically, people of color have never been fully valued or integrated into American society. People of color tend to trail whites in virtually every measure of well-being. The achievement gap is a reflection of that reality. It is absolutely the role of the school board to address the ROOT CAUSES of the achievement gap by advocating for a full employment economy based on cooperative and public utility economics and a universal Single-payer health care system that eliminates the non-productive, wealth-stealing middle-men, i.e. health insurance companies. And to complete the answer to question four, the school board must allow teachers a greater role in designing and developing district policies. America is a very hierarchical society, top heavy with largely non-productive administrators. Teachers, as a group, understand education and should be given a greater role, along with parents and students, in designing district policy. Administrators and self-serving “experts” should play a smaller role.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*



What role do you believe testing should play in measuring outcomes for students in St. Paul? What other measures would you evaluate as a Board member to determine whether students are being well-served in their schools?


I am no fan of standardized testing, and the debate will continue, but so will the testing. The short term goal at least should be to embrace the MCA and beat the test, by creating an academic growth program in SPPS that grounds our students in the basic math and reading skills needed to be successful not for test, but for their life and education plan each student has set for themselves. SPPS has the resources, but must make academic growth the first priority; SPPS Students Will Do Better. The new cooperative engagement from Day One with students, parents, faculty and guidance counselors to create and monitor student academic growth plans will be critical to students being successful individually and as a cohort. School attendance, community and business engagement, foundation support, and a decline in children being penalized due to misbehavior, should all be used as indicators, but we, SPPS, will not escape the Legislative mandated indexes we all know the District has not yet mastered. Any more or new standards will only exist along side the existing test standards, not replace them, at least in the short term.


The role of testing is to provide a necessary indicator of individual student outcome. Agregate results will be used for comparative evaluation of achievement by groups of interests. (ie., culture, language, race, community, etc.), Other measures that I would evaluate are documentation of absences and suspensions, dropout rates and ultimately graduation rates. Also, teacher and student retention.

We do need to gather data to inform our decisions, yet testing has come to dominate and interfere with our children’s education. Students have become unwilling subjects of data gathering rather than recipients of opportunity and education. Data gathering should not interfere with their school day and should be used in conjunction with regular observation that immediately guides lessons and learning concerns.





We need to work with the Department of Education to find ways to better align our large standardized tests with our evolving understanding of what constitutes achievement. Our district’s vision for racial equity calls for culturally responsive assessment and I believe there is a sound case to be made that the MCAs contain content that might be unfamiliar or unfair to students of color, recent immigrants, or students with learning disabilities.

Unfortunately, high stakes testing has also caused teaching to the test as opposed to teaching critical thinking skills. Overreliance on standardized testing takes away valuable learning time from the classroom and has reduced art, music and other alternative learning opportunities in favor of core classes. Our students need a well-rounded education and multiple opportunities to thrive and find their own passions.

I would support more use of frequent but smaller tests that help teachers understand competency on a daily and weekly basis so they can target their learning approaches in an ongoing and timely manner. Standardized test results can help inform decisions about staffing and schools, but should be analyzed in context with other information, especially from building staff.

Jon Schumacher

As a parent, I have seen first-hand the amount and extent standardized testing takes up time in the school year, in lesson planning and in the consciousness of students. As a board member, I would look for ways for administrators to de-emphasize the importance of standardized test. I would like to see lesson planning that addresses the concepts and content students should learn and less emphasis on test taking techniques and rote memorization. In addition, I would advocate for having the district use multiple methods for helping students learn content to be tested - for example, through music and art programming.

That said, testing requirements originate at the state level. The district still must comply with state mandates and standards. In addition, I believe we need to have regular measurements of progress to determine whether students are meeting learning goals. We also need to document how well different student populations are learning in our schools so that we can target resources and offer relevant instruction. Graduation rates, enrollment rates (year over year), PSEO/advanced course enrollment numbers and measurements on other evaluation mechanisms (e.g., AP scores) could also be helpful in evaluating the district’s service to students.

Standardized testing has worked really well for corporate interests but has not served children, families or teachers very well. They have forced teachers into delivering a curriculum and establishing an agenda that is not what they were trained for or believe in. When preparation for testing becomes the focus of our education system, we lose the opportunity to prepare children with the other skills they need to be successful in life. Instead of memorization and formulaic problem solving, we should be teaching our children how to interact appropriately with others, how to think critically, how to solve problems creatively and collaboratively and how to lead others and manage time.

