Four members of the Columbia community have decided to run for the Columbia Public School Board. Jonathan Sessions is running for re-election his 4th term on the board. Helen Wade is running for re-election for her 3rd term on the board. Paul Cushing is running for re-election for his 2nd term on the board, and Robin Dianics is the newcomer to the race. Please read about the candidates for the school board. Learn about their positions that are important for CMNEA members, and VOTE on Tuesday, April 4th. CMNEA is providing this information so that individual members may decide on who they wish to see on the school board. CMNEA did not make any recommendations in this year's election.
Robin Dianics Running For Columbia Public School Board
CMNEA School Board Candidate Survey Spring 2017
Name: Robin Dianics
Occupation: Retired - Insurance Management and Human Resource Management
Employer: none
Additional information which may be relevant to your candidacy?
I am the President/Coordinator of both the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) Day and After Dark programs, and our MomsNext program for parents of K-12 students. I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) of Columbia, the League of Women Voters (LWV), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and The Crossing Church of Columbia. I devote most of my time to volunteer service at The Food Bank of Central Missouri, Coyote Hill Christian Children’s Home, and Samaritan's Purse. I am a mental health advocate and help to educate about maternal mental health to reduce the stigma and misinformation surrounding social, emotional, and behavioral health issues.
Briefly explain your reason(s) for running for the Columbia Public School Board of Education.
I believe in thinking differently. I believe in our children - our children want to be loved, they want to have fun. I believe in our teachers - our teachers have a passion to give and to make better their student’s future. I believe in our parents - they want to provide for their families, they want their children to be and do better than them. I believe in our community - Columbia is made up of good people who want to help each other. None of this is thinking differently, right? But...I am in the pursuit of these beliefs.
I like people. Technology is wonderful. The Internet is wonderful. We could exchange ideas through email or we could talk on the phone. But real innovation is when people come together and talk, engage in a dialogue. You can hear and see and feel the struggle or passion or excitement that you can’t in the other ways. This is where people advance ideas and it’s where real actions take place.
You cannot replace these human experiences, interactions, coming together and connections and feelings over computers.
We must be in the pursuit of what we believe in.
If elected to the board, what would be your priority objective?
As a board member, my priority objective will be to increase teacher salary to be more competitive and to fulfill promises that were made and never kept. I also am adamant about adding para/aids to overcrowded classrooms to reduce our teacher:student ratios.
What do you see as the critical issues currently facing the board?
The next three years of education policies in Washington are unclear. They are making decisions that will impact our schools. But what shouldn’t be unclear is our direction as a community who supports education and families as a #1 priority. And we must make sure, as School Board members, that we hear and see the impact of our decisions. That’s where progress and confidence in our public school system will come from. The less you see and hear the impact that your decisions make, the more damage that can be done to our teachers, students and schools. A disconnection cannot happen.
What do you see as the role of the Board of Education member in relation to teachers and support staff?
I see our children excelling. I see our teachers empowered in the classroom and happy at home. I see our community rallying to be mentors and volunteers who will work together to make education great for all of our children. Again, it’s because the connections people make with each other. We need to make change for education a human experience.
Isn’t this our future? It must be our future. I am a mother who sees my children’s future and they are excited to go to school. Because of their relationships with their teachers and friends, and because they are curious who will be that week’s letter person. That’s the life I want for them and shouldn’t all kids feel that same way about school? I believe they want to.
I believe in thinking differently. And, by that, I mean I believe in challenging myself and each other to look at all the perspectives of a problem. I want to bring my way of thinking to our School Board.
In December of 2015, the mandate of high-stakes testing and controlled curriculums of No Child Left Behind ended. In NCLB's place came the "Every Student Succeeds Act." This would allow state and local leaders, along with educational professionals; teachers, to close the opportunity gaps for students by providing a new accountability system that includes an “opportunity dashboard” with—for the first time—indicators of school success and student support. However, on January 22, 2017 President Trump has placed a halt on President Obama’s ESSA Accountability Regulations. Missouri had hoped to be one of the early states to have its plan in place. What would an opportunity dashboard look like in Columbia?
