Federally Speaking

According to the Federal Register, there is a grant application process for the Small Rural School Achievement Program. The purpose of this grant is to “to address the unique needs of rural school districts.”

The accountability for receiving funds is as follows:
(b) DETERMINATION REGARDING CONTINUING PARTICIPATION- Each State educational agency that receives funding under the provisions of law described in section 6211(c) shall —
(1) after the third year that a local educational agency in the State participates in a program under this subpart and on the basis of the results of the assessments described in subsection (a), determine whether the local educational agency participating in the program made adequate yearly progress, as described in section 1111(b)(2);
(2) permit only those local educational agencies that participated and made adequate yearly progress, as described in section 1111(b)(2), to continue to participate; and
(3) permit those local educational agencies that participated and failed to make adequate yearly progress, as described in section 1111(b)(2), to continue to participate only if such local educational agencies use applicable funding under this subpart to carry out the requirements of section 1116.

Determination (3) cancels out (2) and therefore no agency, either State or local, is accountable for the federal funds they receive.

For Fiscal Year 2011 4,194 rural LEA’s were awarded, $87,266,118 with no accountability for success. Though this amount of money may seem inconsequential since it averages to a mere $20,000 per LEA, those millions, along with the hundreds of millions awarded to States to improve their educational practices through the multitude of unchecked programs and entitlements, add to the monetary waste inherent in our current system of education.

We should be offering incentives to schools who have demonstrated that they indeed address the educational gifts and talents of all of their students. Education funding should support local education agency success in educating their student population not the opposite.

We must begin to hold Federal, State, and Local education agencies accountable for the enormous amount of tax dollars being wasted supporting a failing system of education.

Our tax dollars must support the educational success of our children.

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The Movement Is Gaining Momentum

In her blog post, “Your Are The Leader“, Diane Ravitch outlines the victories of the movement to reform education and stop the corporate agenda from standardizing our children and creating work-a-day widgets out of wonderful human beings.

Communities across America are beginning to realize that the future of our children and America depends on the effective and efficient reform of education from a business model to a child centered model of education that concentrates on the gifts and talents of our children, encouraging them to become the best human beings and the best citizens they can be.

In season three, episode three of The Rifleman, seven escaped prisoners break out of their prison wagon and try to take over the town. Mark asks his father, “Paw, is it possible to lose a town?”

Lucas McCain answers, “The time a town or even a country is really lost is when the people who live in it get careless and stop paying attention to how it’s run.”

McCain tells his son about the value of studying history, “By knowing the mistakes that people made hundreds of years ago we can learn a lesson and profit by not making the same mistakes ourselves.”

Mark replies, “I hope so.”

Fifty years ago, television writers sought to address topical societal issues with role models of integrity and citizenship. Fifty years ago this country was worried about being taken over by communism and we were convinced that capitalism would save us.

Today we have been takeover by capitalism and integrity and citizenship have been replaced by lying, cheating, stealing, and such a lack of citizenship that public school children are not even required to say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the National Anthem.

America opens her arms to people from around the world while using those arms to squeeze the humanity out of our children by demanding that they forfeit their gifts and talents, forget their passions, and succumb to 21st Century workforce training.

Parents, students, educators, and community members across our great land are saying, “NO MORE!”

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Less Standardization – More Imagination

Why reform education?

“Intrinsically motivated students are bound to do much better in classroom activities, because they are willing and eager to learn new material. Their learning experience is more meaningful, and they go deeper into the subject to fully understand it. On the other hand, extrinsically motivated students may have to be bribed to perform the same tasks.” (Intrinsic/Extrinsic motivation and Hierarchy of Needs, http://www2.fiu.edu/~cryan/motivation/intrinsic.htm)

In a child centered system of education, children and outcomes are not controlled by the standardization of the process, whereby changing the process changes the outcomes, a child centered education system guides the child in the discovery of their value in and to their world as well as the value others bring to the world, by providing positive, collaborative learning experiences that focus on connecting the child to their family, and the community, state, country, and world in which they live.

In a child centered education, problem solving becomes second nature and critical thinking is once again a component of the common sense we all aspire to acquire.

The business model of education standardizes our children’s educational experiences, using data bits and dollar signs to control the process of education while continually failing to provide our nation’s children with the self-control, knowledge, skills, motivation, and civic-mindedness necessary to be successful in today’s world.

