Positions

By Clay Mitchell

My position on several of the key issues facing Windsor schools.... This is organized in a Q&A format.

• When elected, what would be your top priority on the school board?

1) Fiscal restraint, efficiency, and productivity are crucial in the current situation. With tightening budgets, we will be required to streamline our processes and expenditures even more. I am committed to finding the most effective ways to do so, with minimum impact on the quality of education that our children receive. At the same time, I am committed to making the external support mechanisms (education and school support groups) more effective and efficient, allowing greater direct community support of school programs.

2) Maximum parental involvement is essential in the education process. Experience has shown that parental involvement and support in learning makes a substantial difference. Our teachers are over-worked, and without parental involvement, their job becomes even more difficult; students rarely excel without this support system. Additionally, schools are funded by the community (through property taxes), and this partnership between community (specifically parents) and professional educators promotes more effective learning. One idea that I will explore is full integration of online access to grading and assignments, allowing parents to follow their children's progress in "real time." They can then devote additional time and attention if a student is struggling immediately instead of waiting for the next report card to arrive in the mail, which could be considered a "trailing indicator" of a student's performance. There are substantial benefits to this system that has been used and touted highly by other schools. Barring unforeseen negative consequences, this should be implemented swiftly.

• Should Sonoma County's 40 school districts consolidate?

I am a proponent of efficiency and see the potential for duplication and inefficiency with the number of smaller districts. On the flip side, I'm a supporter of local control, feeling that the local community knows best what their students need. The flexibility and localized nature of small districts allow for a personalized and effective educational experience for the students.

As it relates to Windsor, I feel that we have a well-balanced district, with enough administration to handle the needs of our various schools. For the smaller districts in the County, there may be a financial benefit to consolidating administrative functions, but that would be a decision to be made by the residents of the district and should not be imposed upon them.

• Should open transfer policies be tightened?

• Is class size reduction worth the expense?

The challenge we are facing now is that the money simply isn't there. Unlike what the state and federal government seem to do, we just can't spend money that we don't have. So we must look for ways to offset the larger class sizes (and added burden on teachers) through external or parental support and involvement, and through reduced bureaucratic and administrative requirements placed on teachers, allowing them to devote a larger percentage of their time to instruction.

• Should teacher pay be linked to test scores?

• Should completion of A-G courses be required to graduate from high school?

• How can the structure of how education is funded in California be improved?

• Sonoma County school districts have seen a drop of approximately 20 percent in funding from the state over three years. Looking back over those three years, where would you cut that 20 percent?

• How would you add more arts and music to the regular day curriculum?

Two examples:

1. Windsor Arts Council ran a program several years ago that brought artists from the community into the schools as volunteers. In recent years, the focus of the Arts Council has shifted, but this was a viable, helpful and much appreciated program, and could be re-instated.

2. My wife and I are swing dancers and have taught swing dancing for nearly 10 years. We have, on occasion, been invited to teach at high school swing dance clubs, as part of senior projects, or as an official instructional activity. We are normally not paid for our work, but we are happy to participate for several reasons. First, it's good for the kids. Second, our "dance scene" is a community, and we know that if someone gets interested in dancing in high school, there is a good chance that they will become involved in our community and down the road, they will attend one of our dances or take lessons from us. We see both the immediate AND long-term benefits and are happy to share. I think you will find that many people who participate in "the arts" are of the same mindset, and the community is an excellent resource. But this will take leadership, organization, and concerted effort.... and probably some flexibility with scheduling and format. But it is absolutely viable and achievable.