Clay St.

Johns

4
Clay

Duval

Bake

Union

Putnam Flagler

St. Johns

7
Putnam

L-8 THE TIMES-UNION AUGUST 5, 2012

voter guide

Duval County School Board

DiStriCt 1 DiStriCt 5

Duval County School Board districts

teachers. These solutions also dont involve reinventing the wheel or breaking the bank. Most important issue: First we need to do things the right way. If a kid acts up they gets a consequence that must mean something, if they make no effort they fail and we need to trust teachers to be professionals and to let them teach. How would you deal with budget cuts? I dont think we have to raise taxes or cut services, we just need to prioritize our needs. Recently the district has thought it needed more high priced administrators and its own legal team, I on the other hand think we need more art teachers, guidance counselors and para-professionals. What should be the number one priority of the new superintendent? The new super needs to insist we do things the right way. They must be resolute that we have rigorous classes, disciplined schools and that our teachers are treated like professionals. That has to be the jumping off point, the foundation that we use to rebuild our district.

95

17

Duv City
6
295

Martha Barrett

Age: 62 Education: Masters in Education from Xavier University Bachelors in Political Science from Maryville University Family: Single Previous elected offices: Elected to the Duval County School Board in 2000, 2004 and special election in 2009 Qualifcations: I have been a school board member during the time that the school system has made great strides toward the education of our children. I have a great historical and current perspective of the schools in our district, our challenges, successes and our future goals. We have done great things, but have a long way to go as well. I would say that there have been more changes in the last 10 years in education than we saw in the previous century! Most important issues: Academic achievement/ student success. Reading is the key. The reading scores are still poor and we have to get students reading on grade level. The school board initiated Read It Forward Jacksonville last summer. There are extensive pre-K programs and the system is looking at a broader menu of options in grade 6 to 12. The system is adding an additional hour in our lowest performing schools. Discipline is a major concern of mine. The board just passed an updated policy on discipline at the June board meeting. The graduation rate must increase, although it has gone up significantly since I have been on the board. How would you deal with budget cuts? We have made huge cuts, but our goal is not to touch the classroom protect the classroom at all cost. We must work with the Legislature to direct more resources to our classrooms. I am against raising taxes.

Pervalia GainesMCintosh

Age: n/a Education: Bachelor of Science Broadcast Journalism; minors in Political Science and Public Administration Family: Husband, Vincent Previous elected offices: None Qualifications: I understand as a School Board member it is my responsibility to represent the best interests of the people. I have been a strong advocate for public education working with kids for over 10 years. My work includes program development, tutorial services, motivational speaking, and college preparation. For example, I partnered with Kaplan University to design an ACT preparation series that has effectively increased test scores. I partnered with Jacksonville University, Jacksonville Aviation Authority, Florida National Guard, National Coalition of Black Air Traffic Controllers, and United Way among others to develop an Aviation Career Enrichment Academy that is in its fifth year of operation. As a substitute teacher, I was afforded the opportunity to travel across this county and witness firsthand the major issues inside this district. Most important issues: DiStriCt 7

The biggest problem facing public schools right now is the availability of funding. The state issues an exceptional number of unfunded mandates each year. The drastic budget cuts are requiring us to do more with less. How would you deal with budget cuts: I will streamline the budgetary process in looking at how services are being delivered to students and make certain the district practices fiscal responsibility. What should be the number one priority of the new superintendent? Establishing trust among all stakeholders and the district.

6
10

4 5

4 3
295

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1 301

301

7
17

9A

7
95

Chris Guerrieri

Age: 44 Education: Bachelors degrees in psychology and political science Family: n/a Previous elected offices: None Qualifications: I am a current and longtime school teacher and that gives me a unique perspective about what does and doesnt work in the classroom. Because of this I have solutions to our problems, not rhetoric, which is what I hear from most candidates, solutions that are the result of years of experience and thousands of conversations with other

ConstanCe Connie sands hall

Age: n/a Education: Bachelors degree, Elementary Education, St. Augustines College;

environment in education masters Nova Southeastern we are faced with University in Administration Congressional difficult Congressional decisions in order to provide and Supervision; Ph.D. in Districts 6 When budget Districts 3 more with less. Educational Leadership from Nassau cuts are warranted, effective Florida A&M University Nassau communication of the budget Family: n/a status must be extended to all Baker Previous elected offices: stakeholders. None Duval Columbia What should be the number Qualifications: As a lifelong Baker Duval educator with 36 Clay of Columbia one priority of the new years Union superintendent? The ability service to the Duval County Clay Bradford to perform multiple tasks Public School system, I 3 Bradford St. Johns thoroughly and efficiently, have worked across the such as listen to diverse K-12 system as a classroom Alachua Putnam teacher, principal, and district Alachua stakeholders, establish a 6 Flagler Putnam tone that values internal administrator. As principal I stakeholders, display Flagler successfully served at four competence, confidence, and schools two Marion elementary and knowledge of organizational two middle schools. Volusia Marion efficiency and a steward of Most important issues: Volusia limited funds. There is a need for all schools in every community to provide quality educational opportunities for all students Congressional so that they may perform at Districts 4 their highest level of academic success. Nassau How would you deal with budget cuts? As we face 4 the challenging economic
Baker Clay Duval