To move forward as a nation, our children must be able learn from and adapt to any new environment. A child centered education removes the external controls and frees the imagination by providing a plethora of diverse educational experiences that allow all stakeholders in the process to flourish in their niche.

It is only through the excellent education of our children in a child centered system of education that the freedom of imagination necessary to lead mankind successfully into the future will be discovered, nurtured, and respected in ALL children.

We are not machines, we are human beings. We do not come in standard shapes and sizes, molded by some external locus of control and neither should the education we provide our children.

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The Perfect Gift

When buying a gift for someone, do you think of the person or do you think of the cost of the gift?

Generally, the relationship between the giver and the giftee dictates the buying perception. The closer the relationship, the more expensive the gift, money doesn’t matter, the person matters.

In education, we have always thought of the cost of the gift of education without first considering the person receiving the gift. And, the more we placed the cost of education ahead of the education of the child, the more distant the relationship between our children and education became until the gap became so wide that the connection snapped and failure was all we could expect.

In order to reform education, we have to refocus the intent of our gift giving to reflect the person receiving the education. We have to begin to provide our children with a system of education that considers their educational success first in order to insure their personal success later. Our gift of education to our children must enhance their learning experience, not detract from it. Giving our children the gift of an excellent education means a lifetime of satisfied smiles and happy dances.

Giving our children an excellent education means that they will have learned how gifted and talented they are so they can recognize the gifts and talents of others, appreciating and respecting the fact that everyone has a wonderful gift to give this life.

In refocusing the system of education on our children, we can reconnect them to the world they will inherit and then teach them how to become closer in their relationship with every aspect of their world, sparing no mental, physical, or spiritual expense to make their life’s experiences successful. Once properly educated, our children will learn to love instead of hate, the most perfect gift of all.

An excellent education is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Give the gift that lasts forever. Reform education and give all of our children the opportunity to succeed.

God bless us all, everyone!

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Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Education news has reported that there are unions who would say “No!” to linking standardized test scores to teacher evaluations. Also, there are districts who would say “No!” to Race To The Top money if it meant going against the vision for their district.

The Rochester Teacher’s Union and the Rochester City School District were the leaders in capitulating to the money that was offered for initiating an inefficient and ineffective measure of assessment of the delivery of an inefficient and ineffective system of education whose return on investment has been the overwhelming failure of our children. Kudos to Commissioner Powell in her struggle with her companion Board members to reject the RTTT money.

These are the decisions of our leaders that we must take into account when voting to sustain their leadership. It is not about the politics of kissing babies and shaking hands. It is not about what the person in the political position has “done for you lately”, it is about how the decisions they make effect the body of citizens they govern.

By knowing and understanding the impact of their decisions, it is easy to determine the road down which our leaders wish us to travel. It then becomes the responsibility of the body of citizens to determine whether or not they want to continue on that road or choose a different one. This is the democratic system of government that is being lost in the annuls of history because it is only taught in the 5th and 8th grades.

When we are dissatisfied with the direction in which we are being lead then we must make our voice the majority and impress upon our leaders that education reform must actually be reform and not refacing. Education must concentrate on the child not the money.

The movement against selling our children for federal dollars is growing. People are beginning to understand that our children are invaluable. The only way we can show our children to believe in themselves is to first believe in ourselves. We can effect change.

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Happy Memorial Day

With Honor and Respect for all those who serve, fight, and have fought to protect the rights and freedoms of these United States.

We are and shall forever be grateful for your responsibility and duty to your country and its citizens.

God Bless you all!

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We’ve Come A Long Way Baby

There is no doubt that the committed and continuous efforts of this community’s education activists have had a positive influence on our system of education.

Parent liaisons sit on School Board committees, though seriously flawed, there was a superintendent search process. Board meeting resolutions are posted on the district website before the meeting and the community can now receive answers to budget questions they’ve asked with answers made available to the public.

There have been many other improvements that have come about due to the determined efforts of a few yet relentless advocate groups in Rochester. As the dealings of the district become more transparent the responsibility of this community will become more significant in the movement towards the necessary and drastic changes that must be made in our system of education.

During the last budget deliberation meeting Board members finally realized that it is inefficient and costly to continue to fund programs that are and have been failing. The I’m Ready program was called into question, a program this community has been protesting since it’s inception, along with other post failure programs such as NorthSTAR and Young Mothers.

