Budget overshadows desires in school races

The four candidates for two seats on the Tacoma School Board say they’re concerned with everything from math curriculum to fostering more communication with families.

But the budget overshadows every other issue at a time when Washington’s second-largest school district is leaning heavily on federal stimulus money and one-time carryover funds. Officials have warned stop-gap measures won’t last.

“Revenue projections for next year are not looking good at all,” said Kurt Miller, the only incumbent in either race, who’s running for his second term on the board. “Where do you start cutting when there’s not much left to cut, and every time you cut, it affects student learning?”

Candidates say they don’t have easy answers to the budget crunch, but most say they will look first at administrative costs if they’re elected to a six-year term on the school board.

Stan Smith, Miller’s opponent in the Nov. 3 election, said the district has done some “shuffling” of positions, but no real cuts. He also said deferring building maintenance isn’t a good way to trim costs, since it will only cost more for repairs in the long run.

“The budget needs to be looked at line by line by school board members,” Smith said.

Jerry Thorpe, a veteran public office holder running for his first term on the board, said it’s premature for him to talk about specific cuts, but he believes the district could look to administrative and travel budgets.

His opponent, schools and community volunteer Catherine Ushka-Hall, said district budget writers must be less reactive. She wants the board to consult the community and seek more grant money.

“We’ve managed to plug a lot of holes over the last three years,” Ushka-Hall said. “But we don’t have a solid plan for how we’re going to survive.”

Tacoma spends about 6 percent of its budget on central administration, according to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. That’s 1 percent less than the statewide average.

Miller said cuts have loomed in each of his six years on the school board, and that administration has always been the first target. But he said that well eventually runs dry.

“When you have administrators doing six or seven jobs, it cuts down on the effectiveness,” he said.

POSITION 2

Thorpe and Ushka-Hall emerged as the winners in a six-candidate field in the August primary election, which unseated incumbent Connie Rickman.

Thorpe is retired after teaching for 33 years, and currently works as a substitute teacher in Tacoma. (He has said he will discontinue working in Tacoma schools if elected, but that he would probably continue subbing in other school districts.)

He served four years on the Tacoma Port Commission and was a member of the Metro Parks Tacoma board for 18 years. He coached youth soccer for 25 years.

Ushka-Hall has been involved with Tacoma school district levy and bond campaigns and the district’s school consolidation committee. She is a past president of the Eastside Neighborhood Council and a member of the Tacoma Human Services Commission.

She managed a campaign for former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, but this is her first time as a candidate for public office.

What are the most pressing issues facing schools and how would you address them?

Thorpe: “In order to tackle the dropout problem, we have got to get parents involved … encourage parents to help out.”

He said research shows that a good school library system can help boost test scores.

“The school board could also help by having money coming from the actual district budget for school libraries.” He said leaving it up to each building principal results in inequities between schools.

He said the district needs to support teachers with up-to-date materials, proper placement of students in programs, and classes that are appropriate for them.

He encourages more emphasis on teaching grammar and cursive writing. He also believes the Saxon math curriculum used by the school district doesn’t work at all grade levels, and thinks teachers should be allowed to supplement it with other material.

Ushka-Hall: “We have tremendous issues in the school district that aren’t unlike districts of our size nationwide. But they’re tragic issues nonetheless, and that’s the achievement gap and the dropout rate.”

She supports programs such as Lincoln Center, which provides extra support and class time for students at Lincoln High School. She’d like to see programs like it in every school.

Closing the achievement gap, she said, is about “giving respect to people – both students and parents – at the door in the first place so that you don’t alienate them.”

She thinks an employee survey is one way to begin addressing the issue of teachers who say they don’t feel supported.

What is your position on Tacoma 360, an emerging partnership between the city of Tacoma, Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma ?

Thorpe: “An unneeded bureaucratic addition … The concept is to foster more collaboration for the education of children … They are going to hire some executive director, probably at a fairly substantial salary. It’s just what we don’t need – another layer that is going to cost money from the taxpayers.”