While we need a way to determine a child’s progress, I don’t believe that testing measures the kind of progress we are most interested in promoting. I would support advocate for a way of determining a child’s progress that is appropriate for the age of the child, is conducted daily and is used to determine the direction of the curriculum.


In Finland, a world leader in education, there is no standardized testing until students apply for college. Reducing the role of dehumanizing standardized testing is critical to improving American education. The main reason these tests exist is to enrich testing companies. These tests also exist because they are written to ensure that many students will do poorly. That provides a reason for those who seek to profit from privatizing public education to claim they will do a better job of educating students, a claim that has been proven false over and over again.

Instead of standardized tests, I favor an individual and group project based approach to education. Student progress is better evaluated by student essays, debates, art work, the writing and performing of plays and music, making documentaries about critical issues of the day, community projects, and other hands on approaches that will engage the whole child. I support testing of students but these test should be prepared by teachers, not some out of state testing company that cares only about profits and cares nothing about education or students.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



Speaking specifically to racial equity, how will you work to ensure that St. Paul students have equitable access to rich and exciting educational opportunities?


I have previously discussed my proposed initiatives in Guidance Counseling and driving changes with the Board and at the State Legislature to diversify the teaching staff at SPPS.

There is nothing standing in the way of bringing the larger community into the schools to communicate the multi-cultural workplace Saint Paul is in the arts, business and education. Spending some of the mandated staff development dollars on formalizing educational training programs, concerts, plays, academic contests and more, are available as our creative genius allows; and the law and auditors allow.


I‘ll assure that our schools provide rich curriculum and teaching materials representative of the divesity in our St. Paul schools. Schools must provide equal opportunities for course selection and the children must be rigorously prepared to participate in these courses. Teachers must be prepared to see opportunities for all their students, and direct them. Observational documentations should contribute to recommendations regarding individual students.





As I stated in my answer to question #5, I believe we have to continue to provide culturally accurate and balanced curriculum that gives a long-term historical context to the narratives of all races and cultures. We need to work with our institutions of higher learning to align the teaching of these important concepts, and ensure ongoing training is a strong and supported part of teachers’ tenure track and beyond. They need to be mentored regularly and given meaningful tools to understand and work with the diverse needs of all our students. In order to be successful, our schools need to reflect their communities. We need to create more pathways for our communities of color to find employment in our schools and provide financial support where needed. Those educational pathways can begin in our high schools by identifying and encouraging students with an interest in teaching by building teaching experiences into their curriculum. We also need more Career and Technical Education opportunities provided so our students have multiple pathways to succeed.

Jon Schumacher

I believe the district needs to think more creatively about how it is meeting the educational needs of students and involve educators, families and students in the process of determining how to be more effective. If we are supposed to have strong schools to support strong communities, are those schools organized and supported around the needs of the students in the community? What can we learn from successful schools outside of SPPS? What are families, students and community members asking of their local schools? In addition, the district needs to do a better job district-wide of both encouraging and making available to students of color opportunities to take advance courses, including IB, AP, Avid, PSEO, and College in Schools.

Finally, the district should connect students to other employment opportunities, such as building trades, so that they graduate career-ready.

The district’s current equity work with educators and district leadership is a starting point, but there is much more that needs to be done. In addition to SPPS employees, our schools need coordinated support from other sectors. A lot of this work has been started, but it is not well coordinated enough and, more importantly, citywide in scope.

I believe that the budget is a way to address some of the disparities. Resources need to go to those schools with the greatest needs. School counselor/social workers, nurses, mental health professionals, art and music teachers, opportunities for healthy activity and healthy food need to be available in those schools. Individual Education Plans need to be realistic and adequate to meet the goals established by the team. Parents should be offered services that will work for their child, rather than having to fight for them. I will use my experience working with budgets as an early childhood administrator to find creative ways to fund these initiatives.

All decisions made by the School Board and the administration need to be evaluated based on how they will affect children’s growth, especially those children with diverse needs. Test scores are one way, not the only way, to evaluate success. Annual self-assessments conducted by school leaders, parents, community members and experts should be done in each school site and the results must be used to determine next steps. Ongoing assessments and student portfolios are alternatives for determining progress instead of test scores.

