Campaign Platform and Questionnaire

The Detroit News: State Board of Education Candidate Questionnaire 

2. Address: Detroit, MI

3. Phone: 313.942.0407

4. Education: Dual Bachelor Degrees in Employment Relations & Political Science,

            Michigan State University, 1983; Masters in Labor and Industrial Relations,

            Michigan State University, 1986

5. Age: 51

6. Current employment: Executive Director, Wayne State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors – AFT; Mom

7. Former employment if relevant to office sought:

Educator and Program Coordinator, Wayne State University,

8. Elective offices/terms

First time running for elected office

9. How much do you plan to spend on the campaign? Please list sources of your campaign funds.

I plan to spend no more than $5000 on my campaign. By far, most of my contributors have been individual donors but I have also received funds from several labor organizations including Local Unions within the American Federation of Teachers, Michigan, and the Michigan Education Association.

10. What organizations have endorsed your candidacy?

            American Federation of Teachers, Michigan, the Michigan Education Association, National Organization of Women, Michigan AFL-CIO, SEIU, UFCW, UAW, IUOE and a number of other labor organizations.

11. Why are you running for the State Board? What qualities make you more qualified than the other candidates?

I’m the mother of seven (officially, more unofficially) & wife of a public school special education teacher in a high poverty district. My experience as a parent provides a unique perspective on our school system. I have 2 children by birth. My oldest has autism. My husband & I have been foster parents to 9 children, 5 we adopted. We have been strong advocates for children; I served on the Board of the Wayne County Autism Society, my husband on the state board. I also served on Mayor Archer’s transition team during the first state take-over of DPS as an advocate for students of special needs. My husband and I were foster parents for 20 years and were awarded Foster Parents of the Year by Michigan Lutheran Child and Family Services. All of our children attended or are attending public schools & faced a variety of challenges demonstrating to me the need for a strong, vital and responsive public system in which parents’ voices are respected.

As the wife of a teacher in a high poverty district, I have seen, through my husband, how classroom sizes have exploded and important supports like social workers, school nurses, counselors and paraprofessionals, have been depleted due to state cuts in education. When traveling across the state speaking to educators, local administrators and school board members, I hear of this happening everywhere, from the UP, to Cheboygan, to Detroit.

As the Executive Director of an organization representing faculty and academic staff at Wayne State University, I see the decline in students seeking education degrees. I have also witnessed first hand the cuts to higher education and the resulting tuition hikes that make a college education less and less accessible.

12. What do you the think the board can and should do to help improve K-12 education in Michigan?

The Board can and should be a mechanism to inform the legislature, governor and general public by highlighting and promoting solid research, empirical data, and a forum to provide full deliberations of proposals to ensure legislation and policy are sound. Given the politically charged atmosphere surrounding education, this is not an easy task.  I believe the Board should also work closely with, and learn from, those in organizations representing educators, administrators, school boards, parents and students particularly at the local level where education policy should have the greatest effect. This comprehensive approach is critical to fully informing those developing and modifying effective education policy.

13. Are you supportive of the current state superintendent? Please explain.  

I support his general philosophy toward education particularly his support of early education. I believe the Board of Education’s decision to extend his contract was reasonable.

14. What would be your top priority, if elected?

Ensuring that there be greater participation of parents, teachers and local leaders in developing education policy and evaluating its effectiveness. I feel such steps are necessary to create and effectively implement the reforms that will best educate our students.

15. What do you see as the largest problem facing public education in the state right now?  

The growing number of Michigan children living in poverty and the continued cuts to public schools and social programs, particularly cuts to struggling schools.

Studies have shown that standardized test scores correlate with income levels. Higher levels of child poverty results in lower test scores. This is found both nationally and internationally. American schools with less then 10% poverty rates have some of the highest test scores in the world. If we truly are committed to improving academic achievement, we as a society should be equally committed to addressing child poverty and implement comprehensive programs to address poverty and education.

16. Are you supportive of recent Legislative reforms to education, including teacher tenure and evaluations? Be specific.

