Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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ELECTION Guide 2010 CUMBERLAND COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION As stated in the Cumberland County School Board Manual, the primary role of the School Board member is that of legislating policy. I also consider it to be one of liaison between the school system and the community. I believe that the more communication that goes on between the board and the general public; the better the relationship, the stronger the trust, and the greater the system. The only way to make and maintain better schools is together. (3) I have spent my entire professional life dealing with families and education. I began with the Early Childhood Intervention Program at the Cumberland County Mental Health Center as a Parent/Child Home Specialist, continued at the Department of Social Services in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children and most importantly, with the Communities In Schools Program at Max Abbott Middle School. CIS is the nation’s largest drop out prevention program and I served as the Site Coordinator. CIS believes that every child deserves and needs five basic things to be successful in life, the most important being a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult. CIS also brings community resources into the schools for the benefit of the student, connecting much needed services with the child within the school setting. I worked closely with the teachers, guidance counselors, social worker, assistant principals and principal to coordinate services and to assure success in and out of the classroom for my students. I am still mentoring 10 of those students who are now seniors in high school. I will celebrate with them and their families as they walk across the stage this year and graduate. These students are true success stories and I am so proud of them. I have been a student, parent, volunteer, and employee of this school system. I have seen its strengths and weaknesses and most importantly, its possibilities. Robert Lewis (1) Test scores are only one indication of the effectiveness of a teacher. Teachers are required by the state to teach the Standard Course of Study which is the instrument used in creating our state testing program. Teachers must teach the material that will be tested to ensure mastery for all students. (2) I am retired so I have the time and the flexibility to be a productive and informed school board member. State law outlines the role of the school board member to hire the superintendant, the board attorney and make board policies. Policies are related to curriculum, instruction, assessment, personnel and facilities. A school board member must hold the superintendent accountable for implementation of all policies. My experience as a teacher, coach, county commissioner and principal of Seventy-First High School and Elementary School reflects a commitment to the children and educators of this county. I also have understanding of all the facets of the educational process. Throughout my career, I have demonstrated my willingness to provide a quality education for all children. (3)The number one problem is discipline. The Gallop Poll continues to reflect that discipline is the leading concern of educators and parents alike. It is imperative that our schools also be safe so teaching and learning can be the first priority. Rosie McMillan (1) I do not feel that test scores are a good indicator of a teacher’s ability to teach. Test scores really should have any indications or measurement that a teacher cannotteach. All children do not learn alike. Many students do not do well on test for many reasons, i.e. maybe they are just not having a good day, not having eaten breakfast,nervous about not doing well,or just did not grasp the information being taught. Having to memmorize information just for a test is like cramming the night before or just before taking the test. Neither of these methods are for long term, just short term memorization..Information for test has to be re-interated at home as well as taught to the child on a daily basis. (2)My ability to meet the commitment needed by school board members. First, I am commited in everything I do or I don’t do it. My committment to children is heart-felt because it is my passion to help children. My experience in working with children speaks for itself. I worked for the Cumberland County school system for 18 years, 14 years as a Clerical Professional at Reid Ross Middle. During that time I also went back to school and received my degree from Fayetteville State University and taught four years at SouthView High School. I left the School system and worked one year at the Cumberland County Sher- iff’s Department as a Detention Officer. I went back to Spring Lake Middle School. Afterwards,I accepted a job at Fayetteville State University where I retired in 2008. While at Reid Ross I organized S.W.A.V. (Student’s Working Achieving Values) and later Stand Up, Speak Out, Reach One. Both of the groups enhance educational and social skills for children that prepared them to function in our local community and the world that caused them to have productive careers today. I am still involved in helping children in that, I have sponsored annual Youth Explosions for children in Cumberland and surrounding counties for 16 years, and these are not paid positions, but just to be able to help children is pay in itself. My role as a member of the School Board is to realize that this is a team effort, and that one or two persons on a team does not complete the team. In being a successful team player, one must be a good listener, but