The School Board needs to articulate their expectations for district leadership with


I have indirectly addressed this issue above. More specifically, I would work to redefine the purpose of education. The ruling class and their collaborators want us to believe that the purpose of education is to prepare students to “compete in the global economy.” That goal shapes the education system and takes away much of the joy of school.

In stark contrast to the ruling class I believe the purpose of education is to prepare students to create and cooperate in a global community where all people are valued and all human needs met. Authentic education is about critical thinking, problem solving, living in harmony with the natural world and the development of joyful human relationships. I will work to help develop a curriculum, for ALL students, that serves that goal. That will require additional spending but in the long run it will pay for itself many times over by creating a better world. We must always remember, America is a rich country. There is no shortage of wealth. The problem is a shortage of democracy in deciding how that great wealth is circulated, accumulated, taxed, and used.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



Do you support the inclusion practices that were implemented for English learners and special education students across the district over the last two years?


No. The implementation in which mainstreaming Special Education and English Language Learners was undertaken in SPPS was yet another example of Silva’s top down centralized system of deciding what was going to happen without proper parental and faculty input, planning and resources. On both accounts this Silva decision proved to be a highly disruptive roll-out, perhaps a model of how NOT to do it. Much has been lost in the mean time in trust and confidence at SPPS that will not be easily overcome.


I support the inclusion practices that have been implemented in our district for English learners and will expect to monitor its ongoing success. I agree with the current district practices that “learning academic content is inseparable from learning the academic language of the content area, and this is especially true for Ell students.”

I support inclusion of special education students in the classroom, but this was not implemented with a strategic plan in our St. Paul schools over the last two years. It was begun at the same time as several other initiatives that also needed the attention required with new programs (minimizing suspensions, behavior management, racial equity, closing the achievement gap, community schools, minimizing busing, and shifting middle schools to 6th grade).

I would show support through increased

• budget

• professional development in order to support general education teachers

• number of support staff and specialists.





I strongly believe that we need to revisit how these changes were implemented to understand what is and isn’t working for our students and teachers. We need to listen to our educators, parents, and students to fully understand the current situation school by school. Then bring together those school community members with experts to collaborate on best practice strategies for success for all our special needs students. The mainstreaming efforts of the past few years have clearly shown that it is essential everyone involved be given sufficient input, time and training prior to the rollout to help assure success—and that we cannot lose sight of the individual student and his/her IEP. The goal of any change has to be an effective transitional process that improves the learning environments of all our students.

Jon Schumacher

The focus of federal special education law is on individualized educational planning. The district has not demonstrated that it has complied with federal law by modifying student plans on a wholesale basis. We need a complete review of special education services, including a review of each child’s IEP with a focus on what services the child is currently receiving and would need to be successful to reach agreed upon outcomes. The district must commit resources to meet those needs, including increasing staffing, training regular education teachers on working with mainstreamed students and adjusting placements to offer supportive services in educational appropriate environments.

Similarly, we need to take a fresh look at ELL services and re-visit the policy of mainstreaming Level 3 and up ELL students. For SLIFE students, since they are less familiar with formal education, there should be the opportunity for an additional year or more in ELL classes to ensure that they attain a level of proficiency where they can be successful in mainstream classes. Programs at LEAP High School and Como High School offer models for how to provide ELL services that reach a broader range of levels.

The children who are arriving in our state have come from countries experiencing war and death and destruction. Many have suffered trauma and are now in a school district that is like nothing they have ever experienced. They need to learn English but they also need help in processing their experiences. We need to remember that they will all adjust on their own schedule not within our adult arbitrary time frame. Some may need more support and more time in the ELL classes so they are equipped to handle the demands of the regular classrooms. School district policies need to be flexible enough to allow the teachers who know their students to provide input when decisions are made about their placement and when indicated, allow students to have more time with the additional support. Our policies need to be developed in a way that meets the individual needs of individual children. It is critical that they be successfully integrated into our school community.


Research suggests that less skilled or accomplished students, or students with behavior problems, do better when they are not isolated from their more high performing peers. For that reason I support inclusion. However, in the first year of inclusion I was in many classrooms where special education students were included and witnessed the difficulties it can cause. When special education students routinely act out it degrades the education experience for all and makes the difficult job of teaching even more difficult. So I am somewhat of two minds on the issue but overall I favor inclusion. Hopefully, with time, the practice of inclusion will be improved and teachers, staff and students will become better and better at handling the difficult situations that occur.

