Campaign Manager: Amee Xiong, ;

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1 Pa Chua Vang for SPPS Cell: Campaign Manager: Amee Xiong, ; Education Reform: Caucus for Change is a group of parents, educators and community members who believe that our voices must be at the center of decision making around educational policy. Despite the belief that local parents and educators know best what our children need in order to learn, there has been an increase of money, often from out of state millionaires, with vested interest in pursuing a corporate education reform agenda. Will you and your campaign reject contributions and independent expenditures from out of state millionaires and corporate education reform organizations? Answer: My campaign will reject these kinds of contributions from corporations. I believe the SPPS should be governed by the parents, educators and community members of Saint Paul and no others. The schools, parents, educators, community members and especially the students are not for profit. There has been many efforts from out of state millionaires, with vested interest in pursuing a corporate education reform agenda. The idea(s) with these efforts are to control, suppress grassroots, distort and constrict the American dream of small democracy. Standardized Testing: Specifically, what steps will you take to reduce the role of standardized testing, including test prep time in Saint Paul Public Schools? Do you support parents who opt out of standardized testing? Will you, as a member of the Board of Education, commit to making the reduction of testing a top priority during your tenure? Answer: I would like to understand more about the time used for preparing the standardized testing and hear from teachers, counselors and administrators at the school levels on what kind of support they need. I do support parents who opt their child(ren) out of the standardized testing because big corporations write the tests, grade the tests, and publish the books that students use to prepare for the tests. They do not measure what is being taught in the schools itself. And many schools/families don t have enough money to buy books that will help the students prep for these standardize testing or have the backgrounds to help their children, too..

2 Standardized tests are designed in such a way that conditions for administering, questions, scoring procedures, and interpretations are inconsistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. The testings are also designed nationally and not center in a specific district and/or based on the student s needs. These testings put pressures and stress on the students because they are so focused on acing these tests; they don t concentrate well in everyday academic curriculums. I will commit to making the reduction of testing a top priority during my tenure, if elected, because I strongly believe in the best interest of our students. Stop giving standardized tests that are based on specific sets of books. And stop using test scores to evaluate students performance. Most of all, avoid basing an entire education system on materials that do not fit the needs of the students who can t afford to buy the materials to help prep them. We also have to look at the home atmosphere, too. Is there a roof over the child s head to provide a warm and safe environment, wifi availability, is there a desk/table for the child to study on? Is there adequate nutrition and health for the child to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for the child? Especially a nutritious breakfast to help them start the day. Is there clothing to keep the child warm? Are the parent(s) home to help provide a sit down study session with the child(ren) and help prep for the tests. Special Education: Recently a policy decision was made to begin mainstreaming a large number of Special Education students. This is an admirable policy in theory, but in practice, instead of mainstreaming students on an individual basis, this was achieved by mainstreaming entire programs.how will you respond to the concerns that: a) many students no longer receive the supports they need to be successful, b) learning is being disrupted because classrooms do not have appropriate support staff and c) many students often students of color are no longer receiving the special education services and supports they need? Answer: Many students no longer receive the supports they need to be successful in this policy in theory with the Special Education because there was never a pilot program done, have an evaluation or even questioned the the students if this was necessary to be implemented. Additional support staff is needed or additional specific training should be accounted when you integrate Special Education into mainstream classes. And yes, learning is being disrupted because classrooms do not have appropriate amount of support staff because the attention is now focused on the Special Ed. or ELL students; therefore, the quiet students and mainstream students are now not getting the challenge they need.

3 Many special ed students often students of color are no longer receiving the special education services and supports they need because there are no specific training/support for the teachers in the Special Education to be integrated with the mainstream classrooms. Racial Equity: While much work on racial equity has been done, structural racism is still a problem in Saint Paul Public Schools. How can the Board of Education create an equity policy that goes beyond checklists and conversations about racism? How will you provide educators with tools and a framework to bring culturally relevant learning and real improvements to the lives of our students? Answer: Racism is not an issue of the past. It is happening in our communities and we need to address it all together. The Board of Education can build trust with people of color besides just checklists. I would like to do an assessment of the current equity policies including what s missing and what are the needs to be able to determine which equity policies need to be created. Educators must have culturally relevant learning and be inclusive of all people of colors: Americans, African Americans, Hmong, Latino, Karen, Somali, Cambodia, Vietnamese, Native Americans and new immigrants. I will provide educators with tools and framework by inviting the culturally relevant partners to provide professional development. I am someone who does not talk the talk, but I take action. I am willing to listen to teachers, students and parents and partner with others to address racism. Community Engagement: Parent and community engagement is an important part of creating a successful school district, yet many parents have voiced concerns that the Board of Education does not seek out their input in policy decisions, and is not responsive to requests for information. How will you actively seek out input from all stakeholders, and what steps will you take to create a more transparent Board of Education? Answer: I will go into the community and participate in events by actively listening and seeking out input from stakeholders. I will go into the schools and speak with the teachers and into the homes and speak with the parents and students. I am currently holding weekly listening sessions by inviting communities to have these real conversations with me every Fridays at King Thai from 5 7pm. I will ensure to stay in relationship with the unions so that if there are issues that arise, I will can discuss with the unions before making my vote. Role of the Board: Do you agree that the role of the Board is to advocate for parents, educators and community members and supervise the Superintendent? How will you cultivate an environment of accountability to stakeholders? Answer: Yes, I agree that the role of the Board is to advocate for parents, educators and community members and to supervise the Superintendent. My role is to listen to the stories and to the concerns of the teachers, parents, students and community members because

