2016 Candidates Answers - Utah State Board of Education. Name District Page No. Dave Thomas 4 2. Jennifer Graviet 4 3. Shelly Teuscher 7 4

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1 2016 Candidates Answers - Utah State Board of Education Name District Page No. Dave Thomas 4 2 Jennifer Graviet 4 3 Shelly Teuscher 7 4 Carol Barlow-Lear 7 5 Janet A Cannon 8 6 Richard R. Nelson 8 No Response Kathleen Riebe 10 7 Gary Thompson 10 No Response Erin Preston 11 8 Lisa D. Cummins 11 No Response Alisa Ellis 12 No Response Dixie Lee Allen 12 No Response Scott B. Neilson 13 No Response Stan Lockhart 13 No Response Michelle Boulter 15 No Response Wesley J Christiansen Page 1 of 9

2 2016 Candidates Answers - Utah State Board of Education Dave Thomas Candidate s Phone Number State School Board 4 (Multi County) dave4stateboard.com The State Board of Education is the chief executive over public education in our state. As such, it should set a broad framework into which our school districts and charter schools can thrive. I believe our role is to create a learning environment into which our children can become college and career ready. Only in this way can we prepare our children for the challenges and opportunities in the 21st century marketplace of ideas and economies. This requires a three-fold approach to public education: First, high quality educational standards must be adopted and comprehensively reviewed on a period basis. No standards are perfect. They are constantly a work in progress. Second, there must be high quality instruction and curriculum at the local school district and charter school level. I am a strong believer in "local control." Teachers should be allowed to decide how they will teach the standards. Third, we must assess our students' progress through reasonable computer adaptive formative assessment. The power of computer adaptive assessment is found in the richness of the data accessible to teachers, parents and students. The immediacy of the feedback provides data which informs teachers of specific student academic strengths and weaknesses. Fiscal Responsibility: As a result of a series of thorough audits of our public education system, which I helped commission, major deficiencies and significant financial misreporting were found throughout the system. As the Chair of the Audit Committee, I worked with the State Superintendent on a Risk Mitigation Plan to resolve these deficiencies. Then as a member of the Board Leadership team I sold the merits of that plan to the Utah Legislature in order to get adequate funding. We are now well on our way to "righting" the financial ship, but more needs to be done and I am prepared to do it. Entry Level Teacher Shortage: I favor a two-pronged solution. First, I favor targeted investment in entry level teacher salaries. Second, I favor the removal of artificial barriers to the teaching profession. Research shows that individuals who have life experience can be just as effective as those who pursue teaching through more traditional routes. Hence, I am open to alternative routes to teacher licensure, especially ones that give local districts and charter school leaders more control. Page 2 of 9

3 Candidate s Phone Number Jennifer Graviet State School Board 4 (Multi County) I think the most important function of the State School Board is to create a positive atmosphere in this state for learning. This means being in tune with the children of our state. This means listening to teachers and the community, and this means reaching out to people. This also means that every dollar that is spent should be spent in the best interests of children and not for money-making ventures (vendors, turnaround schools, etc.). This means being vested in the whole child. Secondly, I think the State School Board needs to make sure proper standards are created and implemented. We want the best teachers because we want educated children. Standards help create an even playing field so that all children are being held to high standards. There are many important issues facing the State Board of Education. One of the most important issues is bringing together a diverse group of voices, including the necessary voices of educators. Education in this state matters to both our economy and our children. This means not only addressing the teacher shortage in meaningful and comprehensive ways, but also maintaining the standards necessary to teach our children. The best asset a child has in the classroom is a qualified and experienced teacher. A State Board of Education needs to make sure that the teaching profession is respected enough to draw in the best and brightest. A State Board of Education needs to value the whole child as well as use data to make sure that what is implemented is working. Programs, tests, and standards that are implemented need to be given the time and resources to work before moving onto another program, test, or standard. A State Board of Education needs to advocate for proper education funding and place priority of educating children in this state. Page 3 of 9

4 Candidate s Phone Number Shelly Teuscher State School Board 7 (Multi County) Shelly4Schools.com Theirs is the preeminent role because they control standards and assessments. The most important part of that role is setting education standards, which must be done right because they govern what students are taught. Standards must be rigorous and relevant and be reevaluated by the board on a regular basis. Beyond that, they have the responsibility to determine what assessments are used. The role of assessments in achieving quality education for all students is to determine how well schools are achieving the goal of educating the student on the standards set by the board. With the controversy surrounding Common Core, and the board signaling its interest in moving away from at least the English and math Common Core standards, a very important issue facing the board is what standards to adopt in their place. Another important issue is whether to continue SAGE testing, or to use those resources of time and money in a way that better serves students and teachers. A further concern will be how to address the shortage of teachers in the state. Page 4 of 9