How would you as a board member determine the success of our local schools and students? How would this support look in Columbia? How can CMNEA and the Columbia Public School Board work as a team to help inform our legislation the importance of having our state regulations in place? More about ESSA can be found here: http://www.nea.org/home/65276.htm and President Trump’s halt here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/01/essa_trump_white_house_hits_pa.html
An opportunity dashboard here would be the first thing you see when you go to the CPS website. So all community members can see where the district is scoring in various categories. Transparency is key in bettering our communication with faculty and community. Success looks to me as mastery, not test scores. Children and adults both receive information in different ways. Where one child might get the information being communicated instantly another will take various ways of explaining or examples for that child to understand. Adult education is very similar in this aspect. Once the fundamentals are mastered, then we can move on to adding to the levels of mastery. The way it is currently done, if a child misses the information or just doesn’t get it, the teacher must move on with the curriculum, continuing to build on the foundation that wasn’t picked up and the student will now struggle from this point forward. By adding some on-demand programs for teachers to utilize, with real time feedback, we can visually pinpoint exactly where a student is missing the information. We can see how long a student is taking on a question, and offer specific feedback or examples for the child to master the subject before moving on.
Early childhood educators are hoping that with the implementation of ESSA, age appropriate curriculum and assessments will become a part of Missouri’s and Columbia’s curriculum. How can we help our early childhood educators receive appropriate training to meet the needs of our youngest students?
I believe all families should have access to Parents as Teachers. It is an invaluable resource to better equip parents with the likes of a “walking talking children’s manual”. The educators can use their senses and get a very good picture of the health of a home, the child’s development and give real feedback for not only how to handle behavioral subjects but give valuable feedback and suggestions for teaching as a parent. By having these in-home visits with the same care coordinator a relationship is established and trust is built between parent and educator. In this relationship, the educator can identify emotional issues that may be buried and unidentified in the parent and can offer support and local services for the parent. Spending money in this area of our district, is money will make back in spades. Investing in early childhood education is proven to have a rate of return better than the stock market. These children go on to do better in school and graduate at higher rates than those without that early childhood access to education.
The employees of this District received a raise for the first time since 1997. For teachers, it was a 5.25% raise to the base over a total of nine years. If elected to the board, where will you stand on salary improvements for the sake of attracting and retaining quality educators?
Like I mentioned above, I am frustrated that our best line of defense in empowering and equipping our children is paid in the bottom third of the state’s educators. I believe this is unacceptable and will strive to continually fight for our teachers to get the earnings deserved and the back pay that was promised. If we are going to improve our district with higher quality or established teachers, we are going to need to improve the compensation and benefits packages offered to our teachers and faculty. Parents want teachers who are educationally equipped to handle classrooms with various levels of emotional, social, and behavioral health needs. We want teachers that reflect our community’s celebrated diversity. To do this, we are going to have to start paying better for our teachers to stay in our community.
CMNEA School Board Candidate Survey
Spring 2017
Name:
Jonathan Sessions
Occupation:
Technology Consultant
Employer:
Gravity
Additional
information which may be relevant to your candidacy?
Briefly
explain your reason(s) for running for the Columbia Public School Board of
Education.
I was
inspired to pursue a degree in education at Mizzou because of my positive
experiences in Columbia Public Schools and my family's long-standing
involvement as educators. Although I opted to expand my career beyond
traditional classroom teaching, my preparation as a teacher informs me daily
and my passion to support the educational community of Columbia has not waned.
I recognize the importance of a strong public education system to the success
of our community. I am now able to give back to the system that was such an
integral part of my success.
If
elected to the board, what would be your priority objective?
If elected
my priority will be to keep the promises made to our community while
maintaining a course of continuous improvement. Over my past seven years on the
board I have played a key role in such long-term planning decisions, in a
rapidly growing community like Columbia, long-term planning is essential and
every community deserves to expect that promises made will be promises kept.
That will be my objective.
What
do you see as the critical issues currently facing the board?
The budget is the largest and most critical issue facing the board. In
developing the budget, we need to ensure that Columbia’s public schools will
provide the rigorous, well-rounded education our children deserve. It is
important to be frugal to maintain fund balances for the accelerated opening of
a new middle school, but it is essential that we not lose our focus on the
responsibility we have to all children in meeting their educational needs. The
current and continued success of Columbia is rooted in a strong, high-quality
public education system.