St. Jo Comm Boar

Coree Cuff

Cheryl GryMes

Age: 58 Education: Wolfson High School; bachelors in Communications, the University of North Florida; Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate, Georgetown University Family: Husband, Warren (13 years); children Duffy, Leah, Jessica, Jamie, Stephanie, Rachel Previous elected offices: I was elected to two terms on the school board and served from 1992-2000. During that time, I was elected chairman and vice-chairman. Qualifications: For more than 25 years, I had served in various capacities to improve our community and public education. I served as the Duval County PTA President, school board member for two terms, executive director of the Alliance for World Class Education and currently with Big Brothers Big Sisters as Vice President of Fund Development. In addition, I have served on numerous boards and commissions, including a Senate appointment to the Education Practices Commission. Most important issues: We are spending $1.7 billion on education and yet we have one-third of our high school students dropping out before graduation. In addition, in 12 of our 21 high schools, 63 percent or more of the students have limited reading skills. We must examine how our taxpayer dollars are being used. We need to assure that we have high quality leaders at every level, from the superintendent to the principals. How would you deal with budget cuts: I firmly believe that, within the $1.7 billion budget, there are opportunities for cost savings that can redirect dollars to the classroom, where they belong. What would you push for board members to do that perhaps they arent accomplishing right now? I would ask that the board comes together to talk about how they are going to do their work and have meaningful and professional discussions about improving education.

Age: 47 Education: Bachelors in Civil Engineering, University of Delaware; Executive Leadership Certificate, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania Family: divorced; daughter Chloe Previous elected offices: None Qualifications: I believe that I am qualified because of my relevant and solid experience, strong desire to see better educational outcomes for our students, willingness to make the tough decisions on behalf of our community and genuine concern for the overall betterment of our community through education. Most important issues: As I see it, the top issues facing our public education system are lack of financial transparency and accountability to taxpayers as well as leadership, poor graduation rates, subpar academic performance for far too many students, failure to fully integrate technology into educational delivery and an indifference to a studentcentric mandate. How would you deal with budget cuts? Revenues are declining, mandates are increasing and the public has no appetite for tax increases. These are difficult times and there is more to come. It is for this reason that we need decisive, aggressive and transparent fiscal policy that will guide us through the next several years. What role do nonprofit and community organizations play in educating our children? Non-profit and community organization have a big role to play, including providing resources for students who need special services and support, providing additional support and encouragement for teachers, providing supplementary funding for school activities and offering solutions and strategies for meeting school challenges.

lori hershey

Age: 48 Education: Stetson University, Bachelor of Arts Family: Husband, Scott (23 years), children Drew, Josh, Tori, Hope Previous elected offices: None Qualifications: My husband and I have owned and operated a small business in our community for more than 20 years. I understand the value of customer service and the importance of meeting their needs. All four of my children attend or graduated from DCPS. I have experience in both neighborhood and magnet schools. I have been a volunteer in our public schools for more than 17 years. I have also worked as a substitute teacher in DCPS and I am a former middle school teacher and currently work as a private tutor. Most important issues: Restoring teacher authority to the classroom and reinforcing the student code of conduct. We must challenge the current policy in Tallahassee that factors in the number of filed reports about student misconduct when determining school grades. How would you deal with budget cuts? Raising taxes is not the first move to make. We must look closely at the budget and dare to cut through bureaucratic waste. We should also challenge every unfunded mandate that comes from Tallahassee by asking the question: is this the best decision for the students of Duval County? In your view, what role do non-profit and community organizations play in educating our children? Non-profit organizations are plentiful in Duval County. Many offer services that help fill in the gaps of budget cuts. However, a non-profit organization should not become a permanent fixture on the school budget.

