Both District 7 candidates were presented with
these very tough questions with a deadline to respond via email
by 12 p.m. April 22, 2007 and questions 11 and 12 were added
with an extended deadline of May 6, 2007. Neal Kleiner was
the only candidate to responded on both occasions.
April 22, 2007 & May 6, 2007
Question #1
The traditional public school and charter schools
are both funded by
tax dollars. If you are to be elected board member will you seek to
bring
these concepts together to erase the distinguishing lines or will
you
work to keep them separate and competing for the same clientele?
Please
expound to clarify and validate your vision concerning this matter.
I want public schools to be as outstanding as
any charter or private school so that there is no urgency to have
more charter schools. I have no problem with good charter schools;
however, I want a level playing field.
Given your experience and personal knowledge, what
label would you
apply to the present LAUSD management model? To be clear, there is a
voice coming out of the masses suggesting Total Quality Management (TQM),
as espoused by it's originator, Dr. Deming, would be the best of all
known management models to institute for the purposes of improving
public
education. Do you agree that TQM is the best model of management for
public school administration? Can you suggest a specific model of
administration better suited to public education?
I prefer "distributed
leadership" where the leadership is distributed both up and
down, where teachers are empowered as well as school site
administrators. All are held accountable by each other.
What purpose does the teachers union serve in your
vision of future
public education? Is there any factual information in your personal
history that indicates how you feel about UTLA or teachers' unions
in
general? (Our forum will permit a candidate to share written
verifiable
information about an opponent, information that we respectfully
reserve
the right to determine if it would be fair to share publicly. We
protect
the right to remain reasonably respectful in holding these kinds of
forums. This is a democratic forum, not a place for gossip and
hearsay.)
I feel the teacher's union
can be the conscience that is an advocate for their students.
However, they should not protect incompetent teachers any more
than incompetent administrators should be supported. The vast
majority of teachers care about their students and want to do a
good job. They are underpaid for what they do and their voice
should be heard.
What is the purpose of year-round-calendars for
schools? Can an
approach to improving the delivery of education to students k-12 in
LAUSD
include any of the year-round calendars? If so please specify which
year-round calendar model may have positive attributes. Please
expound as
a means to clarify and validate your opinion.
It was because of
overcrowding. Four Track (90-30) is preferable as it
encompasses the full 180 days of instruction. As new schools
are built, however, there will be an end to year round
calendars.
Question #5
What is your opinion about the recent change of
salary payments to
LAUSD employees? How could there have been a better outcome? If you
have
insight as to why there was a systemic change of salary
disbursements
please share your knowledge.
It was a total disaster. There was NO local
input from those who input the payroll at schools and offices. This
is an example of a "top down" decision without INPUT from those
affected.
Is there a conflict between A-G requirements for all
students and the
call from some corners of society for a return to technical training
courses in high schools? Please first answer this question directly
(yes
or no---a general view of how these two concepts work). Afterwards,
state
how you plan to best serve the needs of students with a focus on
these
two concepts.
This is a very difficult question. All
students need equal access to college and that includes A to G
requirements and advanced placement classes. However, some students
aren't interested in college and/or won't be accepted. There needs
to be realistic alternatives for these students. It shouldn't be a
choice between A to G and "technical", but A to G and skills that
lead to a job and NOT to dropping out which is what happens to some
students who get behind in the A to G requirements. There needs to
be realistic alternatives so that all students are serviced.
Do you think earning extra pay for bilingual skills
is fair while not
offering a bonus to education professionals having specialized
skills
with english speaking at-risk students coming from cultures
devastated by
slavery, racism, and hatred over centuries?
The way the question is phrased makes it a
"loaded" question. However, I will take the chance of incurring
your wrath, by saying that it is "fair" IF they service a large
amount of bilingual students and that their skill is used over half
of the school day.
In California prisons there have been riots between
African American
and Mexican American inmates. This same kind of hatred between the
two
cultures is being manifested in LAUSD schools and in certain
neighborhoods. Other than "talk", what specific suggestions do you
have
about resolving social problems between African Americans and people
from
the Spanish speaking Americas?
There has to be a constant
reminder that economic power has created a class society and
those at the lower ends have to work together to get a piece of
that ever shrinking pie. If Latinos and African Americans
distrust/battle each other, neither will benefit. In the last
fifty years, the gap between the wealthiest 2 per cent and the
rest of society has widened dramatically. Those in the bottom
ten per cent have fallen farther behind. The poor (of all
ethnic groups) must unite for the common good. This must be
taught in the schools, starting in elementary school.
How will you make sure that LAUSD low performing
schools are
prioritized to get their fair share of SB 1133?
This is a good example of
where LAUSD is too big. Central has to let the local districts
decide which schools have the greatest needs for the funds.
Those schools that have the greatest needs, need to get the
funds to improve. However, it is not money alone. If there is
not good leadership at the school sites, the money will be
wasted. Money, alone, is not the answer. Dedicated
administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents,
collaborating with the financial resources they need can turn
any school into a place where parents want to send their
children.
Question #10
Does your vision of education include school
counselors k-12? What
do you understand school counselors provide to enhance education
services? Are counselors on the elementary level needed?
Counselors are needed at
all levels. EBIC (Early behavior intervention counselors) are
supposed to help in the elementary schools. However, their
funding has been cut. That should not happen.
May 6th, 2007 - Questions 11 & 12
uploaded to this web site Sunday May 6, 2007
Question #11
The office of LAUSD School Board Seat #7 is an elected position.
Please state how much money has been raised through your
campaign and who have been your major contributors. Generally
speaking, do you consider donor contributions to be an important
questionable factor in politics? What influence will major
contributors to your campaign have upon your decision-making
should you become board member?
I have raised around 50,000 (23,000 before
the primary and the rest, since). I have had four significant
donations: a teacher from Hollywood H.S. who I have never met
(but is a friend of a close supporter) donated 10,000. I
donated the same. AALA donated 6,000 to both my opponent and
myself, and one PAC, who wanted the THREE candidates to oppose
the new high school on Alameda (which we all did) donated 4,000
to all THREE candidates before the primary and have promised
1,000 more to my opponent and myself. So, that is aound 30,000
of the 50,000. The rest is from MANY small donors, teachers and
friends who want to help my campaign.
Question #12
Please write the question that represents what you feel is one
of the greatest problems, given present reality in LAUSD, then
write your response to that question in order to make your view
clear about resolving that problem.
Lack of consistent funding and a
corollary, unfunded mandates.
I feel that we need to pressure our state legislature and
governor to fund education, at the very least, in the middle of
the 50 states (per pupil) instead in the bottom six/seven.
Plus, we need to have our national legislators decide (as they
revisit No Child Left Behind) to adequately fund the mandates
that they desire. This is one area where the mayor of L.A. can
help as he is influential with the legislature and the governor.
This will also help reduce the massive bureaucracy that has been
created in LAUSD to deal with some of the federal funding
issues: mandates but insufficient funding.
The lawmakers and legislators need to make this a priority.
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