Looking Forward



Central School, South Berwick, ME

Everyone has experience with education. Some of us have been homeschooled, enjoying a family setting for personalized learning. Others of us have attended a private school, choosing experiences that match our future dreams. Many of us have experienced classroom learning, played on playgrounds and athletic fields, and performed on stages in public schools. I have experienced all three settings at all grade levels, including postsecondary, either as a student, teacher, and/or administrator. In this blog, I will write about education, past and present. The good times as well as the challenging issues that students and staff face in schools today.

Let's start with the present. I have served on the School Board for the public schools in Brunswick, Maine for two terms The beginning posts of this blog will highlight my views as I run for re-election for a third term on this board. Many people ask about my position on the issues facing our schools. I can summarize it: Every conversation a school board engages in should consider all students' well-being and achievement. My position is that school boards are most effective

 in promoting student well-being and academic achievement when they focus on policy and budget deliberations using student-centered decision making principles rather than affirming personal positions on specific issues or operational details. Realistically, a board must vote. I have voted for things I personally disagree with because the facts before me indicated it was in the best interest of all students. I also have voted against things that I personally
agree with because the facts before me indicated it was in the best interest of all students.

Having stated the above, I will share my view that the biggest issue facing our Brunswick schools, as is every public school today, is instability created by politics. National, state, and local politics have historically shaped our public schools, against the backdrop of whatever social, economic, or political issues our country was facing at the time. Equity and integration are popular themes that have resonated nationally, statewide, and locally. I have heard the saying, 'education is the greatest equalizer in our democratic society' and I agree with it. Equally important is the passage of time as political legislative debates go on and on. Given the present school year, children attend kindergarten for one year. Children attend middle school for three years. And most children graduate from high school after four years of attendance. Witness debates on educational matters that extend beyond these time limits and the loss that represents to children. Witness the accumulated mandates that result from years of national, state, and local legislation and the burdens they create for public

schools. Witness the enormous sums of money spent on these legislative processes and resulting laws that could be spent on programs and services for children. Sometimes one mandate opposes or competes with another but both must somehow be managed by school leaders because the political mandate world doesn't seem to include investigating the feasibility of implementing requirements prior to becoming law. Politicians, their political agendas and rhetoric can at best achieve 'winners and losers', and at worst, nothing, with the gridlock so common today. In public schools, teachers, administrators, and support staff strive daily for EVERY child to be happy and successful, not only those whose needs/wants fall in line with whatever political agenda is most forcefully debated and becomes law. Ideally, our school staff can be flexible and equitable in allocating resources and teaching strategies available to them, aligning them to effectively meet the needs of all students. The problem is that we have years upon years of political mandates that define much of what happens in schools today, ranging from Maine politicians trying to define 'essential programs and services' and how much money should be sufficient to pay for them; to prescribing specific initiatives that define how staff spend precious school day time. We can't forget the local budgeting and political processes that pretty much do the same. School staff feel intense pressure and demoralizing effects of all these polarizing political mandates and public debates. I will have more to say on the role of mass media in the public debates in a later post.

Brunswick is a "historic and picturesque New England town" with a total population of 20,278 as the town's website describes. It is "a college town offering rich and diverse arts and cultural resources...and (Bowdoin College) remains an important influence in Brunswick's continued development", as do other higher educational institutions located in town. Our public school population is 2,330 students, which has fluctuated mostly upwardly throughout recent years following a BRAC air base closure and redevelopment. Thirty-four percent of Brunswick's public school population is economically disadvantaged and seventeen percent receive special education services. Our students' academic and social needs and achievements are diverse in many ways. Students are recognized for many awards, ranging from academic, extracurricular, and athletic. The diversity of our students' backgrounds and expectations of our citizens can offer both opportunity and challenges for our schools. This diversity requires our school staff to find an equitable balance between the wide ranging wants and needs so that every child in our schools can be successful. I support our school staff and know that they put in extraordinary effort to not only educate all students, but they also persevere in times of great social diversity and political challenge.

I wish to continue serving on the Brunswick School Board to promote the implementation of the strategic planning that was finally achieved this fall. I initially ran for the School Board six years ago because the Superintendent had called for an inclusive strategic planning process. I had strategic planning experience in other school settings and believed I had something to offer in this initiative. After six years of persistence and serving on the Strategic Planning Ad Hoc committees, we have that behind us. We now have a forward looking planning framework that can be used to guide budget deliberations and decision making. I also would like to make sure we showcase the amazing things happening in our schools currently and in the future. I believe it is imperative for us to move forward in our new elementary school planning and then focus our attention on the facility needs of the Junior High School. Aging facilities and overcrowding require us to remain steadfast in our facilities planning and maintenance. Similarly, our staff deserves a smooth, seamless transition of School Board support for the intense work they are currently doing on the time sensitive implementation of legally mandated proficiency based education standards. I am able to offer continued time and dedication to the work of the School Board to enable the smooth transition our students and staff deserve after the election.