What
do you see as the role of the Board of Education member in relation to teachers
and support staff?
The Board's
role is to pass the budget, create the policies, and enable the procedures that
aid Columbia's dedicated teachers and support staff to educate our children to
their individual potential. A board member must seek and value the expertise
and knowledge of teachers and support staff when framing his or her
understanding of the creation and implication of policy.
In
December of 2015, the mandate of high-stakes testing and controlled curriculums
of No Child Left Behind ended. In NCLB's place came the "Every Student
Succeeds Act." This would allow state and local leaders, along with
educational professionals; teachers, to close the opportunity gaps for students
by providing a new accountability system that includes an “opportunity
dashboard” with—for the first time—indicators of school success and student
support. However, on January 22, 2017
President Trump has placed a halt on President Obama’s ESSA Accountability
Regulations. Missouri had hoped to be one of the early states to have its plan
in place.
What
would an opportunity dashboard look like in Columbia?
I believe we
already have an opportunity dashboard through our Scorecard. It is designed to
hold our district accountable from the classroom up to the superintendent.
How
would you as a board member determine the success of our local schools and
students? How would this support look in Columbia?
Data on the
scorecard continues to move in the right direction.
How
can CMNEA and the Columbia Public School Board work as a team to help inform
our legislation the importance of having our state regulations in place?
Working
together alongside our state organizations in our lobbying efforts.
Early
childhood educators are hoping that with the implementation of ESSA, age
appropriate curriculum and assessments will become a part of Missouri’s and
Columbia’s curriculum. How can we help our early childhood educators receive
appropriate training to meet the needs of our youngest students?
I would
start by determining what we are lacking in early childhood PD. Once we know
what we need and what we need to improve I would review our options for support
and funding.
The
employees of this District received a raise for the first time since 1997. For teachers, it was a 5.25% raise to the
base over a total of nine years. If
elected to the board, where will you stand on salary improvements for the sake
of attracting and retaining quality educators?
CPS must
regularly evaluate our salary schedule in contrast to our comparison districts
and comparable industries. We must keep district keep our salaries competitive
so are are able to attract and retain the highest quality educators.
Helen Wade Running for Re-Election to the Columbia Public School Board
CMNEA School Board Candidate Survey Spring 2017
Name: Helen Wade
Occupation: Attorney Employer: Harper, Evans, Wade & Netemeyer
Additional information which may be relevant to your candidacy? I specialize in Family Law; this means that I have dedicated my professional career to Columbia’s families and children. I have become accustomed to reaching out to teachers and school administrators to understand a child’s situation as it relates to Family Law issues. I have a personal, vested interest in making CPS the best district and a professional appreciation for the special insight and influence that teachers, schools, and other personnel have on a student’s life.
Furthermore, I bring a thought process that has been focused on thorough analysis of facts and upon “issue spotting”. My profession requires that a problem or matter be evaluated from many angles and that great care be taken to identify potential issues both at the time the matter presents itself, and later. Often, that process requires the involvement of other people who understand a subject differently or more deeply that I do. Thus, my approach to problem solving and implementation of policy is fairly collaborative and inquisitive. Finally, I have been honored to serve on the Board of Education for the past six years. Over that time, I have learned more and more about the unique issues that face our district. That experience has taught me how to ask the right questions to gain a thorough understanding of each decision that the Board is called upon to make.
1. Briefly explain your reason(s) for running for the Columbia Public School Board of Education.
I chose to run for re-election because I continue to believe that a strong and complete public education system is instrumental in improving and preserving our economic growth in Columbia. I believe that education has the power to widen a person’s horizons, and to broaden the scope of choices that they have in life. Finally, I believe that every student can learn and can achieve. In order to see that belief materialize, a school district must have inspirational teachers, dedicated administrators and staff, a creative and considered board, and the interest and participation of the families, caregivers, and communities surrounding the students. As I have considered the issues facing CPS, I feel that continuing to pursue aggressive, fiscally responsible, and creative ways to manage growth, forward thinking approaches to budgeting and delivery of a second-to-none education for all of our students, and preserving transparency and accessibility to our patrons rank high on my priority scale.