While I agree that public education should be improved, I think the focus on accomplishing this through making it easier to fire teachers and reduce their benefits and collective bargaining rights, is overly simplistic and unlikely to result in attracting and retaining the best and brightest to the profession or increasing academic achievement.

Some of the best outcomes in education are in Massachusetts, a state with strong due process protections and collective bargaining rights. Internationally Finland and Canada are leaders, both have strong protections for teachers.  

The current reforms seem to rest on the false assumptions that teachers are the primary cause of poor standardized test scores, and standardized test scores are valid measures of student achievement. There is also the erroneous assumption that all administrators and local school boards have the necessary expertise and objectivity to effectively and fairly evaluate a teacher’s performance.

Instead I would support efforts to improve curriculum content, raising standards for teacher certification, increased school based social services and elevating the roll of teachers and parents in developing school policy and tailoring curriculum at the local level.

17. Explain your position on charter schools and whether expanding the cap on charters was beneficial.

I have serious concerns about expanding charter schools, particularly for-profit charter schools, as established here in Michigan. I have seen little evidence that charter schools provide a better alternative to traditional area public schools. Although some charter schools report higher graduation rates, the overall test scores on ACT and MEAP tests are comparable or worse then the traditional public school in the same geographical area.

I am particularly concerned that the appointed charter school boards are unable to provide adequate oversight and that employees working, overwhelmingly with little job security, will be able to speak out effectively against corrupt, unethical or ineffective practices or advocate for students. I believe charter schools should be held to the same levels of accountability and transparency, as are traditional public schools.

From personal experience I have not found one charter school willing to accept my son with autism and I know of many other families with similar experiences. I am therefore very thankful for traditional public schools, but I’m also very concerned that charter schools systematically exclude students who are more difficult to teach or who create a greater financial burden. I also believe charter school attract families with motivated parents who often must go through an application process and provide daily transportation. I believe this needs to be further investigated and explored before any expansion.  

18. Do you think online learning, including virtual charter schools, is a good option for some students?

I think online learning, if properly implemented, could be a good option for some students, especially for those considered “at risk.” From the research I have seen, online learning used in conjunction with traditional instruction can be highly effective. My concern with virtual charter schools is the lack of accountability. How do we know a student didn’t just google answers to a test, or have someone else take the course for them? I am also concerned about studies showing poor outcomes such as higher drop out rates and the financial burden that providing full per pupil funding will have on limited education funds. It is my understanding that some of the major vendors providing online learning are highly profitable but unjustifiably so since their outcomes are poor. I believe we should proceed cautiously. I did not agree with lifting the caps on cyber-schools, especially before the initial pilot program was completed and evaluated.

19. What are your thoughts regarding the Education Achievement Authority?

I have several concerns with the EAA and EAS system, not only for the reasons stated above with regard to false assumptions that more easily firing teachers will result in higher academic achievement, but also because the system targets the “lowest performing” 5% of schools, which ensures no matter what, a growing number of schools will fall into this category, and the options once deemed rehabilitated, to remain under EAA, become a charter school, or revert back to the original school district, is to left to administrators and selected parents. I believe the wider community, including teachers, should participate in decisions surrounding their schools.

20. Do you consider yourself a proponent of school choice? Why or why not?

I believe choice of programs and alternative educational approaches should be incorporated under the umbrella of traditional public schools to provide the necessary oversight and ensure our taxes are being used wisely. As I have mentioned above, I am concerned that some choices such as for-profit charter schools and cyber schools lack necessary oversight and transparency. I also believe any school receiving public funding should not be able to discriminate against those with disabilities by refusing to provide the required services as per state and federal law. I believe all schools should be held to the same standards of accountability.

Please feel free to include any additional information that you believe would further explain your background and goals.

I have been a resident of Detroit for 22 years and I have seen what can happen in government without the necessary checks and balances, transparency and oversight. I believe the changes being made in our public school system is moving the pendulum away from a system of checks and balances to one that may become more like the patronage systems of the past.