The struggle, however, is far from over. With Board members approving the All City High program without a set budget whose latest cost was nearly $10 million dollars supporting ten administrators, 117 teachers and 42 support staff for 1,000 students, this community cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

To approve a program that has no definitive plan of success, at a cost of $10,000 per student with a 6:1 student staff ratio while our kindergartens are crowding twenty to twenty-five, five year old children in a classroom with one teacher is unconscionable.

Superintendent Vargas said that the district budget should reflect the ideals and beliefs of its leaders and this budget speaks volumes. It does not address positive changes in early childhood education or the necessity for lower class size at the elementary level.

We must continue to work together to restructure and realign the priorities of this district so that they concentrate on our children before they fail.

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The Conclusion

Question 14: If there is a conflict between different community groups in the district over a particular issue, how would you resolve it? Please site specific examples that you’ve used in the past.

Spencer: One, we have to make sure that we listen. One, we have to make sure that we’re collaborating, we have to make sure we’re having a transparent conversation. To give you a situation, we had to combine two schools . . . in combining those two schools we had to really begin to bring the groups to the table and really lay on the table as a product of conversation, what are the resources that we carry with the two schools separated, what will the resources be when we begin to combine the two schools, how can we support the kids at these two schools . . . In talking with those community groups and having a conversation with those community groups, we began to get an understanding of why they did not want these schools to combine . . . Once we begin to lay out what the issue are then we can begin to have a conversation as to a resolution or a solution to those particular issues . . . I think the important piece is to make sure that we listen, the important piece is to ask questions, the important piece is to make sure that we’re collaborative in the process, we’re honest in the process, we’re transparent about the process . . . When we left that table, we were all on the same page with making sure that kids were getting the best . . . Once we finished and combined those schools and finished the conversation and really pulled those schools together, we continued the conversation with the parents, we invited the parents to come to the school . . . to see what experiences you kids will actually have at this particular location . . .

Vargas: Dealing with conflict, don’t personalize, deal with the issue, deal with the facts, be evidence based driven, not necessarily around personalities . . .

Question 15: As superintendent, what will be your role in the budgetary process? Please specify.

Spencer: One, as superintendent, is really beginning to look at the strategic direction and making sure that our budget is aligned with the strategic direction of the district. Two, I think it’s definitely important that we safeguard the classroom at all cost . . . making sure that we are not taking resources from the classroom. In addition to that . . . whenever possible, making sure that we’re protecting people because that’s what’s going to make the district operate . . . Does that mean that no one will be affected, no that does not mean that so don’t be misled in thinking that that means that particular piece. But when we begin to have open and honest conversation about that budget process . . . we make the community a part of the conversation. So when we start talking about allocating resources and allocating monies to support ex, we have to then use what we call our School Based Decision Making Team . . . consist[ing] of parents, it consists of community members, it consists of teachers, the principal is a part of that particular piece, and then also sometimes there are Central Office folks that are a part of that team, and in some cases there are students. But collectively we work together to begin to develop a budget that is going to be cohesive and meet the needs of their schools. And once we do that we then transition into making sure that everyone recognizes what those resources are so we have to share, schools have to share those budgets with their communities and get input from their community. And once we come back to the table from getting the input from the communities then schools are able to move forward with allocating with what they have done with their budgets.

Vargas: My role is very clear, the superintendent has to set the priority for the district along with the Board of Education. My role is to work with the School Board, set the priority around budget issues. And to me, it’s the school, it’s the classroom, it’s the socio-emotional support as well as academic support . . . It’s just like any budget, I will repeat, that part of my work will be to make sure that whatever budget is put forward, that has the reflection of what we say we’re all about. So, one of the roles of the superintendent is to set the priority and allocate resources accordingly.

Question 16: I wish there wasn’t as much fighting in school, what will you do about it?

Spencer: We have to begin to get out into the community . . . When we start looking at a school we have to realize that the school is a reflection of our community. And as we go an address issues in schools, we also have to go into the community and get an understanding of what can we do to support in the community. I’m not saying that we’re going to resolve community issues . . . we need to partner with the community so that we can become a part of the process to resolve the issues in the community. So when we start looking at students who are having difficulty or students who are fighting in the community or in the schools, I think it’s important for us to want to begin to address the social-emotional needs of those particular students. And in addressing the social-emotional needs of those students we can begin to work with those students from a standpoint of the same manner in which we work with our special ed students . . . why is it that we do not have a behavioral plan if we see that there is a consistent issue that’s affecting the student. It’s not to label the student, it is really to identify specific areas where we need to begin to address. So if we’re talking about allocating resources for that particular student, if there is a student that needs to see a Social Worker, then that student needs to see a Social Worker. If there’s a student that needs an additional opportunity to have some relationship building with an adult then the student should have that opportunity. But all of that should be included in that
particular student’s plan.