- I want to develop and maintain a stronger partnership with the families and caregivers of our at-risk youth. I think that a public school system can offer a stellar, unimpeachable educational program from “bell to bell”, but without significant “wraparound” support (before and after school, and in early childhood programs) from families and caregivers, that system will never reach its potential. Columbia MNEA
- In addition, we cannot ignore our gifted and average students. Our district must carefully maintain attention to all students while continuing to be diligent in caring for our most at-risk students.
- Finally, CPS continues to face significant uncertainty with state and federal funding. We are being called upon by our community to address the challenges that have been presented by significant growth in our student population, as well as changes in the needs of that student population. As we move forward to address overcrowding at Gentry Middle School and other schools, it is important to me that we do so while maintaining the promises we made to our community that those funds would be used to continue current operations, open new buildings, provide student support, and recruit and retain high quality employees.
2. If elected to the board, what would be your priority objective?
It is difficult to identify one single point of pursuit given the issues that CPS continues to face. As I wrote in response to the prior question, our decisions need to be guided by the promises we made to our taxpayers in securing their approval of the bond and levy last year. In doing so, I believe that the transparency with which the district operates and the responsiveness we have been able to provide to our stakeholders was a significant factor in securing those necessary funds. It is important to me that we continue to make our decisions today with an eye to the future with realistic projections of funding available, and to remain conscious and thoughtful stewards of our taxpayers’ funds.
3. What do you see as the critical issues currently facing the board?
Addressing and closing the achievement disparity among our students, managing and utilizing the fiscal resources available to us while maximizing student achievement, keeping the promises we made to our community regarding the use of the bond and levy funds secured last year, and effectively and transparently planning for growth in a manner that ensures students’ access to a comprehensive education in equitable and well-maintained facilities.
4. What do you see as the role of the Board of Education member in relation to teachers and support staff?
As a whole, the Board is a decision-maker from the 20,000 foot view. A Board should be reviewing, implementing, and enforcing its policies after receiving input, information, and education from the public, teachers, staff, and administrators it serves. I do not see the Board’s job as one of micromanagement . Thus, as a member of that Board I believe my job is to seek guidance from those persons who are really interacting daily with our students and our policies – those persons are the teachers and staff members, as well as the parents and caregivers of our students. I must be accessible, willing to listen, and finally decisive. I won’t always be able to make every person in our district happy. But, I will commit to being open to collaborative discussion, willing to admit when I need to be educated, and proactive in identifying areas of improvement. Columbia MNEA In summary, I see my job is to adhere to one standard of decision: student achievement. Thus, my role with teachers and staff will be governed by that standard.
5. In December of 2015, the mandate of high-stakes testing and controlled curriculums of No Child Left Behind ended. In NCLB's place came the "Every Student Succeeds Act." This would allow state and local leaders, along with educational professionals; teachers, to close the opportunity gaps for students by providing a new accountability system that includes an “opportunity dashboard” with—for the first time—indicators of school success and student support. However, on January 22, 2017 President Trump has placed a halt on President Obama’s ESSA Accountability Regulations. Missouri had hoped to be one of the early states to have its plan in place. What would an opportunity dashboard look like in Columbia?
I think that our dashboard would be similar to our current Scorecard that measures and monitors our financial responsibility, progress in closing the achievement gap, student achievement overall, level of preparation of our students for career/college, student satisfaction, parent satisfaction, safety and organization of our schools, our working environments, the quality of our teachers, and our employee engagement. How would you as a board member determine the success of our local schools and students? I would consult with the data gathered by our district. How would this support look in Columbia? I have to admit that I am not sure what this question is asking insofar as its reference to “this support”. However, if this is referring to the manner in which students would be supported, I would like to see the continuation of our focus on achievement, enrichment, and opportunity.
How can CMNEA and the Columbia Public School Board work as a team to help inform our legislation the importance of having our state regulations in place? By contacting our legislators, and by expressing our support for the implementation of ESSA in Missouri.
6. Early childhood educators are hoping that with the implementation of ESSA, age appropriate curriculum and assessments will become a part of Missouri’s and Columbia’s curriculum. How can we help our early child hood educators receive appropriate training to meet the needs of our youngest students?
