From sister website natomasteachers.blogspot.com:
The Natomas Teachers’ Association Political Action Committee (PAC) interviewed all six of the school board candidates running for this November’s election and based on the interview questions (listed below), have decided to endorse the following three candidates: Bruce Roberts, Sue Heredia and Jules Tran
These questions will show you what the Natomas Teachers’ Association’s values and priorities are:
- Why are you running for the Natomas School Board? What do you hope to add to make this district better?
- What do you feel are the greatest strengths and the greatest weaknesses of the Natomas Unified School District?
- What school board decision in the past three years would you change and why?
- Many parents are concerned especially at the secondary level about the safety of the schools. What plans do you have to support resolutions that will increase safety in the schools?
- Teacher morale is very important to the success of our students’ educational programs. How would you improve teacher morale?
- We believe retaining high quality, dedicated teachers is of great importance to the health of our district; however, we have one of the worst turnover rates in the area. What is your plan to reverse this trend?
- If elected to the school board, what plans do you have to improve teacher and parent communication and support throughout the district?
- As a school board member, you will receive the majority of your information regarding the state of the district from the administration, via their written reports and in the monthly closed session meetings. What are your plans to look beyond the administration and seek out other perspectives on important issues?
- Often, as a board member, you will have an individual opinion that may conflict with other board members, the administration or teachers. How do you assert yourself under this kind of pressure?
- NTA is concerned about the proliferation of charter schools in our district. They take away facility and ADA revenue from our schools. What is your view on charter schools and what kind of accountability do they have to the Natomas School Board?
- Strategy Four of the District’s Strategic Plan calls for “consistently communicating information, increasing public awareness and soliciting public support.” What plans do you have to showcase the Natomas schools to the public?
- NTA holds regularly schedule monthly meeting with board members. Would you uphold this tradition to meet with us monthly?
- Teacher’s salaries can help retain well-qualified people and help attract well-qualified teachers to the district. As far as salaries go, our district has a low ranking when compared to surrounding districts. How important are teacher’s salaries are when compared to the other important budget issues?
Visit our booth at the Celebrate Natomas event this Saturday for more information.
Did the NTA not see their own exit exam scores before beginning to question the charters in the area? Ugh. Their “question” about ADA and facilities revenue makes me ill…
I’m pro-teacher, heck I am a teacher! But when a district has botched so many things so badly, blaming a lack of funding on the charter schools who are succeeding is pathetic. The union seems to not get that.
Comparing the scores of Charter vs Non Charter is like comparing apples to oranges. If the non-charter only tested those students with significant parent involvement, then I think we could compare the two. Non-Charters have a take all comers. Charters do not. Not fair to compare the scores. There are terrific kids at both. Just that the non-charters have more kids that need more help.
My point still is- Charter schools are not the fault of the schools losing ADA. The district has mismanaged millions and millions of dollars bound for their classrooms. In addition, the charters in our area take in-district children primarily. Those parents have sought out an option because our own district had botched things so badly. I don’t see any questions on that list that relate to public accountability, fiscal responsibility and shady land deals…
I don’t know all the details of Charter schools, lots of people I know have kids that go there. I do think it is more like private school and so parents should be paying for that, which I suppose they do having been to the Westlake Charter Fundraiser earlier this year. I also can’t speak to the ADA issues, but it is true that there is only so much money out there for facilities and staff (especially janitorial) and with more and more charters applying things are getting tough all around. Trixie
Charter schools aren’t like a private school. They are strictly regulated by the state, lottery admissions processes have to be followed and anyone can apply (particularly in the case of Westlake and the non-PFAA branches of Natomas Charter). The difference is in parental support. Parents who aren’t involved and don’t pay attention to their children’s education generally don’t seek out a charter school. You have to be involved to have a charter student. That’s not to say that there aren’t involved parents in a traditional school.
If the district were educating the students, charter schools would not be applying to get open.