A School Board Article You Might Not Have Seen

In an article recently printed in the Dade City News, my opponent and myself were asked three questions on school board issues. I wanted readers in central Pasco to have to opportunity to read our responses, since most folks in Land O' Lakes don't typically get the newspaper in question. I think our answers are very revealing...they clearly show one candidate with ideas and solutions, and one who mostly complains and dodges the questions. But that's up to you, the voter, to decide. So here we go:

What is the single most important issue facing your district, and how do 
you plan to address it?

Joanne Hurley: The most important priority for our school district is to ensure that each student who graduates from high school is fully ready for higher education or the workforce. The school board’s primary role is to promote policies and programs that will prepare students for graduation and success beyond high school. We need to continue raising the graduate rate and lowering the dropout rate for our students. We need to better provide our college-bound students
with skills that will alleviate the need for remediation when they enter programs of higher learning. Our school district must demonstrate accountability through improvement of scores on national and state assessments. In the coming years, the school board should prioritize funding to expand the number of career academies, provide opportunities for more technology, school choice and vocational training. We are committed to strengthening and expanding business partnerships and providing an excellent workforce for employers, thus assisting Pasco County with economic development. Above all else, the district must improve our partnerships with parents to realize an increase in students’ achievement.

Don Stephenson: The greatest challenge facing Pasco schools is undoubtedly our ongoing fiscal problems. I believe that teacher morale, and ultimately, student achievement, suffer as a result of the current tactics employed by our board to balance our books: layoffs, furlough days and possible pay cuts, which strike directly at our ability to attract and retain the most effective educators. This ultimately has an adverse effect on the quality of the education we provide to
our children. We can and must do better. Let’s examine exactly how in my answers to the next question.

The school district is looking at another shortfall this year. How do you combat this perennial problem? Are there any positions left to cut, or are there other ways to balance the budget?

Joanne Hurley: Since I was elected in 2008, Florida’s economy has worsened, resulting in our school district’s successive years of budget challenges and declining revenue. Taxpayers want local government to shrink the cost of doing business and school funding formulas are changing. Yet, every school district in Florida is required to have a balanced budget yearly. In response, our district has downsized our staff, reduced departmental and school budgets, and placed emphasis on finding efficiencies in energy usage, transportation, food service, construction and maintenance. Yet, I believe there is a need to look for even greater efficiencies. Transportation and energy costs can be reduced further. New technology and better business systems will result in more productivity, and we can streamline our departmental and district procedures. We can’t continue to operate our business the way it was done in the past and hope to meet future needs of our students, staff, parents and community.

Don Stephenson: After five straight years of multi-million dollar deficits, the time has come to look at real, lasting methods for cutting spending and eliminating waste. What I advocate for are responsible solutions which do not require us to return to the well of our teachers to balance our books, do not require cutting student programs such as sports, arts and music, and which absolutely do not require raising taxes. What they do require is the political will to see them realized. The first solution I strongly support would be adopting a “zero-based budgeting” process, where each expenditure is justified line-by-line starting from scratch, rather than using previous years’ numbers as a jumping off point. It’s a difficult, time-consuming, and wholly uncomfortable process. But I believe that our ongoing massive deficits justify giving it very serious consideration. Additionally, significant savings could also be had through privatization of
some non-instructional services (such as transportation, custodial, grounds keeping, I.T. and others). Care would need to be taken to ensure our service employees were treated fairly, but when you’re broke, as we most certainly are, you can ill-afford to leave a stone this large unturned. Lastly, and perhaps the most significant point of difference between myself and my opponent, I would cut spending by using my vote in a discerning manner. Whereas I would render an automatic “no” vote on any spending requests that weren’t mission-critical or in some way mandated, my opponent has yet to cast a single “no” vote during her entire four years on the school board. This is a glaring, and I feel very telling, point of differentiation. We must identify our priorities and stick to them. While there are certainly other ways to find savings (an excessive number of assistant principals in our high schools comes to mind), the aforementioned tactics represent what I believe to be the most significant cost-savings available to the district at this time. And all of these methods continue to provide savings year after year, rather than the one-time Band-aid fixes we’ve employed of late.

What are your thoughts on the controversial Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test? Is it worthwhile? Should it be eliminated?

Joanne Hurley: While I strongly support accountability for our school district, I have concerns for the current amount of standardized testing, including FCAT, and the uses of those assessments. Standardized tests were originally implemented to measure and identify students’ proficiencies and weaknesses. In Florida, standardized tests are now used for much broader purposes. Student proficiency on standardized tests now is used to determine school district grades, the effectiveness of teachers and administrators, to determine if students are retained, will graduate, will receive course credits, will need remediation, or will have access to specific programs. I hope to continue working with our legislative delegation, Florida Department of Education, Florida School Board Association, staff and parents to evaluate the effectiveness of our accountability system and to request that school districts are provided with adequate funding to provide the necessary technology and other requirements to administer the tests. I am very pleased that FCAT will be replaced by end-of-course exams in the coming years.

Don Stephenson: I do feel that FCAT represents a serious problem for our schools on multiple fronts. FCAT is just too big and too important. Such a quick snapshot is an ineffective way to gain an accurate measurement of how a student is doing throughout the year, and it puts poor test takers in a precarious position given the stakes involved. Regarding teacher evaluations, the same principle applies: half the value of their evaluation is too much, considering that so many outside factors can adversely affect test outcomes. Not to mention, when test scores determine a teacher’s pay, it only makes sense that the focus in the classroom would be emphasized there, at the expense of teaching the curriculum. And although FCAT mandates are set by Tallahassee, our board can and should join the many school districts throughout Florida who have adopted resolutions decrying Florida’s over-reliance on high-stakes testing. While I would not advocate for the removal of FCAT, or standardized testing in general, I do feel that a serious look needs to be had at reevaluating its significance. Particularly before the transition is made in the coming years away from FCAT and into common core standards. If Floridians find FCAT to be rigid and ultimately detrimental to our goal of providing an excellent education for our students (and freeing our teachers to focus on the curriculum in a creative manner), how much more frustration will we face when our standards are not determined by Tallahassee, but by an unelected body of “experts” in Washington D.C.? Care must be taken to ensure we don’t trade a bad system for one even worse.