ESSA contemplates the use of federal funds for early childhood education. One of these funding opportunities is the Preschool Development Grant for which states may apply to support one year of statewide needs assessment and strategic planning followed by three years of support to expand access and improve quality of early learning programs. This is one example of the way in which early childhood educators may be given access to professional development opportunities to enhance their ability to serve pre-K children.
7. The employees of this District received a raise for the first time since 1997. For teachers, it was a 5.25% raise to the base over a total of nine years. If elected to the board, where will you stand on salary improvements for the sake of attracting and retaining quality educators?
We promised our voters that a portion of the proceeds of the approved levy would be used to attract and retain quality teachers. I intend to keep that promise, at the same time as maintaining our commitment to fiscal responsibility and long-range budget planning.
Paul Cushing Running For Re-election to Columbia Public School Board
CMNEA School Board Candidate Survey
Spring 2017
Name: Paul Cushing
Occupation: Senior software engineer
Employer: White House Custom Color, a professional photography and press printing laboratory, based in Minnesota.
Additional
information which may be relevant to your candidacy?
1.
Briefly
explain your reason(s) for running for the Columbia Public School Board of
Education.
I am running for re-election for a
few reasons. First, I enjoy the work. It's rewarding and I feel I am doing
something positive for the community. Second, I want to affect change. I want
Columbia Public Schools to continue on the path to being the best school
district in the state. In addition to academics, the achievement gap and the
work to constantly improve student test scores, I like to focus on prudent
financial management, budgeting and frankly questioning anything I don’t
understand. Finally, I have finished my first full term. I am familiar with how
things work, so a second term makes sense.
2.
If
elected to the board, what would be your priority objective?
As a fiscal conservative, I would
work to see continued efforts to reduce waste and curb unnecessary spending.
Administration has implemented a zero-based budgeting program that is expanding
from Aslin to schools. Rather than each school or department receiving a fixed
budget, administrators are encouraged to save where they can but are given what
they need to run their departments. I would also like to see a positive change
in test scores at our struggling schools. We have been making progress but more
work needs to be done.
I am a vocational school graduate
and life-long learner who has received additional training as I have navigated
the workforce. I think that gives me a slightly different perspective and
brings a fresh outlook to the board. It is also the reason why I am a champion
for vocational education. I would like us to work to find vocational
partnerships within our community to better expose kids to potential employment
opportunities.
3.
What do
you see as the critical issues currently facing the board?
Funding
is the biggest ongoing issue we deal with. Next to that it managing growth.
Both of those affect how we deal with the achievement gap as well.
4.
What do
you see as the role of the Board of Education member in relation to teachers
and support staff?
The
Board has three main jobs. Hire the Superintendent, Create Policy and Manage
the budget. It is my goal to best balance all three of those jobs as best I
can. I am always interested in hearing feedback from teachers and support staff
and rely on the Superintendent to manage the day to day operations.
5.
In
December of 2015, the mandate of high-stakes testing and controlled curriculums
of No Child Left Behind ended. In NCLB's place came the "Every Student
Succeeds Act." This would allow state and local leaders, along with
educational professionals; teachers, to close the opportunity gaps for students
by providing a new accountability system that includes an “opportunity
dashboard” with—for the first time—indicators of school success and student
support. However, on January 22, 2017
President Trump has placed a halt on President Obama’s ESSA Accountability
Regulations. Missouri had hoped to be one of the early states to have its plan
in place. What would an opportunity
dashboard look like in Columbia? How would you as a board member determine the
success of our local schools and students? How would this support look in
Columbia? How can CMNEA and the Columbia Public School Board work as a team to
help inform our legislation the importance of having our state regulations in
place?
I
think we already have a “dashboard” of sorts with our district report card.
I
would like to see early childhood education available to any and all students
who’s parents would like to take advantage of it. However, our current budget
wouldn’t allow it. As federal funds dwindle, we certainly need to keep in place
what we have but I am not sure what options will be available to us without
those Title funds.
As a board member last year, during our
campaign for an additional levy last year, we promised that part of that money
would go to “recruit and retain high quality teachers”. That is important to me
and I will continue efforts to keep that promise to the voters should I be
re-elected.
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