For supporters of public schools, parental involvement, and elected officials who are not rubber stamps for corporate education deform, I can see one candidate that stands head and shoulders over the rest running this year. Her name is Tamara Shepherd, and she an informed, tireless supporter of public schools for the public good, rather than for the benefit of billionaires or the testing industrial complex.
Below are her responses to questions for the Knox County Voters' Guide. I hope you will go to this page and support Tamara in her efforts to restore sane and humane education policies that support the restoration of learning and the dignity of students, parents, and teachers of Knox County:
Questions for Board of Education Candidates February 2014
Questions for the
Voter Guide
1. Some say the
Board of Education appears to work for the superintendent rather than the other
way around. Do you agree/disagree? What changes to board operations would you
make to reduce or eliminate the perception?
I agree that this
appears to be the case. The problem is likely
that the Board of Education (BOE) has recently been asked to opine on too many
proposed reforms, too rapidly. There
have therefore been several instances in which its members have rendered their
votes absent their adequate research of the reforms.
The BOE has also
been compromised by a dearth of media coverage to assist them in fully vetting these
proposals and their possible ill-effects on students and teachers. It has
become necessary for dedicated board members to often undertake their own
independent research to inform their decisions.
2. Two Knox County
communities are mounting campaigns to override the Knox County Board of Education
Three-Year Capital Improvement Plan in order to build middle schools in those
two communities. Are you familiar with
the contents of the Capital Improvement Plan?
What, if any, recommendations do you have for adjusting current
priorities?
The BOE should
not adjust its current priorities.
The BOE should
promptly investigate any obligation to the Gibbs community since a 2007 SCOTUS
ruling prohibiting student assignment on the basis of race, but I do not know
whether fulfilling that obligation translates into building a new middle school
there.
The BOE should
also address the consequences of past growth on schools before it addresses
anticipated growth in the Hardin Valley community. System wide, 47 schools rely on portable
buildings, seven of which presently house ten or more classrooms this way, and
17 schools were built in the 1930s or earlier.
3. Given the state
mandate to implement the Common Core State Standards, what do you believe is
the Board of Education’s role in addressing issues related to Common Core?
My root
concerns are that the math and science standards are too rigid, that they are
not developmentally appropriate in the lower grades, that they will result in
even more frequent and more costly standardized testing of students, and that
they will ultimately widen, not close, the so-called “achievement gap” in
student test performance.
I expect that
the BOE will soon need to begin advocating with state legislators to re-think
their approach to boosting student achievement and especially to re-think their
approach to closing the “achievement gap,” so that both goals may be achieved
in a more holistic manner.
4. A perception
exists among some in the community that the Board of Education is not listening
to teachers. How will you address this
perception?
The BOE has not
listened to teachers. Paramount among teachers’
concerns are this broken and illogical teacher evaluation model, TEAM, as well
as the heavy reliance on the volatile student growth measure, TVAAS, which the
model employs.
Since state law
requires the model (or one similar) and
since law also requires the TVAAS growth measure the model employs, that law
must be changed by either the legislature or the courts.
I believe on the basis of consultation with
two local attorneys that it is both possible and advisable for the BOE to initiate
legal proceedings to strike down the law.
5. Is the current
funding for Knox County Schools adequate for teacher salaries and school
facilities? Please explain your answer.
No,
but it is the state, not the county, which is failing to adequately support
Knox County Schools. Knox County
continues to allocate around 62 or 63% of its total budget to local
schools. Meanwhile, the 2013 State
Report Card says Tennessee supplies just 36.65% of the KCS total budget,
supplies less than 40% of any urban system’s budget, and on average supplies
just 48.8% of all systems’ budgets, statewide.
Also, 2010
Census data rank Tennessee 46th
nationally in per pupil funding.
Full funding
of the state’s BEP 2.0 funding formula for schools would alleviate this problem
to some extent.
6.
As
a member of the Board of Education, would you consider yourself responsible to
your constituents or to the county as a whole?
I would
consider myself responsible to both, of course, but I would always be mindful
of the words of one of our much revered former BOE representatives, the late
Dr. Paul Kelley, who often said he felt he represented all Knox County students.
Although his
are big shoes to fill, I would strive to grow into them.