Jon heyMann

Age: 59 Education: M.S. in Psychology, Rhode Island College; masters in education, the University of Florida Family: Wife, Cheryl; three children Previous elected offices: none Qualifications: Last fall, I was named a transformational leader by Stanford University Graduate School of Businesss Social Innovation Review. However, being in a position to shape the lives of our youth is by far my greatest accomplishment. It has been through the work at Communities in Schools of Jacksonville these past 13 years that has allowed me to put all my previous experience to use in building an organization that began by serving 50 students in one school to now serving more than 6,000 students in 37 schools. Most important issues: School board members should be: 1) servant leaders elected by the people; 2) one of seven policy makers; 3) the School Districts fiscal agent; 4) boss of one employee (the superintendent); and 5) own the responsibility for holding the superintendent accountable for carrying out policy, and creating a worldclass, globally competitive school system. How would you deal with budget cuts? 1) More community organization involvement in the schools; 2) More community advisory committees for each school, and including each magnet school and high school career academy. What would you push for board members to do that perhaps they arent accomplishing right now? Be more of a governance body, establishing the policy, practices, and criteria for the success of its only employee, the superintendent. Then, based on performance results, empower the new superintendent to have at it. but 100 percent. I believe that the education debate is too focused on what is best for the system or the adults, and we must refocus our attention to what is best for our children. How would you deal with budget cuts? To deal with budget shortfalls I would first make sure that our budget is student-centered not adult-centered. Right now, we cant say that our budget is student-centered. There are more options on

Bradford frank swanson

St. Johns

Age: 56 Education: Alachua B.S. in Putnam Flagler Geology from the University of Marion Florida Volusia Family: three children Previous elected offices: Duval Soil and Water Conservation District, 2006-10 Qualifications: I have been teaching in the Duval County Public Schools for six years, currently a middle school science teacher. I am the only candidate who can bring a fresh from the trenches perspective on what is going on in our schools today. As a professional geologist, scientist and environmental consultant, I have worked in both the private and public sectors, including city and state government. Most important issues: Increasing the transparency of the school board and Duval County Public Schools as a whole. Installing a new superintendent with a staff dedicated to improving Duval County Public Schools. Re-assessing the current relevance and validity of the FCAT, around which so much is centered. How would you deal with budget cuts? I would cut waste. There are many duplicated services and highlevel positions in the school district that can either be combined or eliminated. In your view, what role do non-profit and community organizations play in educating our children? I see the role of these organizations as an auxiliary one. I believe there are several areas in which programs run by outside agencies could serve a valid purpose in our school system. My main concern is accountability and assessing the effectiveness of these programs. Are they really helping student performance or not? The current data is rather sparse.

John turner

Age: 51 Education: high school, some college Family: married 27 years, three children Previous elected offices: None Qualifications: I have attended school board meetings for more than six years. Over those years, I have spent countless hours reviewing DCPS policies and procedures as well as the budget. Most important issues: Exposing the canard that our failing schools are due to poverty, lack of student discipline and funding. Almost all of our problems are due to the failure to properly teach students how to read using phonics. We are wasting tens of millions of dollars treating the symptoms instead of treating the disease. How would you deal with budget cuts? The DCPS budget over more than $1.6 billion is more than enough to provide for a proper education as well as fully fund sports and the arts. The budget crisis was and is grossly exaggerated and it is a shame that the local media has not done their job in fact checking what the superintendent says. The local media has changed from a watchdog against corruption to a lapdog of the school board. Explain to me why there is low teacher morale in Duval County Public Schools. Now explain how you would ask the new superintendent to fix this problem.Low teacher morale is due to several different reasons. There is a low level of trust between the teachers and the superintendent. Teachers are also very upset about the new evaluation system (CAST), which ties their performance grade (pay) to student scores on FCAT.

Jason fisCher

Age: 29 Education: Bachelors, University of North Florida Family: Wife, Melinda (9 years); son, Jason Jr JJ Previous elected office: None Qualifications: I am the best candidate for this position because of my dedication to public service. My public service includes being a

former Navy engineer, serving on numerous city and region wide civic improvement studies, countless hours volunteering on community improvement projects, serving the Jacksonville TRUE Commission, and being an unpaid citizen advocate for game-changing education reform. Most important issue: Making sure that all of our children get a world class education. Not 65 percent, not 67 percent, not 70 percent,

the table than just raising taxes or cutting services. I am willing take on the powerful special interest groups that keep us from achieving the operational efficiencies that are obtainable in private sector educational services. Explain why there is low teacher morale in Duval County Public Schools. How should you ask the new superintendent to fix the problem? Low teacher morale arises out of the fact that teachers are not treated

like professionals. I would ask our new superintendent to treat our teachers like professionals. Teachers need principals who will support them on issues of student discipline, they need an administrative staff that is focused on giving them more autonomy not less, and they deserve to receive pay commensurate with their performance.