Sharon McConnell is the incumbent and this would mark her third term if she wins. She works at Doyon.
School Budget: Funding should stay closest to the classroom and keep class sizes small. Security safety is also a big issue. In regards to cuts she uses administration and public recommendations to decide. New construction takes time and should be considered.
Teachers vs. Buildings: She values the staff but felt it inappropriate to comment during negotiations process.
Adequate yearly progress system: It could be improved, it is often unfunded.
Bond Measures: Yes to both.
Summary extracted from this article.
Showing posts with label School Board Seat G. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School Board Seat G. Show all posts
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
School Board Seat G: Ryan Smith Round 2 Q & A
What is your day job?
I am an Advisor for UAF Engineering Students. I see many of them entering UAF with a 7th to 9th grade math level. They then need to take remedial math courses to get up to the level they need to be at to begin work on their degree. This is why I’m running.
What is your stance on the propositions?
1) School Bond Ryan: I don’t like it. Too much money is going to a weight room and dance floor. The science part good. If it was separated I would vote yes on the Science part and no on the weight room and dance floor.
2) Healthy Air Now Citizens Initiative: No, it is poorly written, too vague, and too open to opinion/interpretation.
3) School Bond Salcha, Woodriver, North Pole schools: Yes, it is obviously needed.
Who is responsible for educating?
This is a 3 tier response: teacher, parent, student. If all three are not working for same goal success will be limited.
Should sex education be part of the public school system? If so when should it start and what should it encompass? If not, why?
Definitely not in K-6, middle school should consist of health informative classes due to puberty. High school yes. The High School level should have an “opt in” for parents with a notice as to what will be taught. The program can’t overlook abstinence and should also touch on preventative measures.
What is school for? What is education for? Are they the same?
They are not the same, School is more a body or place, you go to the school. You don’t need the structure of school to get an education. You can find education at school to achieve and take with you.
I am an Advisor for UAF Engineering Students. I see many of them entering UAF with a 7th to 9th grade math level. They then need to take remedial math courses to get up to the level they need to be at to begin work on their degree. This is why I’m running.
What is your stance on the propositions?
1) School Bond Ryan: I don’t like it. Too much money is going to a weight room and dance floor. The science part good. If it was separated I would vote yes on the Science part and no on the weight room and dance floor.
2) Healthy Air Now Citizens Initiative: No, it is poorly written, too vague, and too open to opinion/interpretation.
3) School Bond Salcha, Woodriver, North Pole schools: Yes, it is obviously needed.
Who is responsible for educating?
This is a 3 tier response: teacher, parent, student. If all three are not working for same goal success will be limited.
Should sex education be part of the public school system? If so when should it start and what should it encompass? If not, why?
Definitely not in K-6, middle school should consist of health informative classes due to puberty. High school yes. The High School level should have an “opt in” for parents with a notice as to what will be taught. The program can’t overlook abstinence and should also touch on preventative measures.
What is school for? What is education for? Are they the same?
They are not the same, School is more a body or place, you go to the school. You don’t need the structure of school to get an education. You can find education at school to achieve and take with you.
School Board Seat G: Ryan Smith Round 1 Q & A
Here are the answers from your first round of questions.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know those of us running for election this year. I am running for School Board seat G:
For me the most important attributes for a candidate are integrity, honesty, and responsibility.
It is difficult to think of the five principles that I live my life by because it is not something that I really think about it is simply how I was raised. I guess I would have to go with reliable, trustworthy, respectful, honest, and caring.
Reliable is a must because I feel follow through is very important. When I tell someone I will do something or work on something it is important to me to know they feel comfortable knowing I will follow through with what I said.
Trustworthy is something everyone should hope to be. For me my word is my bond, it is probably one of the most important and valuable assets a person can ever have.
Respect is something that should be shown to everyone. I have seen a lot of people who resort to name calling when they have a disagreement with another person and I feel that is counterproductive. There is no reason to treat anyone as less important or their ideas as worthless. There is a civil way to disagree with anyone and it is simply professional to do so.
Honesty goes hand in hand with trustworthy. I think it is vital to be able to look out at a group and tell them the fact and have them know in their hearts that you are telling them the truth. Once anyone starts to become dishonest they lose all credibility and they will no longer be able to make an impact until they earn that credibility back again.