5 Carol Barlow-Lear State School Board 7 (Multi County) Candidate s Phone Number There are 15 State School Board members. Each member represents several or many diverse areas and neighborhoods. The elections, this year for the final year, are non-partisan elections. This gives every Board candidate the unusual opportunity to advocate for excellent education for every child in the candidate's District and for every Utah child, without deferring to one political party for support and affirmation. A Board member must provide information and insight to legislators who appropriate funds for education and who pass an increasing number of bills that drive the use of public education funds in local school districts and charter schools. A Board member must collaborate and cooperate with the Legislature to provide adequate and increased funds for education. A Board member must listen to local school board, charter board and community members and integrate neighborhood priorities and concerns into State Board decisions. State Board members should communicate to legislators local frustrations and challenges. A Board member must also have the integrity to speak honestly to legislators about public education's most essential priorities and to defend local priorities for appropriated funds. I think that "quality education" is best defined at the local board and school level and I support increased local decision making on education issues. (1) adequate funding for K-12 public education (2) public education's ability to recruit excellent teachers, to provide support and training for all educators and to retain teachers in the profession (3) local decision making, including participation and collaboration with stakeholders, however time-consuming and inefficient (4) setting the tone and example of civility and respect for multiple and sometimes competing points of view Page 5 of 9

6 Janet A Cannon State School Board 8 Candidate s Phone Number The point of a quality education is to help our students master a basic proficiency level but beyond that, it is to encourage the development of students creative thinking and the ability to problem solve in our global society. If elected as a Board member, I want to see Utah move away from a system of one size fits all education and towards a system where technology is used to individualize education for every student. In addition to autopsy-like summative assessments that are required by the federal government, I would like to see teachers use formative assessments in order to tailor their instruction to individual student needs. Utah is sadly lacking in support structures to to achieve such quality in our system of public education. Utah teachers are strapped with the largest class sizes in the nation and their pay in among the lowest in the 50 states. An hearty infusion of funds would make a huge difference allowing Utah to provide well-equipped schools, good teachers and opportunities for students to explore and experiment. To me, the biggest issue facing the State Board is the same one that faces the people and students of Utah - funding our public education system. Utah has not always been last in per-pupil funding. During the 1960 s we ranked in the 30 s among the 50 states for funding and Utah students scored at the top in the nation. Over the past thirty years not only has funding remained lowest in the nation, our students now score only at the national average. Our State s effort to fund education has dropped from among the top states to 26th - just below average. Our teacher pay ranks 49th in the nation and our class sizes are the largest. Yet we claim that our children are our most precious resource. It is time we made education a priority in Utah; as we did in the past. I believe better funding would go a long ways in resolving our teacher shortage. If we want to improve test scores among our elementary age students Utah research shows that implementing fine arts into our elementary curriculum would not only benefit students all-around education but improve test scores as well. Page 6 of 9

7 Kathleen Riebe State School Board 10 Candidate s Phone Number Kathleenriebedistrict1o.com State Board of Education needs to listen to their constituents to create an education experience that meets their needs. As a teacher I feel that I bring a unique perspective. I have worked in all demographics, from Magna, West valley to Olympus Hills. I understand that each issue affects each demographic differently. Class size, transparency and teacher retention are the most important issues. Parents, students and teachers all want to have smaller class sizes. This is one aspect is paramount because it influences every other experience. Relationships, differentiation, individualized attention and data driven instruction are all difficult to implement with class sizes near and over 30. Transparency is spending and salaries. Traditional schools have a higher level of transparency in their spending. Schools need to be able to show the public where every dollar is spent and justify that cost. Teacher retention currently is one out of every four teacher leaves the profession. Teachers at the beginning of their careers require more resources from the district than teachers who have made it past their first four years. A turnstile of teachers is creating an undue burden on our districts, schools and teachers. Page 7 of 9

8 Erin Preston Candidate s Phone Number State School Board 11 (Multi County) erinpreston.org According to the Utah Constitution, the Board's role is the "general control and supervision of the public education system". This vests the board with the full responsibility and accountability of our State's education system and outcomes. A successful Board will fulfill that duty by understanding the state of our education system's successes, failures and opportunities for improvement. The Board has a duty to work with all stake-holders in their understanding of what is and isn't working, that includes, but is not limited to: parents, teachers, local boards and education advocates from all sides. The Board then has the duty to work with all stake-holders to communicate that understanding and opportunities to others who have a role in improving our system, including the legislature and local communities. The Board also has the duty to ensure the use of State education funds for the best use of these precious resources for Utah students. 1 - Teacher shortage. We need to make changes to attract and retain the best teachers possible. We are failing in this area to the point of crisis. 2 - Empowering more local control and collaboration in our education systems. Great innovations are being made in local districts and communities we need to find ways to support and encourage. I support more decision making, financial control, creativity and accountability at the local level. 3 - Maintaining complete transparency in the use and spending of all public monies and resources. The Board has a fiduciary duty to ensure the best use of taxpayer education funds for the benefit of students and those who support them. Oversight of those funds is an essential board role. 4 - We desperately need to improve our education system's preparation of students for college and careers. Our students are increasingly unprepared for Utah jobs. Our education system needs to prepare our students for their future. Page 8 of 9

9 Candidate s Phone Number Wesley J Christiansen State School Board 15 (Multi County) weskath@msn.com To develop the framework that establishes minimum standards for the development curriculum. To establish standards to make sure that every Utah student has a highly qualified and engaged teacher in the classroom that inspires and motivates. To make the teaching job attractive to talented and gifted individuals by increasing respect, pay, retirement, cooperation, and more say in what happens in their classroom. Setting common goals, so that the board is working together. Putting the students first and not having narrow political agendas. Dealing with over-reach by the Federal Government and the state legislature. Also being too controlling of local school boards. Page 9 of 9