League of Women Voters of Plano/Collin County

www.lwvcollin.org

Voters Guide

May 10, 2008, Local Elections

Plano ISD

Early voting – April 28 through May 6

Election day – Polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This Voters Guide is published by the League of Women Voters of Plano/Collin County to help citizens prepare to cast an informed vote. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that works to promote political responsibility through active, informed participation of all citizens in their government. The League does not support or oppose any political party or candidate.

All candidates for the respective offices were invited to participate. If a candidate did not respond by the deadline, “No Response Received” is printed. Responses were limited to 100 words and truncated with // after the 100^th word.

Candidates for Plano ISD, Place 4

Robert Canright

1. Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

I have experience as a classroom teacher. Math and science are an important part of our future. I have extensive experience in applying math and science in research and development at Fortune 500 companies.

I have a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Orleans, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. I am a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E., in Electrical Engineering) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I.E.E.E.).

Read my thoughts on education at

http://www.robertcanright.com/

2. What role should statewide standardized testing play in this district? Is there too much emphasis on standardized testing, as some teacher and parent organizations have reported?

The TEA uses TAKS scores to identify schools and school districts with academic problems. However, the TEA cannot fix schools or school districts with problems, which is a serious short-coming in the accountability system.

Good scores on the TAKS do not mean the children are getting a great education. The TEA standards for Recognized and Exemplary schools are not a guarantee that our children are getting the best possible education.

We should focus on providing our children with the best education, not the best TAKS scores.

3. What is the best way to reward good teachers? Do you think that the state’s merit pay plan for teachers with matching local fund requirements is an effective use of the school district’s funds?

We have many great teachers in Plano, but some are weak links. Mathematics is the easiest subject for hiring competent teachers: look at their scores on their math certification tests or give them a math test to solve in the hiring process. Still, Plano, and other districts, sometimes hire math teachers who struggle to solve the problems they are supposed to teach.

If our principals sometimes have trouble identifying the best teachers, how can they fairly rank their teachers? An unfair distribution of merit pay will most likely lead to morale problems, not to better teaching or retention.

4. How should this district prepare students for success whether they are college-bound or not?

Our children need a well-rounded education to prepare them for a future full of change. I believe our nation’s founding fathers were able to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States because they understood the struggle for liberty and democracy from their studies of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Our children are taught Greek and Roman history, but they need a deeper understanding.

Math and science are important, but they do not bring wisdom. Our children must be able to make good choices, wise choices, in a future that is increasingly complex and competitive.

5. How do current procedures in textbook selection affect this school district? How can the district ensure that appropriate textbooks are available?

Textbooks come and go. Our district does a commendable job of decoupling its curriculum implementation from textbooks.

6. Is the current property tax rate, plus state financing, adequate to support the school district’s needs?

The state legislation for the funding of Texas public schools is inadequate. The state of Texas has already forced Plano ISD to lay-off teachers and increase classroom sizes.

7. As more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds enroll, what should the district do to facilitate their success at school?

We should continue to follow state requirements and keep an open mind to improvements.

8. What are the most important issues you think will come before the school district in the next three years? What are your views on these issues?

Money problems at the schools will get worse. The citizens of Texas should press the state legislature for better solutions.

America is now slipping into a recession because American leaders in Washington and Wall Street are unsuccessful. The prosperity of the nation depends on successful leadership. We must begin now to educate a new generation of leaders who will have the skills, knowledge, and wisdom to lead Plano, to lead Texas, and to lead America to a better future.

Plano can develop the best leaders in America. We need to start now.

Brad Shanklin

1. Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

In addition to the three years of hands on experience from my first term, I have more than 40 continuing education hours at Region 10 and National School Board Association trainings. I am also a Texas Fellow of the Center for Reform of School Systems; a 2 ½ day extensive training of case studies assessing the success and failures of other school districts. I have been active with the district for more than 10 years by serving on various district bond and boundary task forces and other various committees, PTA boards and campus based councils.

2. What role should statewide standardized testing play in this district? Is there too much emphasis on standardized testing, as some teacher and parent organizations have reported?

I am not sure if it is too much emphasis or too much attention paid to these tests. The state determines the required curriculum and the standardized tests are based on that curriculum. Clearly, our district needs to ensure that our local curriculum addresses the state requirements. I am in favor of moving away from these standardized tests to something more locally controlled. Students are different in every district and it is important for the local administrations to set some standards. The state can still determine minimum requirements but I prefer end of course testing to the current TAKS assessment.

