Reply to Southern Humboldt Teachers Assn. Questionnaire

By Jim Baker

Candidate's Name: Jim Baker

1. What do you see as the ideal relationship between the board and district administration?

The board of trustees, as the elected representatives of the community, is responsible for establishing and communicating a common vision for the district, and for hiring and supporting the superintendent so that the vision, goals and policies of the district can be implemented. It is also responsible for adopting a fiscally responsible budget based on the district's vision and goals. Additional responsibilities, according to the board's bylaws, include: establishing and maintaining a basic organizational structure; ensuring accountability to the local community; and providing community leadership and advocacy on behalf of children, district programs and public education.

In summary, the board of trustees has the ultimate responsibility for developing the vision and goals of the district, and the superintendent has the responsibility to provide dependable staff advice and guidance to the board to aid in their decision-making, and is accountable for the implementation of board policies. The principals and other administrative personnel also have management and leadership responsibilities within the organizational structure. The superintendent and board have joint responsibility as the "governance team" for building a unity of purpose in the district, communicating a common vision, and creating a positive organizational culture.

Relationship between the board and teachers?

Board members should make themselves available for input and opinions from teachers and other school district personnel, and use this input in combination with reports from administration to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of district goals and policies, and the state of the "organizational culture" within the district. Board members should willingly answer questions from teachers and other personnel if they are appropriately within the board's area of responsibility, as outlined above. If not, the questions should be referred to the proper person in the organizational structure. Since the district is made up of several different school sites, I think it would be beneficial for board members to visit the different school sites or attend staff meetings occasionally, with the prior approval of the site administrator.

Relationship between the board and community?

As with teachers, board members should actively seek input from a broad cross-section of the community in order to have an accurate view of community attitudes and opinions about school district issues. As the community's representatives, board members have a responsibility to take public opinion into account in making their decisions. The board also has a responsibility to be proactive in providing appropriate information to the public so that the community has an accurate image of the state of local education and fully understands the reasons behind board decisions.

Special emphasis should be given to soliciting input from parents, and to readily providing appropriate information to them when requested. The district should encourage motivated parents to actively participate in the educational system and should provide opportunities within the umbrella of its organizational structure for them to do so. These might include PTA, site councils, booster clubs, fund raising organizations, special advocacy or community advisory subcommittees, or simply volunteering to assist in their child's classroom.

2. What is your assessment of the condition of our district's schools?

Some specific long-range planning needs to be undertaken to improve the physical condition of our schools. Our maintenance staff is working beyond what is required of them to maintain and improve school facilities, but they are understaffed and underfunded, like all of our school personnel. Some preliminary investigation of the feasibility of placing a bond measure on the ballot should be undertaken if there is no other way to enhance our facility maintenance and improvement.
The educational condition of our school system is deteriorating in some areas and improving in others. The recent class-size reduction funding by the State is an improvement in delivering education at the K-3 level. On the other hand, financial problems related to declining enrollment and other rural schools funding issues are resulting in program cuts and teacher layoffs elsewhere in the system, notably at the secondary level. A feasibility study of placing a parcel tax on the ballot to alleviate these problems should be considered if the financial situation continues to deteriorate.

3. Do you consider yourself a representative of a particular constituency? If so, which one?

The main constituency I represent is our kids, with their educational future being the focus of my efforts. Other than that, I would like to think that I am able to accept input from all constituencies in our district and to fairly and objectively integrate that input with other information in order to make good educational and fiscal decisions.

The main source of information on the district budget has to be the superintendent, since one of the primary responsibilities of that person's job is to provide financial information and guidance to the board so that a fiscally responsible budget can be developed, adopted and monitored. That is why a high level of confidence and trust must exist between the board and superintendent.
However, I think it's also important for board members to educate themselves on school finance issues. The better informed they are in these matters, the better decisions they will be able to make regarding our district finances. To augment information from the superintendent, there are numerous sources to draw from. They include the web sites of several organizations and agencies, including the California Teachers Association, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education, the California Legislature (regarding pending education-related legislation), School Services of California, Inc., EdSource, and others. Most of these organizations are sources of excellent written material. In addition, the Humboldt County Office of Education is a good source of local budget information.

On educational policy or instructional matters?

The organizations listed above are also good sources of information on educational policy and instructional matters. In addition, our teachers and administrative personnel whose educational background is specifically focused in the area of education are probably the best sources of information for developing and implementing educational policy in the district, since they are "in the trenches" in our own local classrooms and are in touch with what works best in our unique educational environment.