4 everyone matters to me. I want to give them resources and access. I sit on two boards and as a chair for them it is my duty to be fiscally responsible, help find resources and set funding priorities. As a SPPS board member, my role is to be fiscally responsible and to govern with accountability. I will cultivate an environment of accountability by making sure the administration meets goals set to close the achievement gap. Class Size: Please assess the district's current progress in forming class sizes that match students' needs. In your view, what are the next steps district leaders and the Board of Education should take to implement your vision of optimal class sizes? Will you, as a Board of Education member, advocate for further reductions in class sizes? If so, what changes in district priorities or allocations would you suggest to enable this? If not, what priorities do you think should be elevated to better meet students' needs? Answer: As a Board of Education member, I will advocate for further reductions in class sizes by cutting positions at the administrative headquarter and reallocate those monies to the schools. The schools will then hire more teachers and reduce class sizes. I want a timeline of these implementations, reports on goals and evaluations. English Language Learners: St. Paul Public Schools has a large number of English Language Learners about 30% of the district's student population. Within this group, we also have a large and growing number of SLIFE students (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education), many who have little or sometimes no prior formal education. Recent changes in class scheduling and services for SLIFE students have resulted in many students being mainstreamed into regular high school classes with a first or second grade reading level. How will you respond to concerns that many SLIFE students are failing their mainstream classes? Additionally, how do you think the district should balance the needs of new immigrant students with the needs of American born language learners, in light of limited federal and state funding? Answer: I believe that many SLIFE students are failing the mainstream classes along with the ELL, Special Education and mainstream students. At the end of the day, all the kids are failing because of poor planning and implementation led by the district. The district should ensure that the needs of new immigrants students and the needs of American born language learners are being met. The district should have initially conducted an independent analysis to test out whether integrating ELL and SLIFE students into mainstream classes would work for all students. Instead, the district made this change all at once with poor planning. There aren t enough co teachers and para support staff in the mainstream classes to be able to support all students. I visited Harding High School where I witnessed first hand in a mainstream classroom with ELL and SLIFE students and counted 13 disruptions in 20 minutes. There were students who asked for help, asked to go to the bathroom, asked to go to the locker, asked for one on one time with the teacher and all this happened with the teacher trying to teach and show a movie. Some of the students did not even know they were supposed to

5 watch a movie! The consequences of putting ELL and SLIFE students into mainstream classrooms (probably with good intentions but has negative outcomes) is that ALL students are now being left behind. The ELL and SLIFE students might take longer to graduate; thus, by staying longer in the district causes more spending which defeats the whole purpose of trying to save money with limited federal and state funding. This outcome is what matters, not the intention. The mainstreaming does not close the achievement gap. Contract for the Common Good: The recent subprime mortgage crisis led to a record number of foreclosures, decreases in home values, and a loss of property tax revenue. Two banks, Wells Fargo and US Bank, played a large role in creating the subprime mortgage crisis, and they account for over one third of all foreclosures in Saint Paul. Foreclosures and evictions negatively impact the academic performance of children. Involuntary residential moves and within year school switching are linked to problems including grade retention, failure to complete school, and a lack of interpersonal skills. Furthermore, foreclosures disproportionately affect families of color, whose children already face greater academic challenges, broadening an already significant achievement gap. Will you support using the school district s banking relationships in order to make foreclosure practices less disruptive to families during the school year? Are you willing to have the school board explore ways to address the monetary damage caused to the district by predatory lending and foreclosure practices, such as a lawsuit as other school districts and cities have done previously? Answer: Yes I will support using the school district s banking relationship in order to make foreclosure practices less disruptive to families during the school year. Yes, I am willing to have the school board explore ways to address the monetary damage by predatory lending and foreclosure practices on families, such as a lawsuit as other school districts and cities have done previously. It is very important that these students have stable and affordable housing so that they can focus on their education.