I am excited about a new program passed in House Bill 1 and under consideration by the Board creating a non-competitive teacher incentive award. Approximately $2.9 million has been allocated by the state to provide District Awards for Teacher Excellence. These funds will be used at targeted campuses that have the most need and meet criteria set out by TEA. PISD has 28 campuses who meet at least one of the criteria and have opted into the program. The districts matching fund requirements can be met through in-kind support of the district without and outlay of funds.

4. How should this district prepare students for success whether they are college-bound or not?

Our goal is to make sure all students are college ready. For those students who make the decision not to go to college, there are a number of vocational programs offered at the high school and senior high school level. Our counselors work closely with the students to help them make course choices dependent on whether they are planning to attend college or not. The district continues to look for vocational courses to help prepare those who are not planning to attend college.

5. How do current procedures in textbook selection affect this school district? How can the district ensure that appropriate textbooks are available?

PISD uses a specific process in the selection of textbooks. It initiates at the state with an approved list of textbooks from multiple publishers. The district forms a selection committee including teachers from various campuses. This committee makes recommendations that are ultimately brought to the Board for approval. The process is expanded to each school so all teachers have access to textbooks and related materials. Public review of all textbooks under adoption is available at Region 10. Obviously, there is a great deal of local control in this process and the affect on the district is very positive.

6. Is the current property tax rate, plus state financing, adequate to support the school district’s needs?

No. Every year, costs to educate children increases. In addition, Plano ISD continues to send millions of dollars out of the district due to recapture. This year alone, PISD will pay more than $90 million in recapture. As the city of Plano’s growth slows, the historical increase in property value from new construction and increased appraisals has slowed too. Future school year budgets are already seeing the impact of this and the district will likely need to address an increase to the tax rate or consider significant budget cuts.

7. As more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds enroll, what should the district do to facilitate their success at school?

Currently, there are more than 85 languages spoken in the district. PISD is committed to the English as a Second Language (ESL) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs. ESL is an intensive program designed to develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the English language. All instruction is in English. The goal of the ESL program is to teach the students English so that they will be academically successful in all classes. As the enrollment in non-English-speaking students grows, the district will continue to provide the necessary ESL/ESOL resources.

8. What are the most important issues you think will come before the school district in the next three years? What are your views on these issues?

Local school financing and student growth are two very significant issues. As mentioned, our district will need to take a very hard look at our local budget for the next few years to ensure we can approve a balanced budget. Costs continue to rise and we are limited on ways to increase our revenues. Our student population growth has slowed but there are already issues regarding the need for new schools to address that growth. The timing of these schools and the impact on the budget will be significant for our district.

Candidates for Plano ISD, Place 5

David Lee Hall

1. Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

PERSONAL

Married 36 years, 3 Children, & 7 Grandchildren

Member McDermott Road Church of Christ

EDUCATION

Abilene Christian University 1972

BS Mathematics w/minors in Physics & Business

CAREER

Marine Corps Officer

Price Waterhouse Consultant

Systems Consulting Business / International Entrepreneur

Adjunct Professor Cisco JC / Public School Teacher RES

Public School Administrator / Auditor for

Responsive Education Solutions (RES)

22 Campuses Across Texas – 10 New Campuses Approved by

Texas Education Agency

Accredited by Southern Association of Colleges & Schools

Additional Information

dhall.planoisd@gmail.com

www.dhall-planoisd.blogspot.com

Google: David Hall PISD

2. What role should statewide standardized testing play in this district? Is there too much emphasis on standardized testing, as some teacher and parent organizations have reported?

Schools-teachers are judged almost completely by TAKS results, so they are forced to “Teach to the TAKS”, to the detriment of covering subjects thoroughly. National entrance exams for students are available in University testing centers almost any day of the week because the questions are selected at random. This should be provided for Texas students at no cost since it would cost less than the current or planned approaches. If End-Of-Course Exams are required then they should be online when the student is prepared to test on the course materials, not a one-day, high-stakes test.

The first goal should be to identify good teachers; however, TAKS tests do NOT accomplish this goal; AND Teachers-Parents-Students should be consulted on how to identify good teachers. Parents should be allowed to select campuses-teachers when possible and parents should have the option to rate a teacher including providing confirmed-anonymous feedback on teacher performance.

A good teacher should be rewarded with praise, honor, and money.

Texas merit pay plan is not effective for Plano: no future funding guarantee, not fair to all teachers, and significant administrative costs.

4. How should this district prepare students for success whether they are college-bound or not?

Character: After discussions with constituents (beginning with the Plano-based Voice Of Asian Americans Association www.voaaa.org); and reading an article by a California Educator (www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8434858?source=email); I am convinced that character education is necessary for success.

Project Based Learning: Have a significant portion of course work be completing a somewhat freeform project with real life application, mentors from the community, and this approach also teaches character.