Caring is a must when running for any office. It is hard to be fully engaged in any action when it is not a high priority in daily life and that is one reason so [many]items seem to fall through the cracks. I do think anyone running for school board has [this] principle or at least I hope they do because there is to much at stake to go at this half way.
I think what makes a community a great place to live is the people. When looking at the involvement of those around the community and the different kinds of fund raising that takes place for a variety of causes I would have to say Fairbanks is one of the kindest communities I have ever lived in.
This is the first time I have done anything in the way of politics so I am unsure if I have taken any missteps yet or not but one thing is for sure, we will find out in October.
I would say experience can be a great asset or a great hindrance depending on the office one is seeking. When it comes to the School Board I don’t see experience as any kind of golden goose. The test scores for the school district have been stagnant for years with very little movement up or down. I think it is time to try something different. As an academic advisor up at UAF, I think I am the only person running for the School Board that actually has experience with these students once they get out of the system. I see the test scores and I know how college ready the students really are. I know for the engineering department (where I work) of the students that are not college ready only 7% graduate with an engineering degree. That is a real life vision of what happens when students are not held to a higher standard while they are in school, a more profound vision is the fact that about 40% of our students are not college ready when they get here. I see the results of a just pass them through system and I feel I can help get things back on the right path.
As I said above I am new to this so I don't have a blog of anything set up but once I find out how to do that I will pass it along to you.
Thanks for being part of the election process and if you have any additional questions or know anyone that does please fell free to send me another message.
Ryan
Thanks for taking the time to get to know those of us running for election this year. I am running for School Board seat G:
For me the most important attributes for a candidate are integrity, honesty, and responsibility.
It is difficult to think of the five principles that I live my life by because it is not something that I really think about it is simply how I was raised. I guess I would have to go with reliable, trustworthy, respectful, honest, and caring.
Reliable is a must because I feel follow through is very important. When I tell someone I will do something or work on something it is important to me to know they feel comfortable knowing I will follow through with what I said.
Trustworthy is something everyone should hope to be. For me my word is my bond, it is probably one of the most important and valuable assets a person can ever have.
Respect is something that should be shown to everyone. I have seen a lot of people who resort to name calling when they have a disagreement with another person and I feel that is counterproductive. There is no reason to treat anyone as less important or their ideas as worthless. There is a civil way to disagree with anyone and it is simply professional to do so.
Honesty goes hand in hand with trustworthy. I think it is vital to be able to look out at a group and tell them the fact and have them know in their hearts that you are telling them the truth. Once anyone starts to become dishonest they lose all credibility and they will no longer be able to make an impact until they earn that credibility back again.
Caring is a must when running for any office. It is hard to be fully engaged in any action when it is not a high priority in daily life and that is one reason so [many]items seem to fall through the cracks. I do think anyone running for school board has [this] principle or at least I hope they do because there is to much at stake to go at this half way.
I think what makes a community a great place to live is the people. When looking at the involvement of those around the community and the different kinds of fund raising that takes place for a variety of causes I would have to say Fairbanks is one of the kindest communities I have ever lived in.
This is the first time I have done anything in the way of politics so I am unsure if I have taken any missteps yet or not but one thing is for sure, we will find out in October.
I would say experience can be a great asset or a great hindrance depending on the office one is seeking. When it comes to the School Board I don’t see experience as any kind of golden goose. The test scores for the school district have been stagnant for years with very little movement up or down. I think it is time to try something different. As an academic advisor up at UAF, I think I am the only person running for the School Board that actually has experience with these students once they get out of the system. I see the test scores and I know how college ready the students really are. I know for the engineering department (where I work) of the students that are not college ready only 7% graduate with an engineering degree. That is a real life vision of what happens when students are not held to a higher standard while they are in school, a more profound vision is the fact that about 40% of our students are not college ready when they get here. I see the results of a just pass them through system and I feel I can help get things back on the right path.
As I said above I am new to this so I don't have a blog of anything set up but once I find out how to do that I will pass it along to you.
Thanks for being part of the election process and if you have any additional questions or know anyone that does please fell free to send me another message.
Ryan
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