Ushka-Hall: She said the new entity is not yet well-defined, and she has heard confusion in the community. But she sees it as a way for the three governments to ensure money is effectively spent on programs for kids, and to foster equitable programs at all district schools.

POSITION 4

Miller and Smith were the only candidates for this position and thus did not have to go through the August primary.

Smith, a board member of the North End Neighborhood Council and the Tacoma Commission on Disabilities, is making his second run for the school board.

He is challenging incumbent Miller, a leader of Tacoma non-profits who is also a member of the Tacoma 360 planning committee and the Tacoma College Support Network.

What are the most pressing issues facing schools and how would you address them?

Miller: “I think it’s that struggle of the achievement gap.” He believes many factors affect it: ethnicity, family income, culture, family issues.

“How can you develop a system that helps groups of students, and teach them in their own styles so they can learn in different ways?”

Through his work with the nonprofit REACH, Miller said, he sees students who don’t understand there are lots of ways to succeed.

“In that big 1,800-student high school, a lot of students fall through the gaps … It’s a matter of getting the message out to them.”

He likes alternative programs, such as the Science and Math Institute, School of the Arts and Oakland Alternative School, and the school-within-a-school concept at Lincoln Center. He would like to see more of this at the elementary level.

Smith: “Math education and student safety.”

He supports the use of the Saxon Math curriculum alone for students through eighth grade. He would abandon other curricula the district is using in conjunction with Saxon.

On student safety, he believes the district should better enforce the state-mandated zero tolerance anti-bullying policy. He said the key is to get parents involved early, asking them to come pick up a misbehaving student for the day.

“I think all of these smaller things add up to correcting the achievement gap and the dropout rate.”

He believes school board members should do more than make policy. He pledges to visit every school in the district in the first 90 days after he’s elected.

Why are you running for school board?

Miller: “It’s the passion to make a difference. That’s why I’m in the non-profit sector … At the school board level, it’s a little bit different because you’re basically focusing on policy and the supervision of the superintendent. But it’s also listening to the community, and seeing what they would like to see.”

He wants to make the board more visible to the public.

Smith: He said parents asked him to run because they’re concerned with how well the district listens to them.

“Once people get elected they spend so much time in meetings with other politicians and bureaucrats and so little time in front of members of the community who are the end users of their services, that they lose contact with who they are supposed to be representing.”

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635

debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com

Tacoma School Board

Position 2 candidates

Jerry Thorpe

Age: 68

Occupation: Retired teacher and current substitute teacher

Family: Married; one son

Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Puget Sound; graduate work at three universities

Campaign contributions: None reported. *

Endorsements include: Mignonne Peterson and Angela Strege, former school board members; Bernardo Tuma, former Metro Parks board member; Dawn Lucien, civic activist

Web site: www.electjerrythorpe.com

Catherine Ushka-Hall

Age: 41

Occupation: Supervisor for Expedia

Family: Married, two children

Education: Bachelor’s degree, The Evergreen State College

Campaign contributions: Contributed: $6,786; Spent: $4,170

Endorsements include: Tacoma Education Association, Pierce County Democrats, several labor unions, The Black Collective, Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy and other elected officials

Web site: www.votecatherine.com

Position 4 candidates

Kurt Miller

Age: 54

Occupation: Director, REACH (provides career and education services to at-risk teens and young adults)

Family: Married; two children

Education: Some college

Campaign contributions: None reported. *

Endorsements include: Stand for Children, the Black Collective, Tacoma Education Association, Pierce County Central Labor Council

Web site: None

Stan Smith

Age: 37

Occupation: Retired on a disability from the U.S. Army; stay-at-home dad

Family: Married; two children

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Seattle Pacific University

Campaign contributions: None reported. *

Endorsements include: None publicized.

Web site: www.stan4schools.com

* Candidates who pledge to spend $5,000 or less, and who do not intend to collect more than $500 from any single contributor, do not need to report individual contributions.