Vargas: I would like to, for us to have, at a very early age, more conflict resolution . . . Tim Mains’ school is one of the few schools, if not the only school that has conflict resolution in place. That would be part of one of my approaches. As I visited schools throughout this school year, I noticed also a level of tension, and we’re spending so much money around safety, you know we need to teach Civics at a very early age, how to get along. We need to build a school culture where students appreciate each other, the teachers are appreciated, the parents are appreciated, a culture that has dignity. And dignity is about respecting one another. It’s not going to happen because we say, but there are models like conflict resolution, non-violent approaches, teaching kids about those concepts at a very early age is extremely important. I also believe that it is extremely for the community to play a key role in this regard. I do believe that violence that occurs in the community sometimes continued into the school . . . we must, at a very early age and through high school begin to deal with this problem and the most important approach that I know, the most effective . . . is conflict resolution and building a culture that has an appreciation for each child. The adults demonstrate that, the children have to demonstrate that to one another. There is nothing more powerful than school culture . . . you cannot do this work without engaging the students.

Question 17: What if after three years you will be offered a job in another school district, are you going to accept that position, how long have you stayed in jobs in the past?

Spencer: I’m here for the long haul. I’m not in this to come and hit it and miss. When I look at Rochester, I do see a reflection of Baltimore. I see kids who have great potential but kids who also need opportunities. And once we provide them those opportunities I think that they’re going to do great things. If you look at my track record in Baltimore, I stayed in Baltimore for fourteen years of my educational career. From there I went to Houston and I’ve been in Houston for the past two years. I don’t need to have a stepping stone for a position . . . My goal is to make sure that I’m going to be here and I’m going to serve the community for a very long time. My goal is to be the best, the absolute best in America . . . I’m about consistency.

Vargas: My last job was twenty years. I am committed to Rochester and I also will tell you that if you’re looking for a superintendent that could change this district in one, two, three, years, you’re looking at the wrong person. This is hard work, and it’s not the work of one person, it’s the work of all of us . . . I’m here because I also would like to see some results. You will not see the results that I would be proud of in three years . . . My commitment is to Rochester, it is my hope that I could stay here for the long term. Changing the district or changing the school is not easy work, it’s hard work and it takes time, and it takes community, and it is the job of a leader to bring all of us into a team to do that. One other thing that I am excited about Rochester is that I think that there are possibilities, the possibilities here are enormous.

Question 18: What do you consider to be your major strength as an administrator, what have you targeted for yourself personally and professionally as far as improvement goes?

Spencer: . . . I have a dynamic way of working with data . . . I have a very critical eye of looking at data, and when I say data I’m not necessarily talking about numbers because data comes in all shapes and fashions. But when we begin to look at data we should be able to make connections, we should be able to make parallels, we should be able to identify where our various weaknesses are as well as where our areas of strength may be. And then once we identify those particular pieces then we put something in place to address them or we put something in place to improve it. So, using data is definitely an area of strength . . . In addition to that, relationship building is a strength for me . . . Looking at areas where I can improve . . . I am definitely a workaholic . . . I know how to balance but I also know that there’s always more that needs to be done and I’m always striving to do more and more . . . the improvement would be, how do I then come to Rochester, how do I really begin to get to know who you are as a community group, how do I begin to get to know who you are as a district as well as letting you know who I am, how do I begin to develop community advisory groups so that we can have some authentic conversations about how we can move forward as a district . . .

Vargas: My major strength is priority. Every leader has to be clear in his priority, without that you are not going to be successful. I think I have demonstrated that. The other thing is the ability to be able to work collaboratively with multiple contingencies . . . You have to be mission driven . . . what is clear to me is that it’s about impacting the lives of our kids, student achievement in every child, not only to graduate but also to be prepared to be an effective citizen, not just a worker . . . Mission driven, clear priorities is important, and values. A leader without clear values is someone that will be lost or someone that will change their mind according to the weather . . . I would say the area for improvement for me would be . . . that I have not much patience is when it comes to the needs of our students . . . I think that I can do the work well but I can improve. That is the most challenging for a superintendent is balancing all these interests that you have . . . A superintendent, at least this one, doesn’t have all the skill set that are necessary to run a complex organization like this. A superintendent has to have a team, in place, that can provide the knowledge, and information, and skill set that is required to run a complex organization like this . . . The superintendent that believes or the leader who believe they possess all the skill set necessary to run a complex organization like this is one that I believe is misguided and I consider recognizing this is part of my strength.