As always, my focus in on ROOT CAUSES. And so I ask why there are so many special education students in the first place. I think it is related to unstable homes which are often the result of a cruel and unfair economic system that makes successful family life more difficult than it need be.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



Do you support the practice of requiring all staff in the district to receive cultural competency and racial equity training?Q9The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

Specifically I support ending the contract with Pacific Education Group, PEG, immediately.

The District has wasted well over a Millions of dollars on PEG, perhaps more, the Chief Equity Officer told me she did not know what had been paid to PEG, when I asked her at the Generation NEXT Board Candidate sessions some candidates attended last month. My request for the information then has yet to be filled by the Equity Chief. SPPS has an academic mission for which it is accountable and during fours years of PEG: the SPPS MCA GAPS have increased; and the On-Track Measures at the MN DOE have gone into the basement. Absent any positive system-wide results PEG has earned contract termination.

Separate evaluation by SPPS staff of the negative effects to SPPS system-wide school discipline is a subject for the New Superintendent, as is a recommendation to answer this question beyond PEG’s failure to provide a beneficial equity training program.


Cross cultural competency is important not only for all staff, but also students and interested parents.





As a district with a large population of communities of color, it is essential that our educators are culturally competent and understand how racism can act as a barrier to learning for our students of color. Unfortunately, the important programs introduced over the last few years to address the Achievement Gap have lacked a comprehensive strategy for successful implementation and evaluation. There has been too much, too soon without the necessary engagement, buy-in, support, or planning to promote effective and sustainable outcomes. And the drive to see quick results has led to an unfortunate perception that compliance is more important than honest collaboration.

I believe we need to have open and honest evaluations at a classroom level with community input. Then we need to use those results to develop a strategy - in collaboration with all members of our school community and area partners - that prioritizes support in the classroom to make sure all of our students are learning. Finally, we can’t be afraid to try new approaches, techniques and even systems. We have to find ways to build successful educational models based on enhancing those key relationships between students, educators, and parents.

Jon Schumacher

Given the background of SPPS teaching staff and the student population, we need teachers who are aware of their own racial and cultural backgrounds and able to work effectively with the children in our schools. However, the district needs to get much more practical and focused in its racial equity work. The district’s current efforts are insufficient to create real change in educational practice and outcomes. It will take a much more strategic and focused effort to actually make change.

There are additional ways of supporting this work -- for example, helping teachers use multiple teaching methods so that they can vary instruction to more closely match student learning styles. The district should allocate resources so that supportive services are available for students who have the greatest need for them. The district could partners with community stakeholders and involves them in schools in strategic ways tied to learning objectives and long-term outcomes. Finally, I would push district administrations to access and incorporate the knowledge of community members, in particular, members of communities of color, in the development of equity programs and strategies.

Upon hire, orientation needs to include an overview of cultures within each school, the cultural values and approaches to child rearing, the history and discipline practices, and the effects of structural racism on a child’s world view. As they work in their classrooms, all teachers need access to reflective supervision to help them assess their experience against their own background and world view. Is what they are struggling with a child issue or a conflict in their own value and cultural experience? Reflective practice groups could study ways to combat the effects of structural racism and their own biases.


I never had cultural competency or racial equity training and yet, during my seventeen years of substitute teaching, but using the Golden Rule, I received a great many compliments and thank you notes from students of all races. Some of those notes were so touching they brought tears to my eyes. I worry that all of the focus on race takes away our shared humanity by emphasizing differences rather than similarities. That is why I listed my race as human rather than a color. Furthermore, if we focus on what is best for ALL students (i.e. smaller class sizes, a richer, more diverse curriculum) ALL students will benefit whatever their culture. Some extra training might be useful as no teacher knows everything about every culture. But let’s focus on building an American culture, a culture where “liberty and justice for ALL” is a reality, not an empty slogan. Lastly, blaming teachers for racial inequities takes focus away from the underlying problem – political, economic, health care and criminal justice systems that treat people of color in ways that make it needlessly difficult to create homes that prepare children to become their best selves.

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*,i



Do you believe employing more teachers of color will help reduce opportunity gaps in the district?

Q10

The opinions expressed herein solely reflect those of the individual candidates and not of Educators 4 Excellence. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order, including those who did not complete the survey.

