Why are you running for MTUESD School Board?
I have always been passionate about wanting to help kids to
receive the best education possible.
Serving on the board will allow me, along with my fellow board members,
to directly implement and monitor policies which meet the needs of all
students.
What, do you feel, are your qualifications?
I served on the Copperopolis Elementary School Site Council
for 4 years. I also volunteer in the
after-school Homework Club, so I am able to see the homework provided for
multiple grade levels on a weekly basis.
Additionally, I am the 4-H Community Leader for Copper Hills 4-H, and I
have been involved with 4-H for 10 years.
I grew up in a family of educators, and have been listening
to lively conversations about education literally all my life. My mother was a district administrator and my
father was a teacher and coach, so I learned to appreciate both sides of many
educational issues. I believe this background will help me to bring people
together to accomplish the goal of achieving student success. My daughter and I were both GATE students,
and my sister was a Special Education student.
I, therefore, have a strong appreciation for special needs programs
which serve the learning styles and needs of every student.
I have two bachelor’s degrees, and I was a business owner
for 5 years. I then was a stay-at-home
parent for 15 years, and now I work part-time at Saddle Creek Resort.
What will you bring to the Board that you feel will make
a difference?
Along with the qualifications mentioned above, I feel that I
am a rational, fair, thoughtful and patient person, who is able to work well
with others to achieve the goal of providing the best educational experience
possible for our students. I am a good
listener, and want to hear the thoughts and concerns of students, parents,
teachers and administrators. I
thoroughly study all sides of an issue before forming my opinion and making
decisions.
Courtesy photo
What are your feelings on the common core teaching
methods being utilized currently?
This issue is an example of just what I mentioned
above. I have been reading and studying
all aspects and opinions of Common Core, as well as talking with teachers and
children, and although I have heard many things, both positive and negative, I
am still in the learning phase. This is a major shift in education for our
entire nation, and it deserves our utmost attention! I plan to be a close watchdog of this
program, and I am able to directly monitor actual student learning through
serving in the Homework Club. I do
believe extensive teacher training is imperative to the success of the program.
What are your three overall priorities if you are
elected?
It is difficult to choose just three. My campaign slogan is “Striving for
Excellence”. This is not just a slogan
for me. I believe we have a great school
district, but I also believe that it can always be better. There have been several changes made by the
state regarding how money is allocated to each district. Two things that have been eliminated due to
these changed allocations are Music Education and the GATE program. I would like to bring these back. I cannot go into detail here about the
extreme benefits both programs provide students, as well as the district, but
they are many and important. As I
mentioned earlier, I also want to keep a close eye on the Common Core
program. Additionally, in our
ever-changing world, we must keep close tabs on our Safety policies. I worked on this with the School Site
Council, and will continue to monitor and improve these policies if I am
elected to the board. I would add that
teacher satisfaction is important, and of course, my ULTIMATE goal is to serve
the best interests of EVERY child in the district.
Does our district have a Local Control and Accountability
Plan? If so, please explain how this plan works.
This is a requirement by the State of California just implemented last year. The state
gives a set of requirements that must be implemented by the districts, which is
tied to state funding. It focuses on
primarily low income, English learner, foster youth
and students with disabilities, and also on the school environment, such as
bullying prevention. The “Local Control” comes in when each district
decides how to best implement the appropriate services to meet these
requirements. Our district does have a
plan, or LCAP. Before formulating the
LCAP, the district held meetings with parents of
students receiving Special Education services,
the ELAC
(English Language Advisory Committee), students, parents and community members
from both Mark Twain and Copperopolis, bargaining units (ACE and CSEA) and the LCAP
Advisory Committee. After the plan was formulated it was submitted to the
Board, then to the County
Office of Education, and then
on to the State for approval.
Do you support or oppose expanded public education to
include preschool in our district?
I believe preschool education should be made available to
every child. The major question is, how
will it be funded? At this time, no
funds are provided by the state to implement this program. So, in order to incorporate preschool into
the public education system, funds would need to be taken from our existing
“pot,” which is already strained. We
don’t want to sacrifice the needs of our Kindergarten through 8th
grade students in order to achieve this goal. In our district, we currently have two
available preschool programs on-site at Copperopolis Elementary – Head Start
and Calaveras County Office of Education Preschool. Mark Twain Elementary also houses a Head
Start preschool. In addition, the
district provides a Transitional Kindergarten for those children who are
slightly too young to attend regular Kindergarten.
Are you familiar with Vergara v California?
What is your understanding of this case and what is your position on tenure?
This was a case filed by nine public school students against
the State of California. The students challenged three statutes of the
California Education Code, claiming they violated the equal protection clause
of the California Constitution. The
trial court’s decision was just written on August 27, 2014. I have read the judge’s decision in its
entirety. Basically, the students
believe they were denied a quality education due to “grossly ineffective”
teachers that were disproportionately located in schools serving minority and
low-income students. In a nutshell, the
three statutes govern the tenure policy in California. The issues involved are 1) the fact that it
only takes 16 months for teachers to receive “permanent employment” status, 2)
the fact that it currently takes so long and so much money to dismiss a
teacher, that dismissals are “extremely rare” in California, and 3) that the
Last In, First Out policy of employment does not take into account the quality
and efficiency of the teacher.
The judge found all three statutes unconstitutional. The judge wrote that it was his
responsibility to remain objective and focus only on the legal aspects of the
case. It will be the duty of the
California Legislature to update the state policies and laws. This case will surely be appealed, so only
time will tell what effect it will have on education in California.
I could go into much greater detail about the content of the decision, as it
was extremely interesting. I strongly
urge every citizen to read the judge’s actual written decision, and I would be
happy to provide a copy to anyone who requests it. In any case, it is the function of Mark Twain
Union Elementary School Board to follow the policies set forth by the
California Education Code.
At this time you may present a maximum 300 word statement.
I would just like to say that I would be honored to have
your vote on November 4th.
You can be confident that I will work hard to ensure the success of
every student in our district, and do so with integrity and
accountability. I welcome your thoughts
and concerns, and will continue to keep an open dialogue with all as a board
member. I can be reached at kendallm@aol.com and (209) 840-3289. Thank you!