It is now up to each of us to consider the responses of the candidates and ask the question, “Did this process produce an individual I want to lead our district or should we revisit the process and search for someone more suited to the qualities we, as a community, want as superintendent?”

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Questions 10 Through 13

Question 10: How can we link para educators, teachers, tutors, and mentors roles to increase graduation rates in city schools?

Spencer: Student success is everyone’s business and when we talk about school districts we have to make sure everyone in that district . . . we’re all held accountable for that particular piece. So when we start looking at paraeducator’s and teacher’s roles we need to start from the very beginning . . . what we need to do is starting to look at our rigor . . . When students come to us in pre-kindergarten, are we using our aids as a support within a classroom or are we using them in another manner throughout the school building? Are we making sure that teachers are provided with adequate professional development so that those teachers understand how to work with students who are coming to school with deficiencies? And, how do we begin to address those deficiencies? . . . Looking at the 45 minute block for intervention, that is so very critical to make sure that we intervene early, to make sure that kids are caught up on deficits. And when we intervene early, what we’re showing is we cannot only grow that kid one academic year’s growth . . . research shows us that we can catch that kid up two years within that ten month time period. And if we continue to do that there would be no reason why we would have any kid that is not performing at or above grade level. But we have to make sure that everyone is adequately trained, we have to make sure that our teachers and teacher’s aids are actually utilizing the time that they have effectively and responsibly, we have to make sure that principals understand how to work with teachers and have conversations with teachers about what does the data tell us this particular student needs. What is it that we need to do as far as participating in professional learning communities with teachers to really begin to have an authentic conversation about moving a child’s education program forward and collectively we’ll get the job done.

Vargas: Improving graduation rates . . . is the work of all of us, no one person alone can improve the graduation rate . . . it will take all the contingencies, the internal and the external. In school we do have incredible resources, the person who transports the child in the morning has a role to play, the paraprofessional, everyone and by the way, it’s part of my philosophy that every work needs to be dignified. And part of dignifying your work is to recognize the contribution that each individual in the system makes to the educational success of each child.

Question 11: During the first year, how might you go about determining the strengths and weaknesses of the school district and what specific steps would you take once you do?

Spencer: Determining the strengths and weaknesses of the district, I think, requires a lot of listening . . . and a lot of asking questions. I’m very critical at asking questions . . . I think its important to get an aspect of that information from all constituents and make sure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. But once we begin to identify what the weaknesses are, how we address those particular weaknesses . . . I think its important also to do a needs assessment . . . at the district level to really begin to pinpoint a deficiency for where our weaknesses are. Once we begin to highlight where those are I think its more important to begin to put in place some mechanisms for some development and some training to improve upon those particular areas of weaknesses, put in place some support mechanisms so that we can improve upon those particular areas . . . We have to make sure we have plans, and we have goals, and we have milestones. That’s the only way we will be able to measure if we’re actually making progress. When we put in place every single individual having a plan, every single individual understanding where they fit, within that particular plan, then we can begin to measure it, then we can begin to identify the progress that is going to be made and which we’ll need to move schools forward.

Vargas: Well, I do think that I’ve been dealing with some of the things that we have been doing. Right now we do have external accountability system. What I’ll begin to do is to create an internal accountability system. Here’s what I mean by external, the school today gets in trouble when the State Education department tells us we’re in trouble. That should not happen. We should know before the State Ed department knows. That’s what I mean by internal accountability system. From the principal, to the teacher, to the paraprofessional, the family, and yes, Central Office. If Central Office has a role, it’s to be accountable and enforce an internal accountability system that holds people [accountable] and supports people because you can’t just talk about accountability in the absence of supporting the people that are doing the front line work. So, I do think that I will begin by assessing the internal accountability system.

Question 12: Do you believe in bi-lingual education for our emergent bi-lingual population? Please explain your position and give at least one example from the practical perspective.