I absolutely do! I have stated my support for a diversification of the SPPS, and State Teaching Ranks at all the forums I have attended. SPPS only employs 17% people of color and Minnesota only has 4% teachers of color. These numbers require the Board to adopt a New Policy to recruit professionals of color across the board, not just teachers, but school administration, student guidance, central office and support staff. In a District with nearly 80% students of color, the mandate is upon us to accomplish real progress in hiring a diverse workforce under a New Superintendent. I was a newspaper reporter covering public education in rural Florida in the late 70’s and for it’s size and Southern history, the School District there was more integrated in the last century, than SPPS is now. Progress has been clearly unacceptable under Silva; Progressive is not a term we can use to describe hiring at SPPS, despite the claim of those on the Saint Paul School Board to be progressives.

I am an Institutional Change Agent, I ask for your vote on November 3, 2015 because Saint Paul’s Children get only one chance at a successful education and there is no


Qualified teachers of color should be recruited. At the same time, I expect that teachers, regardless of color, will recommend equal opportunities to students regardless of student color.





This was referenced in my answer to an earlier question, and I would reiterate the need to create more pathways for our communities of color to find employment in our schools and find ways to make it financially possible for them to pursue careers in education. Much of the current diversity in our system is represented by Educational and Teaching Assistants who are members of the community and aspire to become teachers. There are also site staff working in other roles, from the cafeteria to administrative positions who may have similar aspirations. We need to work with our institutions of higher learning to make sure their programs welcome and support these neighbors and future teachers. We also can start early by working in our high schools to identify and encourage students with an interest in teaching by building teaching experiences into their curriculum.

Jon Schumacher

Students of color need to see adults in the classroom who understand their experiences and can offer role models for the future. As a board member, I can encourage hiring practices that seek qualified candidates of color to be teachers. We should also work with SPPS graduates of color to help them find pathways into education and, hopefully, to return to the district as teachers. Also, I can help advocate for full implementation of alternative licensing procedures at the state level, as well as for reduced barriers for out of state licensed teachers to work in Minnesota. Finally, I would find ways to work with SPFT leadership to continue and broaden/deepen their efforts at diversifying teacher staffing.

Children need to see adults that are similar to them to be examples of what is possible in their own lives. Children in some communities have learned not to trust adults who are different from them. It is important that their interactions and relationships with adults are positive and productive. That is why we need teachers who reflect the background of the children. They also need to see adults from diverse backgrounds working together, in this case the teachers. The SPPS need to work with teacher training programs in higher education to ensure that new teachers have had experience and training in working with a variety of cultures.

When hiring, the process needs to include questions that would reveal a candidate’s experience and opinions around racial equity. Interviews could include interaction in classrooms for SPPS staff to observe and evaluate a candidate’s readiness to work in a diverse classroom. Including parents in the hiring process would also provide insight into a candidate’s values and experience.


I support an immediate increase in the hiring of people of color to work as teacher’s assistants. In my work as a sub I found TA’s of all races to be a great help and thought many would make great teachers. Unfortunately, on a TA’s income going to college to receive the needed training is unaffordable. Therefore, I support the establishment of a program for free or dramatically reduced tuition for TA’s of color as a form or reperations. (I think college tuition for all qualified students should be based on a sliding scale fee according to ability to pay. Making college unaffordable for so many is yet another indication of the moral and intellectual incompetence and corruption of America’s ruling class.)

I would also like to see more college students of color working in schools as teacher’s assistants. This work would be compensated by reduced tuition and would give prospective teachers the chance to see first hand, day after day, what it’s like to be a teacher.

Lastly, in the very near future college costs for ALL students must be dramatically reduced. Our nation can afford it. After all, we are not a poor nation. The problem is that

Scott Raskiewicz


Keith Hardy*


For far too long, education policy has been created without a critical voice at the table—the voice of classroom teachers.

Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, is changing this dynamic by placing the voices of teachers at the forefront of the conversations that shape our classrooms and careers.

E4E has a quickly growing national network of educators united by our Declaration of Teachers’ Principles and Be liefs. E4E members can learn about education policy and re search, network with like-minded peers and policymakers, and take action by advocating for teacher-created policies that lift student achievement and the teaching profession.

Learn more, and view this guide online, at Educators4Excellence.org/SPPSboard15.

Documents

Our School Board, Our Voice: 2015 Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education Voter Guide