listening is not effective when there is no action to complete the process. In any given situa- tion no one ever agree with everything that is said or done, but all must be willing to come to a consensus to make decisions for the good of the System as a whole, that includes everyone who touches our children lives, i.e. bus drivers, cafeteria, custodians, clerical, teachers, administrators and any persons who touch the lives of child. It’s time out for just going along just to get along and during the process getting noth- ingaccomplished. (3) One of the biggest problems that continue to face us is being able to recruit and retain quality 24 UCW OCTOBER 20-26, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM teachers and staff. Teachers who are qualified to teach should be able to teach. When a teacher is frus- trated, then, we have student’s who are frustrated. When a person is satisfied with themselves especially when having gotten their education to teach children in a certain field they should be able to do so, be- cause this brings satisfaction to everyone especially the children. Teacher’s salaries should be competitive with other cities and states on a whole. We need to make sure that money that is earmarked for Schools is distributed throughout the System properly and evenly that all children can and will have the same resources for learning. Dropout rates continue to be at a high rate, but there should also be other alterna- tives for achieving, in that, children are able to function and compete globally, and have self-worth. If this happens, then we wouldn’t have to build more jail space to house criminals whom many of them have not been given a chance to succeed. I believe that every child can and will learn when given the opportunity. Greg West (1) Certainly, tests are one measure to assess how much content a student has learned over the course of a year, and therefore are one indicator of a teacher’s effectiveness. Tests are important tools whether they are used for professional licensure, college admission, or high school graduation. We have recently reduced the number of benchmark tests given, trying to find the right balance between testing and instruction. However, as federal and state mandates require endless comparisons between schools and districts, testing will remain at the forefront of the education discussion. Teachers should not, and I feel they do not, “teach to the test.” Our teachers teach the North Caro- lina standard course of study. This is the curriculum mandated from the state and administered by our local teachers. The tests accurately assess whether the student has mastered the standard course of study. I think it is unfair to assert that teachers “teach to the test.” It has become a popular phrase that undermines the professionalism, dedication and subject- matter expertise that our teachers bring to their classrooms. (2) My leadership and record over the past eight years proves that I can meet and exceed the commitment needed to lead our Board of Education. I have attained more than 16 hours of continuing education each year on the board and my peers have twice elected me their chairman. More importantly, I run a large homebuilding company and am also a parent of school-aged children who attend our schools. A parent’s perspective and a businessperson’s perspective are needed on our board of education. By statute, the role of a school board is to set policy and hire and manage the superintendent. It is the role of the administration, hired and managed by the superintendent to run the school system. A board is there for oversight and to make sure policy is fol- lowed. It is not to micro-manage. We also listen to parents and other stakeholders and advocate for chil- dren. This feedback helps us form opinions as to what policies are working or not. We are in the process of a wholesale review of the entire CCS Policy Manual. As mentioned earlier, I am a parent of children in our schools. There are only two parents on the board with children in our schools. I am also not a former educator. Many board members have worked in the school system or government their entire careers. I think it is important to have a diverse perspective on any governing board. I obtained a Masters of Business Administration degree from Campbell Univer- sity and have much corporate, human resource, legal and budget experience that allows me to provide guidance and valuable insight into our very large and complex school system. My family believes in the value and importance of public education, not just for our children, but for all of God’s children. We dis- cuss education around the breakfast table every morning and it’s one of the last things we discuss before tucking our children in bed. I know our challenges and have real solutions and humbly ask for your vote. (3) We need a willingness to dramatically change how we deliver education and the leadership to expect higher results. The classic definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting different results. We need to trust the research and data and not what used to work or “the way it’s always been done.” The demands of our global economy are much greater than what our agrarian and manu- facturing based education model was designed to deliver. We need more critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and more emphasis on language. The world is now flat and other countries are figuring it out faster than the USA. Education is the great equalizer in life and not enough people are taking it seriously. People died for the right to learn. I’ll help manage change and demand greater results because my children are in the equation too.