Spencer: . . . I absolutely believe in bi-lingual education. Every school that I worked with [in Houston] has a bi-lingual program . . . We have to 1. make sure that students are understanding the concepts 1. from their native language . . . I think its good to take a dual language approach with the Spanish crowd . . . our goal there becomes, how do we get the kids to hear, listen, speak, read, and write more English? How do we build that into their instructional program? . . . In addition to that we have situations where some kids are not Spanish speakers, they’re not native Spanish speakers and they’re also not native English speakers so what do we begin to do. That requires us to put in place some strategies. So we [in Houston] really work with those groups of students to make sure that we’re building the English proficiency in the students but we’re also not neglecting their native language in the educational process.

Vargas: As I mentioned to you, the education that I receive in New York City was through a bi-lingual education program. I can tell you that the bi-lingual education program is misunderstood throughout this nation. I support high quality bi-lingual education programs. We have a model that I subscribe to it, which is the dual language model. School 12 is an example of that and it’s been effective over the years . . . You have to provide the resources and support . . . bi-lingual education has to be an integral part of the educational [experience], it cannot be seen like a program in isolation . . . it has to be part of the mission of that school to provide an educational experience for the kid that prepares them just like any other kid, for college and career and to be an effective citizen.

Question 13: Rochester is a community with a long history of excellence in the arts and music, how will our Musical and Art departments look under your tenure as superintendent?

Spencer: If you remember when I spoke about initiatives, I said, “building and developing a well rounded student” . . . When we begin to look at the arts, how can we take Art, for example, and blend in History? How can we teach History through Art, how can we teach Mathematics through Music? But, in order for us to do that, we have to come together . . . we have to get Music teachers, and Math teachers to come together and have some dialogue about effective ways in which that can happen. So that it should happen only in isolation only in Art or in Music, it should also happen and transfer over into that child’s classroom. But that’s the way we can begin to look at implementing a variety of things that we can bring to our students as far as the Arts experiences. Another piece that I think it’s important for us to look at is, what are the programs that are out there, free programs that are out there that can support us in that effort and support us in developing our teachers in that effort?

Vargas: The first step that I did last summer was to restore about twelve Music teachers. One of the things that I did . . . I just went through the budget line and [took] $700,000 from our consultant item and transferred that to meet the need for Art and Music teachers. The School of the Arts, elementary schools, many of them benefited from that effort. Wilson High School . . . and Marshall High School was projected to be cut. Through the effort of the Board and the effort that we made we were able to restore that . . . Art and Music shouldn’t be just for some kids, it should be part of the education [inaudible due to applause] My budget, given the challenges that we face . . . we need to continue to build [Art and Music]. The Rochester City School district would not be a great district unless we improve the quality and experience we give our families and our kids on a daily basis and part of that experience include Art and Music in every school, not just at the School of the Arts, in every single school just like you find in any community that prides itself in providing a high quality education for their children.

Only four questions left.

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Questions 7 Through 9

Question 7: Describe your previous experience in dealing with dwindling resources and increased expectations and accountability measures. Please provide specific examples.

Spencer: In looking at the decrease in resources . . . a critical piece for us to do is to begin to look at our partners and the role that our partners are going to play in making sure that we continue to have the resources that are available for our students regardless of the loss of funding. . . That requires us to step into the community again and that requires us to have a conversation with the community again. As principal . . . I partnered with the local universities . . . and I asked the local universities, if you could come to my campus, if you could allow my teachers to enroll in your program . . . for reading, for early childhood, and for instructional technology, and you could have my teachers to have your courses on our campus I guarantee you I can get at least 80% of them to participate . . . in fact we had over 95% of our teachers who participated and the cost of that was $100 dollars per teacher. Those are ways that we can begin to get out there and work with our community and our partners with limited resources and continue to do the work that we need to do and educate children.

Vargas: My first example is my experience as a student in the New York city school district. I went to a school where I know what it is to be in a classroom with 38 students. I know what it is to go school in urban America and text books are not available. I know what it is to go into a school in urban America where the majority of the teachers that are there are not getting the support they need to serve students like me . . . I think my experience on the school board is a testimony to that and most significantly, in this job, which is the most relevant experience that I can point to it as I don’t think that there’s any doubt that I came to a very challenging situation when it came to the situation of the budget last year. They were close to 900 staff layoffs . . . I went into our budget, I examined some of the areas that we can make some adjustments, I made some adjustments, I was able to restore teachers and services to some of our schools . . . When it comes to the budget, the most important thing that we need to . . . keep in mind is that budget is sustaining our priorities and values about the organization . . . and when you look at the budget that is presented to the school board, nothing is perfect. The district has a long way to go when it comes to allocating resources in an effective and efficient way . . . If we are going to put the student first, we must deal with the issue of allocation of resources in an effective way.