Life Skills: We should teach character, USA legal system, personality testing, personal finance, job search, office politics, computer applications, home ownership, nutrition, health, hygiene, and interpersonal skills.

5. How do current procedures in textbook selection affect this school district? How can the district ensure that appropriate textbooks are available?

Textbooks are extremely overpriced and outdated by the time they come off the press. There is a place for workbooks. However, in Science and Social Studies, most educational materials should be delivered via computer. Online textbooks are the preferred educational tool. They can be updated real time, affording our children current information, and reducing costs. The same holds true for standardized testing: Online testing would also reduce costs while SIGNIFICANTLY improving the pedagogical value of the testing.

6. Is the current property tax rate, plus state financing, adequate to support the school district’s needs?

There are Federal and private grants already in place. If we get good results for our students then money will not be an issue. Also our successful alumni will contribute and businesses that need more great employees will donate possibly by matching employee contributions.

7. As more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds enroll, what should the district do to facilitate their success at school?

English skills are necessary for success EVERYWHERE in the world (including Plano, Texas USA). ALL of our students need to FIRST become fluent in English – listening, speaking, reading, writing, and composition. This is necessary for their success, will reduce overall costs, and will help Plano stay competitive in the world market. Students should become fluent in English prior to mainstreaming. If this requires a student to spend an additional year or even two in school then that should be done to provide the highest probability of success. Individualized approaches integrated with traditional campuses will allow simultaneous socialization.

8. What are the most important issues you think will come before the school district in the next three years? What are your views on these issues?

Character - Project Based Learning - Life Skills – see #4 above

Parental Choice of campus, teacher, and curricula – Parents should be allowed to select campuses-teachers when possible and parents should have the option to rate a teacher including providing confirmed-anonymous feedback on teacher performance.

Individualized Approaches based on student needs – Schools should provide at least one hour of computer lab time per day (a computer for each student would be even better) – curricula could include remediation, foreign language, standard courses, research, and computer technology.

Lloyd “Skip” Jenkins

1. Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

· 30-year Plano resident.

· Associated with governance issues and district needs from my 10 years on the PlanoISD Education Foundation and 6 years as Trustee.

· Independent businessman, CPA, and financial consultant - 33 years

· Leadership experience in civic and non-profit organizations

· Involved in two state-wide organizations studying and educating school boards on governance issues and best practices.

· Past Associate Professor at Collin College.

· Currently a CFO of a non-profit focusing on student engagement in public education.

· I’ve committed myself to public education and the issues related to student achievement for almost two decades.

2. What role should statewide standardized testing play in this district? Is there too much emphasis on standardized testing, as some teacher and parent organizations have reported?

· Standardized testing is here to stay, but it should only be part of the picture in assessing student achievement.

· The first priority of testing should be to determine specific deficiencies in student learning so that teachers can target their response to specific student needs.

· Positive: Standardized testing has been effective in changing behavior. In the past, school districts looked at broad indicators of success. Now, every student matters.

· Negative: School and district rankings are complicated, confusing and tend be meaningless is assessing the how/if students are improving from year to year.

Districts have latitude on how they structure pay-for-performance plans. Every school that has chosen to participate (including PISD) is developing its own unique incentive program. In two or three years, we are going to have a lot of data about what works and what doesn’t work. I like our plan because, although the classroom teacher has the greatest influence, it focuses is on the concept that no one person is totally responsible for a student’s achievement. Our teachers were instrumental in the development of our plan, but the jury is out on this issue right now.

4. How should this district prepare students for success whether they are college-bound or not?

Knowing facts in one thing… Being able to apply those facts creatively is another. Ideally, every child would leave our school district with a love of learning and an inquisitive mind. I believe the District must continue its focus on teaching the whole child with rigorous academic programs tailored to the individual student and a strong arts and extra-curricular program to develop every student’s creative and civic capacity.

5. How do current procedures in textbook selection affect this school district? How can the district ensure that appropriate textbooks are available?

The State offers approved textbook options for our District to choose from. Although I believe that this should be a local control issue, this has not proved problematic for the District in recent history. We have a District-wide committee that chooses from among the options available and this appears to work pretty well.

6. Is the current property tax rate, plus state financing, adequate to support the school district’s needs?

Currently, yes. During the last legislative session the legislature significantly changed the formula for funding schools. Although most schools received more access to funding in the short-term, our ability to meet the inflationary costs of operating our schools in the next few years will be very difficult because we do not have access to the same sources of income we have had in the past. Without a significant change in how we fund public schools and a permanent fix for funding growth and inflationary costs, school districts will not be able maintain current programs.

7. As more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds enroll, what should the district do to facilitate their success at school?

