League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 5, 2013 Election
	Robert D. Skeels Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Los Angeles Unified School District; District 2

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What is the single most important issue facing LAUSD today? As a Board Member, what would you do to deal with it?

The obsession with standards and punitive testing brought on by No Child Left Behind and its descendants Race to the Top and Common Core State Standards, have perverted and warped curriculum. LAUSD must bring balance back and insist on teaching and learning. This means resisting standardized tests and curriculum, and insisting that our students are provided rounded, culturally relevant curricula.

2. How would you prioritize your local constituency in overseeing LAUSD management, setting District policy, and day-to-day decision-making?

District 2 is culturally diverse with interspersed pockets of severe poverty. Prioritizing the local constituency would mean listing to the voices of all the stake-holders, and finding ways to serve students that respect their cultures and attempt to ameliorate the effects of poverty. Making Board meetings more accessible to working class families is something I've advocated for years.

3. What experience in general management, fiscal management, and budgetary oversight would you bring to the job of Board Member?

I work for two small businesses where I am familiar with common management techniques, budgeting, etc.

4. How should LAUSD deal with its rapidly increasing costs for retiree and employee health care?

The District needs to work hand in hand with legislators in Sacramento and Washington D.C. exploring sustainable ways of fulfilling our solemn promises to the hardworking professionals that serve our students.

5. What part should standardized testing play in LAUSD’s educational programs?

Standardized tests have a ancillary role in helping to guide instruction. Psychometricians and education experts agree that they should never be used for any high stakes decisions that effect students and educators. When used outside of sampling for diagnostics, standardized tests narrow curricula and hamper teaching and learning.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 4, 2013 07:44
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