Question 8: In these difficult economic times, how will you assure that students in special education areas receive the placements and support they need to meet their educational needs?

Spencer: One piece that I think that’s important for us to start off with is recognizing that special ed students are going to be held to the exact same standard as every other student. As superintendent I absolutely will not tolerate a substandard education for any student . . . When we look at the resources provided to special ed students . . . how do we begin to address those particular needs . . . Going back to my roots as principal, I made sure that one, every single student at the campus, who was a struggling student . . . had at least a 45 minute intervention period every single day so that we can make sure that we can address the issues with those particular students . . . I partnered with an outside organization once again, and with that outside organization I asked them if they could bring in a mental health clinician as well as a counselor to support . . . and they did. What I promised to them was that if they worked with us, and help us to meet the needs of our students that we will make sure that we continue to share with our district and our community that our kids were going to get the resources and services that they need which will then pull more kids back into our school and in fact it did, it increases our enrollment which therefore increased their level of supportive services that they could then provide to the school. [In Houston] we took a look at if we were actually, truly identifying students who are really in need of a special ed service or if we can begin to address those students from the very beginning with an intervention to prevent them from going into special education. Education should be a service not a placement for the child. We need to make sure that every single kid, even within the special ed realm that we’re providing the supports that particular student needs so that we can transition that student out of special education . . .

Vargas: . . . Part of my career experience is that I did work as a youth advocate representing students in CSE and parents . . . As I mentioned to you, at that time the graduation rate was 28% that is very sad to know that we haven’t made much progress . . . It’s an area that we are going to have to pay close attention. Right now we do have in place, a serious effort to make sure that the needs of our special education student is met and also, most significantly, part of the whole notion of the accountability system it called for the special ed population to be part of it and is one of the reasons so many of our schools are getting into some accountability issues with the State Education department. In my view . . . when it comes to the special ed population . . . identifying what their issues are, put the right intervention in place, for example right now, beginning this school year, we put in place a response to intervention program and that is aiding or correcting some of the past practice when it comes to students with special needs. So, as part of my whole philosophy about early intervention and that you cannot longer think that you can meet their needs with the same amount of time. The special ed program can teach us a lot . . . every child gets an IEP . . . another thing that it can teach us is that learning is not something that everybody doesn’t learn the same way. So the RTI and other programs have components that can also benefit the entire system. So my commitment is to continue with those efforts also the allocation of resources and most significantly, monitor progress because if we don’t monitor carefully every year then we end up in the same place . . .

Question 9: How important are the roles of parents and community members in student success? How have you demonstrated parent and community involvement during your career?

Spencer: . . . Looking at parent and community involvement and how we get parents engaged, I think its very critical for us to look at it from a different lens. A lot of times when we look at parent engagement we look at parent engagement from the perspective of, they must come to the school . . . however we have this great thing called technology that allows us to reach out to our parents, we have radio stations that we can reach out to our parents, we have television stations where we can begin to reach out to our parents . . . We need to begin to tap into those parent sources. Once we begin to realize that there are other ways that we can tap into our parents and really getting them there, meeting with our parents and connecting with our parents and seeing what our parents have to bring as a resource to the school and finding alternative ways in which we can bring that resource to the school will be extremely helpful.

Vargas: As a counselor I know that first hand, you need parents involved in a child’s education. Now, it doesn’t have to be the definition of parents, it’s changing, for example, my own research shows that over 20% of the student population are not living with their biological parents . . . often it a grandma or a gramdpa, often it might be foster care, often it might be an uncle or extended family, so when we talk about parental engagement, then we’ve got to understand the complexities and one of the things that is defining what parental engagement means. . . There are different levels for example there are parents that could be more involved . . . but you need to recognize the complexities of the population . . . What I am committed to do is to build the capacity and recognize that there’s a challenge . . . I would love, when we have parent/teacher conferences, to provide free transportation for families . . . I can tell you that I am encouraged in the area because also the Title I funding . . . is aiming for parental engagement . . . One of the things that we are doing right now is examining the Title I funding and see how we can allocate resources with that effort but also measure results around parental engagement.