Candidate for
Governing Board Member; San Luis Coastal Unified School District; Trustee Area 1

San Luis Coastal Teachers Association School Board Election Candidates Questionnaire

Candidate: Adrienne Dickinson

Date: September 28, 2004

1. What do you see as the three most significant issues facing our district?

I see the following three issues as significant for the district. (I am open to more information and listening to others' concerns.) (1) The effect of No Child Left Behind and the crisis it creates regarding priorities, curriculum, community PR, and consequences. (2) Ongoing funding issues, even though the district seems to be doing better at the moment. (3) The pressures of the High School Exit Exam and the need to do some PR with parents and the community, including prospective employers, regarding the value of the certificate of completion for students in special education and other programs who may not be earning a diploma.

2. What special strengths do you believe you would bring to the school board?

I bring the perspectives of a current teacher, holding three credentials, who has taught elementary, junior high, and high school, regular education, alternative education, and special education; a mother who has had children go all the way through the district and has seen how they fare in college and beyond and what kind of contributions they are making; an on-going graduate student myself in educational studies, and a citizen who keeps track of current national and world events, cares about our democracy, and considers how public education affects and is affected by the larger picture. I also am trained in the collaborative model and have good people and listening skills.

3. What are your educational priorities for our school district?

I would like to see our district place a priority on providing the full spectrum of a quality education, which has to include art and music, applied arts, physical education and health, as well as language arts and mathematics, science and history. I would like to see an emphasis on critical thinking skills and creativity, which may be underemphasized if too much importance is placed on standardized tests.

4. What district program do you feel most strongly about and why?

Teachers should have freedom to plan lessons that respond to their students and use their own unique gifts and skills. Flexibility is very important in the learning and teaching process. I feel that many great things are happening in this district, and I am not aware of any specific problem, but one of the trends in some districts is to mandate lock-step, look-alike programs. I would be alert to protect the freedom of our quality teachers to influence curriculum. I am very supportive of the music programs and would like to see band again as part of elementary students' school day.

5. Do you envision the possibility of granting charters for additional charter schools in our district?

I think we should fully support Bellevue-Santa Fe and should be open to listening to ideas about other charter schools. However, since money would be taken away from existing schools, such a new school would have to generate an option that is not currently available for students.

6. Do you feel that the No Child Left Behind Act has had an effect on the education of children in the district? Explain.

I think No Child Left Behind is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine public education and it is successfully doing that and will continue to have a negative impact. To require ever-rising percentages, up to 100%, of children in all subcategories, including special education, socio-economically disadvantaged, and English learners, to take tests and score above average is statistically impossible. Sooner or later all schools will fail, and we shall see what the consequences are. Our only hope is that thinking citizens will lobby successfully to have the law changed. The name of the law is good, and the interim attention to all students is good, but the effect of the law is negative and will become increasingly so.

7. What is your position on school vouchers?

I am not in favor of school vouchers, because they take away from funding for public schools. We need to keep public schools strong and make sure they are designed to benefit all children. In general, I want what is best for the most students, including options for differences, but I don't think giving out vouchers is the answer.

8. Of the programs cut by the district in recent years, which if any, do you feel should be restored?

Instrumental music in the elementary schools should be restored. Gary Lamprecht's program was undermined by the change in schedule to trimesters at SLOHS. The reasons for this change may have been more than funding, but this change has also made the scheduling of AP classes more awkward. Keeping as many classes small as possible is very important. I feel that physical education for elementary students is important, but that classroom teachers should be able to teach this subject with students this young.* (Perhaps the teachers can have a needed break during music). Librarians for elementary schools is very important as well.

(*During my interview with the teachers'union representatives, it was made clear to me that since the elementary curriculum for P.E. is mandated by the state now, many teachers at this level feel that it is too much for them on top of all their other demands. I said at the interview that, hearing that, I would support the position that specialists be hired for P.E. at elementary level.)

