Six candidates vie for Tacoma school board seat
DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
Most years, Tacoma School Board races are lucky to attract more than two or three candidates.
The Aug. 18 primary, by comparison, is a veritable feast. Six people hope to help lead the state’s second-largest school district.
Each candidate for Director Position 2 cites different reasons for pursuing the office: the depth of the district’s student achievement problems, the need for more transparency with the public and dissatisfaction with incumbent candidate Connie Rickman.
The two top vote-getters proceed to the November general election for the six-year position.
Of the six candidates, Chris Van Vechten has raised the most contributions – more than $5,600. Catherine Ushka-Hall has collected more than $3,100, while Deb Blakeslee has raised $703.
The remaining candidates – Amy Bates, Jerry Thorpe and Rickman – hadn’t listed contributions on the state Public Disclosure Commission Web site as of last week.
Bates, a health department specialist, believes the district must do more to close the achievement gap between students of different racial and income backgrounds.
The 38-year-old mother has concerns about Tacoma’s recruitment for “wonderful opportunities” such as the Tacoma School of the Arts, which has a far lower rate of minority and low-income students than the district overall.
“Can we afford to draw resources out of the whole school system to support ... specialized schools that are only serving a certain part of the population?” asked Bates, who’s been active on numerous civic bodies and coalitions to end the achievement gap.
She can identify with the many district residents unable to make ends meet. While working on her master’s degree, the divorced mother sometimes worried how to buy groceries for her and her school-age son, Romone.
“We know what it’s like to struggle but we also know the rewards of that,” she said.
Ushka-Hall, 41, is another candidate who points to closing the achievement gap and improving the graduation rate as her key goals.
“We have to build a solid plan so that we can hold the district accountable with specific goals and timelines,” she said. “And build the plan in a transparent fashion that invites members of the community to participate. Too often people feel disenfranchised at the door.”
Ushka-Hall, the mother of two Tacoma middle school students, is a supervisor at travel site
Expedia.com and has volunteered on numerous Tacoma city, neighborhood and school committees, including bond and levy campaigns.
She says she would work for openness, whether it’s promoting more dialogue between the board and public or reaching out to people to become active in schools.
“Because of my variety of community experiences,” Hall said, “I have the proven ability to ask tough questions and help build workable solutions.”
Van Vechten, 24, says he would provide a unique perspective on the School Board as a young adult and as a former special education student.
He was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child, and went on to graduate from University of Puget Sound. He works as an online journalist and formerly worked as a legislative session aide.
Efforts by Van Vechten and his colleagues at an online magazine likely contributed to the School Board’s recent decision to videotape and broadcast its meetings. The writers had been urging the board to do so, and they started videotaping and posting the meetings last year to their own Web site,
www.themelononline.com.
Van Vechten chose to run for Rickman’s position out of concerns she has polarized too many people to be effective.
“I respect her tremendously but she’s made decisions I don’t agree with,” he said. Under Rickman’s leadership, he charged, “the hiring of (former Superintendent Charlie) Milligan was a disaster; the way he was replaced was a disaster.”
Rickman stands by her support of Milligan, whom critics said ran an autocratic administration and ignored the community. After serving one year in the district, he left in mid-2007 with a $418,000 severance settlement.
Rickman said Milligan brought good ideas to Tacoma, including better use of student achievement data to improve learning. But, she charged, The News Tribune printed misleading and inaccurate stories about Milligan, which affected his willingness to communicate with the media and his effectiveness as superintendent.
Rickman, who declined to disclose her age, said her decades of experience as an administrator, teacher and board member make her the best candidate.
She points to the district’s cost-saving measures under current Superintendent Art Jarvis that allowed the district to avoid layoffs and deep program reductions this year.
“Even though there’s been a lot of negative publicity, people feel comfortable calling on me and saying this is what I need, giving a suggestion or concern,” she said. “It’s not about me. It’s about those kids.”
Blakeslee, 50, said she hears much dissatisfaction about the district as she doorbells for office. A prominent businessman and school volunteer told her no one in the district wanted to listen to his ideas on cost efficiencies. Other residents have told her, “Why are we paying more for beautiful schools when kids aren’t graduating?”
Blakeslee, who worked most recently as an outreach coordinator for disabled voters, has served on the district facility advisory committee, a PTA nutrition committee and is active in various community causes. She founded Pierce County’s Powerful Women’s Leadership group that promotes women seeking elective office.
“I bring a fresh perspective,” she said. “I have no children, I have no vested interest, other than a taxpayer who wants to see our children graduate on time and on grade level.”
Jerry Thorpe, 68, is a retired Tacoma teacher and former Port of Tacoma commissioner. He said he decided to run for the School Board after working as a substitute teacher in Tacoma elementary schools. He found that cursive writing is no longer taught and that teachers feel the district’s “Saxon” math program is so inadequate at the elementary level that they add materials to cover important skills.
Thorpe wants better use of school funds. He criticized the district spending $29,500 in fall 2007 to send two community leaders and six administrators to a Harvard University institute to learn how to address the achievement gap. “I think it was a waste of money. I haven’t seen any results.”
About his opponents, he said: “They’re nice people, but they don’t seem to have time for the work that’s needed. After 33 years in education, I’ve not lost my dedication to what education means for the community.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
blogs.thenewstribune.com/street