5. How can/should a board member follow up on board decisions and policy after decisions are made?

A board member should follow up on decisions and policies by analyzing written and oral reports and data relating to the implementation of such decisions and policies. These reports are normally prepared by the superintendent and other members of the administration. In addition, the board member will be receiving feedback from teachers, parents, students and community members if acting in accordance with my response to question # 1, regarding relationships between the board and those groups.

6a. What is your opinion of our district's current restructuring plan?

According to our district's board bylaws, it is a sitting board member's responsibility to support the board's decisions, including the current restructuring plan. I do feel, however, that the implementation of the plan must be regularly monitored and evaluated in terms of its effect on the educational well being of all the students in the district, and modifications made if needed.

6b. Would you suggest any changes or modifications?

See #6a. I do feel that the new board should begin a long-range planning process to address possible future scenarios in the district (continuing enrollment decline, enrollment stabilization or increase, changes in student population distribution, etc.). This would give the staff and community the opportunity to provide input well before the implementation of any additional restructuring, and would give the district more time to prepare for the changes. This process could also incorporate the hypothetical effects of increased revenue from a bond measure or parcel tax, which would demonstrate to the voters in practical terms the positive effects of such measures and assure them that a plan would be in place to effectively put the additional money to good use.

7. What do you think class size limits should be?

I think class size limits should continue to be 20 at the K-3 level to take advantage of the class size reduction funding available and to maintain the proven educational benefits of smaller class sizes at that critical time in a child's education. Based on the input I have received to date, I think class sizes in grades 4-12 should not exceed 30 for most of the school year, since instructional effectiveness seems to drop off rapidly with larger classes than this.

8. What is your commitment to cost of living adjustments and salary increases for the employees of this district?

My goal for the employee salary and benefits package is that the value of the total package, based on an objective salary study of equivalent packages for equivalent jobs in Humboldt County, would be at or above the median, although yearly fluctuations in the financial viability of the district may affect where the employee packages fall on that scale at any given time. A consistent trend towards declining employee income relative to the cost of living is not in the best interest of the district's future.

I also believe that the contract negotiation process is badly in need of change, since it commonly results in ill will and mistrust among all the parties involved. This is disruptive to the educational process while negotiations are in progress, and seems to linger to some extent after the negotiations are completed. This hinders the good communication between staff and the "governance team" which is so necessary to working together towards the vision and goals of the district. I would like the board to consider some alternative methods of negotiation, such as those developed by CFIER (the California Foundation for the Improvement of Employer-Employee Relations).

8. Do you have any special goals if you are elected? The new board should review the district's vision statement and revise it if necessary. The statement should be broad enough to encompass the general educational principles of the board, staff and the community, but specific enough to reflect the unique educational environment of our district. It should reflect community, staff and student input, and should be reviewed and revised on a regular basis to reflect changing conditions or a change in the makeup of the board. I would also like to review the organizational chart (if one exists) to make certain that lines and areas of authority, responsibility and accountability are set forth in a straightforward, comprehensible manner and are clearly understood and agreed upon by every member of our educational system. This may involve a review of job descriptions and personnel evaluation criteria if such a review has not been made for some time. Such a chart should be a public document so that community and parental input and inquiries may be made at the appropriate level. The organizational chart and individual job descriptions should be reviewed and revised as necessary when organizational changes are made in the district. A common understanding of the district's goals and organizational structure should result in improved communication, trust and non-threatening interaction throughout the system I would like to see the new board focus on a team-building effort throughout the district, and to foster a sense of identity with the district as a whole, while maintaining the feeling of pride and unity that now exists at each separate site. This might be initiated by organizing an event that would bring all of the sites together for a common purpose. We no longer have the luxury of competing against each other for funding and services. We have to work together and share our resources in order to get through the present fiscal crisis, and this will mean learning to respect our differences and finding common ground. I would like to initiate a standard procedure whereby new board members are immediately issued a packet of current written material pertinent to their new responsibilities, and a current list of web sites and educational organizations that may be used as sources of additional information on educational issues. Interested community members and parents should also be encouraged to ask for a copy of this resource list to enhance their own knowledge and understanding of the issues which affect our school system. I would also like to see a process of voluntary, proactive mentoring of new board members by more experienced members. It stands to reason that the more educated every member of the board is, the more informed dialogue will take place during board discussions, and the more confident the public will be in the board's ability to make good decisions. Likewise, a more informed public will result in a better understanding of the basis for board decisions, and broader public support for such decisions.