| Ms. DeCesare:
Thank you for sharing your correspondence with the Erwins. Doug is a hero.
Going back to your previous email, you have many questions and make many interesting points that, if true, our school board and district should address. My main concern at this moment, as a candidate, is to bring professional judgment back to District 1 that will lead to a reduction in our school drop-out rate, an increase in our school graduation rate, and a multiplied effort to help all parents become a part of their child’s education.
With that said, let me attempt to answer your questions directly: 1.Would you oppose nepotism-buddy hirings like that just announced of Linda Kipley’s husband who has no experience in the field? Not knowing the basis for your question in regards to Mr. and Mrs. Kipley, I will say that all HR practices should be based on hiring the best qualified candidates, never nepotism, favoritism, or insider dealings. 2.Would you insist that administrative jobs get advertising and not go automatically to the superintendent’s buddies? I believe all job openings should be advertised, including those in the administrative sector. I believe, also, that the superintendent should have the ability to transfer laterally as needed to fill an open position. 3. Would you insist that administrative jobs have degrees in relevant fields? Certainly, degrees in relevant fields should be an important factor in determining employment qualifications, but I would also think previous experience in a particular field is also important in the selection process. 4. Would you visit the schools and schedule meetings with teachers at intervals? If so, how often? Board members should indeed visit school sites and seek after-hours contact with teachers and staff. These visits should not be administrative in any way, but viewed as fact finding meetings and informational in nature. And depending on schedules, each school in the district should be visited once if not twice during each member’s four-year term. As well, no board member should have “favorite” schools to visit or promote. 5. Would you revisit the superintendent’s bloated salary and bring it in line with the teachers’ salaries so that the superintendent makes no more than four times the lowest teacher’s salary? Personally, I do not think the Superintendents base salary is out of line for the 8th largest school district in the U.S., representing about 199,000 students and 24,000 full-time employees. I do take issue with bonus payments tied to district success. The Superintendent should never need incentives for providing successful leadership.
6. The Professional Standards office has a reputation of sadism in punishment, of telling untruths, and of cooking up cases against teachers who criticize the administration. Would you have an overhaul of that office with a committee that has teachers and citizens on it? While I do not agree with your assessment of the District’s Office of Professional Standards, I would welcome a committee composed of educators and community professionals to provide operational review and evaluation. Our District should never oppose a clear window to public observation. 7. Attorney Tom Gonzalez promised a citizen and a media specialist that he would produce a pamphlet for teachers who must go to Professional Standards outlining their rights and obligations in that situation. He has not done so. Would you insist that he fulfill that promise? I have no problem with District staff and the Board Attorney working together to produce a pamphlet or brochure outlining general rights as defined by the Office of Professional Standards. In my opinion, though, the Classroom Teachers Association and their representatives already defend, vigorously, the rights of instructional personnel.
8. Would you have programs to minister to gifted students such as those in Oregon for foreign-language study sponsored by the federal government in such languages as Arabic and Chinese—the two growing populations that will increasingly demand our country’s political and economic attention? I would certainly encourage our district to expand offerings to our gifted students, and if that would include Arabic and Chinese language instruction….great. The District’s involvement with the Florida Virtual School could certainly be used in that regard. 9. Have you read the files of the Doug Erwin case (available in Public Affairs Office)? No. 10. Did you live in Hillsborough County when the Erwin case was tried? Who do you think was the most guilty for the circumstances that Erwin observed in the schools: theft, rigging bids, accepting below-standards buildings that leaked, buckled, and suffered ubiquitous water damage and ac breakdowns in two years of ac’s that should have lasted twenty years? Though I have not read the case file of Doug Erwin, I have worked for the District for ten years. My wife recently retired from the District, so we know much of the history. I have great respect for the many years of work Mr. Erwin provided to the Hillsborough School District. He was a great educator and school principal. And, I have no doubt that the problems he brought to light were legitimate. Who was the most guilty? Don’t know, but I would suspect a combination of poor monitoring of lowest-price bidders and poor pre-payment inspections contributed to over-sight failures.
11. Would you agree for the taxpayers to pay negligent contractors first-class prices for 3rd-class work and materials? Of course not. But, when school board members and district staff pay attention to detail and provide true due diligence to their jobs, taxpayers are not left to foot the bill for negligence.
12. Would you have fired Dr. Lennard, Mr. Davis, and Dr. Hamilton for their concerted retaliation against Mr. Erwin for repeatedly bringing these problems to their attention but which they ignored and, instead, plotted to make him quit is job? I will not judge the hearts and minds of Dr. Lennard, Dr. Hamilton, or board members who were involved in Mr. Erwin’s situation. I will say, though, that if I were sitting on that board then, I would have been a ferocious defender of Doug Erwin’s loyalty to the District as well as his integrity.
13. Would you have the courage to be the only board member to oppose something you think is wrong and speak up to say why you think it is wrong? If you need to ask this question, than you do not know much about me or my work with the District.
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