SEIU Questions for San Luis Coastal Unified School District School Board Candidates [Excerpts that deal with classified employees] Adrienne Dickinson, candidate in Trustee Area I

Do you know the difference between classified employees and certificated employees?

Certificated employees are teachers, counselors, and administrators who have teaching and other credentials. Classified employees are people such as instructional assistants, custodians, secretaries, food service workers, and bus drivers. All are important to the district and the educational effort and, at best, work together as family.

What do you think the role of the classified employee is within the educational team?

Classified employees support the educational effort. Clean classrooms; lovely grounds and safe playing fields; bus rides to school and for field trips; and secretaries to handle transcripts and records, phone calls, attendance records, and payrolls are all crucial to the work of the schools. Instructional assistants in special education classes and other classes are somewhat of an intersection between the two groups, since they may provide some one-on-one instruction under the supervision of the teacher. Each person provides a necessary and appreciated contribution to the educational effort for the young people and ultimately for the whole society. I have always been friends with the custodians at my schools. I appreciate their work so much and try to make it easier for them by having my students help to keep the classroom clean and neat. (I get to know them well, because I stay so late working.)

What are your priorities if elected?

My priorities are to counterbalance the narrowing of curriculum caused by the emphasis on test scores to comply with the No Child Left Behind bill by asserting that a quality education includes art and music, global awareness, a sense of responsibility, and applied arts, as well as reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. I would like to bring back instrumental music to the elementary school day. Critical thinking skills need to be encouraged and taught. We need courses in media evaluation. We need adults who vote, know the issues, and get involved in their communities. These adults are products of our school systems.

What is your position on collective bargaining for school employees?

Being a teacher, I, of course, support good salaries for teachers and recognition of the important and high quality work teachers do. This goes for classified employees as well. I support workers having living wages and job security in our society. Having been on the teacher's union side when our negotiators are reporting back, I have sometimes disagreed with the tendency to portray the board as the bad guys who withhold available money and are not willing to let teachers have their due. The problem with funding is not with boards, but belongs to state and federal government budget priorities. I would like to see the board encourage citizens to lobby for a bigger piece of the tax pie. So much tax money is collected and, especially at the federal level, so much is wasted. More should be spent on education. I would like to see both sides go through the process of collective bargaining in good faith, with good manners, honesty, and a realistic sense of the possibilities.

How do you feel about classified employees being members of important decision-making committees within the district?

Classified members are important voices in the district and should be part of established decision-making committees. In the collaborative process, each person at the table brings his or her own area of expertise. All share and contribute to the definition of problems, the brainstorming of solutions, and the ultimate plans and evaluations. Classified employees definitely have their areas of expertise.

Do you like input from employee organizations?

I believe in unions. The unions have brought us the middle class. Unions are in danger of being undermined by capitalistic ventures and mindsets. They are also susceptible to corruption within, just like any organization, which makes them vulnerable to criticism, especially on the national scale, and this can affect local attitudes. Therefore unions need good leadership and alert members. Since unions are so important, their input is important in fact gathering and decision making. I am a good listener and would want to hear from employee organizations regularly. (I am a member of CTA and NEA, and my husband is a member of SEIU as a state employee at CMC.)

What is your position on contracting out of school services such as cafeteria, custodial, maintenance and transportation?

I do not believe in contracting out services. The worthy goal of a community feeling among all workers in the district would be undermined completely by contracting out services. When profit is the bottom line, service isn't as good and is therefore a worse value, so it would not be a good deal for the district anyway. Workers deserve living wages and job security.

Other Comments:

I support unions and workers in my teaching. My students watched a video that I received from National Labor Committee in New York about the garment workers in Bangladesh making clothes for Wal-Mart. They were so incensed that they wrote heart-felt letters to the CEO of Wal-Mart. I told them about Governor Schwarzenegger vetoing the raise in the minimum wage. We did the math, and we were back in the computer lab writing letters to him. I am teaching my students to have a voice, and they are choosing to speak out for workers when they get real information. I don't tell them what to write, but I give them information.