Your conscience and the school committee election

Although I have been meaning to offer some sort of commentary on the last school committee candidate forum, illness has left me with little creative energy.  I still wanted to get something up for your consideration when deciding which school committee candidates to vote for.

A while ago, I came across an article published by the Center for Public Education about the “Eight Characteristics of an Effective School Board”. I am going to list them below, but I highly recommend reading the full article at: http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards.html

Effective school boards:

1. commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction and define clear goals toward that vision

2. have strong shared beliefs and values about what is possible for students and their ability to learn, and of the system and its ability to teach all children at high levels

3. are accountability driven, spending less time on operational issues and more time focused on policies to improve student achievement

4. have a collaborative relationship with staff and the community and establish a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals.

5. are data savvy; they embrace and monitor data, even when the information is negative, and use it to drive continuous improvement.

6. align and sustain resources, such as professional development, to meet district goals.

7. lead as a united team with the superintendent, each from their respective roles, with strong collaboration and mutual trust.

8. take part in team development and training, sometimes with their superintendents, to build shared knowledge, values and commitments for their improvement efforts.

While all the characteristics are important, I feel that the most significant ones for our district are 4, 5, and 7.  I wish I could spend more time to discuss all eight characteristics in detail, but I will leave you to think about them and which candidates will embrace them instead.  They are not only relevant to tomorrow, but as we work to make progress (on all levels) in our district.  I am not using this forum to endorse any candidates - though I have no shame in doing that on my Facebook page.  I will say that I respect the experienced candidates, for one reason or another, but I am voting for fresh perspectives.  No matter who you vote for, please make an educated choice and get to the polls between 7am and 8pm.  Good night!