Our schools are becoming more diverse…both ethnically and economically. This translates into a broader range of student and family needs then we have experienced historically. A non-English-speaking background is only one of the many challenges the District faces. I believe that we do not have a choice. We must engage families more effectively. We must help parents help their children by providing services that help the family unit understand the importance of learning and using English as quickly as possible. It is critical to student success.

8. What are the most important issues you think will come before the school district in the next three years? What are your views on these issues?

· School Accountability Ratings: I believe that the process and the benchmarks by which we assess success and failure must evolve. The current system is arbitrary, confusing, complicated, politically motivated and very ineffective.

· How do we close the achievement gap?: We have had some remarkable success over the last couple of years, but this issue will require the District to be very innovative in its approach as our demographics continue to change.

· School Finance (See Q. 6 above): School funding formulas will have to change.

Michael Mariano

1. Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

I don’t know if there is any specific training but I do believe I have the experience, 29 years in the classroom. After all those years I now have the opportunity to join the other side of the education process and have as much of an impact but this time not only on the students but also on the teachers and the community. I still have contact with my colleagues who keep me aware of what is happening in the schools. This kind of information could be extremely important when decisions need to be made at the school board

2. What role should statewide standardized testing play in this district? Is there too much emphasis on standardized testing, as some teacher and parent organizations have reported?

There is a role in education for statewide standardized testing. Statewide testing should be used to compare how Plano is doing in relation to the other districts. These tests will authenticate how effective, or ineffective, the teachers/ curriculum are in Plano. All students should meet a minimum competency level before graduation but I don’t necessarily agree with the present method of testing that level. The talk of end of course exams might be a better method. We must continue to adhere to standardized testing until another, probably the same concept but with a different name, is approved by the state.

There aren’t many ways to reward a teacher. The occasional thank you, a student’s smile, a note from a parent or the acknowledgement by a colleague are all greatly appreciated. However, the best way to reward a teacher is with money. I do not agree with the concept of merit pay. Who or what determines if a teacher does or does not receive that merit pay. I have always felt that if you want a true evaluation of my performance, it goes beyond test results, ask the students. They will tell the truth, sometimes something people don’t want to hear.

4. How should this district prepare students for success whether they are college-bound or not?

Since the inception of my candidacy I have and will continue to push for career education. Unfortunately, Plano does not offer enough classes in career education. For whatever reason, the number of courses has declined. With skyrocketing cost of college or some students do not desire to go to college, Plano must produce a graduate who is employable. Our graduates must be ready to enter a very competitive world. Let’s give our graduates an edge over the competition. Don’t make a student who does not go to college feel inferior to a college bound student. All students are valuable.

5. How do current procedures in textbook selection affect this school district? How can the district ensure that appropriate textbooks are available?

The textbook selection process is taken very seriously in Plano. Many teachers carefully scrutinize the textbooks chosen. There is no perfect textbook. You will find similarities in each textbook. It is the ancillary materials that help decide which textbook to purchase. In the senior high school math courses the curriculum, which does cover all of the state’s requirements, has been written and rewritten by teachers in the district. The curriculum is always evolving. The math teachers use the textbook as a resource to supplement the lesson and homework Additionally, most textbooks are available, with the proper license, online.

6. Is the current property tax rate, plus state financing, adequate to support the school district’s needs?

At the present time, the property tax rate in Plano is very comparable to the surrounding school districts. Even with the major bond issue during this election, Plano residents will not see a huge increase in their tax bill. Even though Plano is required to send funds back to the state, they have managed to keep the tax rate down. I believe Plano has been on top of this situation and has done a good job, but a good job is what we should expect. The fiscal responsibility of this school district is their job.

7. As more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds enroll, what should the district do to facilitate their success at school?

The job of the schools is to educate all its students. As more non-English speaking students enter our classrooms, we, as a district, must find ways and use teaching methods to make their transition as smooth as possible so they can more easily meet with success. The best method I’ve seen, and having taught in the ghetto and melting pot of Brooklyn, New York, is total immersion in the English language. This is great for the student but we must not forget the parent(s). The schools should also make available the same opportunity for the parent(s).

8. What are the most important issues you think will come before the school district in the next three years? What are your views on these issues?

1) Teacher compensation. Teachers are the strength and backbone of this district. Every effort must be made to keep the great teachers here in Plano. The best method is to compensate. The compensation can be salary/benefits.

2) Career education. The need for career education courses is increasing and Plano, as a district, must start to recognize the wishes and needs of all of its students.

3) Unused sick/personal days. Think of all the money that the district saved by teachers not using their sick/personal before retirement.. I would like to see the district thank and reward those generous teachers.