In Response to Criticism

At least one person has communicated to me some interest in my background.  So, here is some more info:

I was a Republican until about 2008, I think—and I did register Independent recently.  Independent is more accurate for what I am.  (I called myself Libertarian for a while).  

I am fiscally conservative but socially liberal.  I believe in freedom, but I think that some regulation is necessary to maintain that freedom.  I am wary of our growing hulk of a federal government.  I do not think more federal government is the answer, and other countries teach us that.  

I believe in local government.  I think school boards play a key role in local government because education is fundamental.  I think a business model can help schools, but leaders must not lose focus: the task is to educate young people, not make money; money is just a tool.  We must use the tool to bring about learning, creativity, and ingenuity.  I do not believe in corporatizing education, so I believe schools should teach more than just math and English.  

I do not believe in zero tolerance, and I have seen restorative circles work.  Implementation is what matters most.  Still, there must be order, and reality dictates that poor choices lead to difficult consequences.  Students should learn about difficult consequences when they are in school.  But they should not suffer the rest of their lives for it.  

I am not a proponent of the great man theory, and I believe people can and do learn; intelligence is not fixed, and the earlier children start learning, the more learning children do.  

Most importantly, I believe that what a public representative believes is not nearly as important as what the people want from the representative; it is the job of the representative to listen to the community and represent the people, according to her best judgment.  It is the job of the community to pick the person whose judgement (and word) they trust.

My message.  I guess it is vote for me, help me win—so I can help improve TUSD.  I would like to bring transparency, accountability, and integrity to TUSD.  If each board member would act and think independently, the board would be more effective as a whole.  I am an independent thinker, and I want to help.  I think I can help.  For more details, check out sedgwick4tusd.com or friend me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ms.sedgwick.90).  I opened my personal page to the public to demonstrate that I have nothing to hide, that I am truly Independent, and because I want to hear from you.  I am listening.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond—

I'm Listening

I have been meeting one-on-one with TUSD community members, which has been the most valuable part of this campaign process; the meetings have convinced me that the community has the answers.  The community understands the issues, and the community has ideas for solutions.  I think TUSD should assemble community task forces—if district leaders really want to solve the pervasive issues.

Here are just some of the questions, issues, and ideas parents, students, employees, and ex-employees have presented:

1. Until TUSD gets up the courage to ask teachers and parents why they are leaving and what they want or would require to stay, nothing is going to change.
      a. Leaders will not even acknowledge that there is a problem.

2. Why are the numbers of administrators increasing while the numbers of counselors, librarians, and custodians are decreasing?
      a. The numbers of staff positions are determined by the numbers of students.  Why does TUSD focus so heavily on grooming administrators?

b. How many administrators have their Supt. certificate?  How many would be willing to get one if TUSD pays for it?

c. There are many highly qualified individuals currently working in TUSD who would happily take the Superintendent’s position at a lower salary and do a better job.

3. They key is not to bring a revolution; TUSD leaders have to take baby steps in the right direction because the problems are deeply entrenched.

4. The community does not trust TUSD’s school board.  Members say one thing and do another.  Prop 123 is just the latest example.

5. PBIS is not working the way it was implemented.  Discipline is a serious problem in TUSD.

6. Stop social promotion.

7. Schools should be more community center than day-time child drop-off centers.

8. Students from Cholla High School had no math teacher, so the students were all going to receive an F at the end of the year (!).  The parents rose up and insisted on fair treatment, so the students all received a passing grade that did not count toward their GPA (!).  Why did they not have a math teacher?
      a. This is discrimination—students did not have equal access to a math education because TUSD is dysfunctional—it is completely appalling and opens TUSD to risk of suit.

9. If $60K is ear-marked for each teacher in a given school, what happens to that money if there is no teacher?  What does the Supt. do with it?  If a full-time sub gets paid only around $20K, what happens to the rest of the money?
      a. Why did Supt. Sanchez centralize the budgeting process so that he is in total control?  What he really a CFO?  Why did he not claim a CFO position on his resume?  How does the decision to centralize the budgeting process serve the students?

10. Teachers report that they do not have enough resources.

11. Students report that schools do not share resources, so some schools have nice things than others.

12. Why is there no dance teacher at Utterback while there are eleven Urban Walking teachers?

13. Rather than fighting with students over cell phones, why not embrace that most students have them and put them to use in the classroom?  The district can buy cell phones, at a lower cost that personal computers, for students who do not own one.
      a. Is there a way to regulate Wi-Fi so that when  students use it, they are regulated as they would be on a school computer (blocked from accessing certain sites)?

I am listening! Will you meet with me?

I have learned more meeting one-on-one and in small groups with community members than I have from any other part of this campaign process.  So I would like to meet with you!  If you have 30 minutes or an hour and would like to get together, please do let me know.  You can reach out on Facebook or email me at ms.sedgwick@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing from you!

P.S.  I will share everything that I have learned after tonight's candidate forum.

As a School Board Member, I Will Work to Improve...

As a member of the TUSD School Board, I would work with the Superintendent to improve measures associated with:

Student Achievement

By raising student achievement, TUSD will attract more students.  The most efficient way to improve student achievement rates is to:

1) raise funding to each classroom from $.49 per dollar to $.70,

2) hire high quality teachers,

2) provide robust teacher support and development systems, and

3) empower teachers to replicate what is working in high performing schools; hold administrators accountable for student achievement rates.

TUSD can learn from parents, teachers, students, and community members.  To that end, the District should open itself to parent and community input in order to provide the kinds of schools that parents and others want for our community.  Parent and teacher input should be sought after, and the district should routinely reach out to parents to gather feedback and advice about how schools can improve.

No member of the public should ever get blocked or barred from a TUSD-associated forum, meeting, or public media (like Facebook, twitter, etc.); the community must perceive that TUSD is a transparent district, that it owes the people of Tucson its greatest allegiance and openness, and it exists to serve Tucson’s needs and desires—not the other way around.

To build enrollment, TUSD leaders must actively recruit students to the district—just as they should be holding periodic hiring fairs to actively recruit teachers to the district.  Board members can reach out to the community to share the amazing things that TUSD is doing, how some of the school are thriving, and what the district is learning from those schools to improve district-wide.

The Superintendent must have goals that include measurable outcomes and that depend upon notable improvement in quantifiable gains like student enrollment numbers, new hires, and employee vacancies.  

To that end, the Supt. should ensure greater focus and improvements in measures associated with:

Instruction

--> Replicate successful models from high performing schools

--> Use other successful districts as examples, and work with other districts to improve.

Diversity

--> Tie the Strategic Plan to the Unitary Status Plan (USP)

--> Use Tucson Magnet High School Magnet Plan as an example of what works:

* outreach, marketing, recruitment

--> Tie Supt. Goals to the USP, Curriculum Audit, and Comprehensive Magnet Plan (CMP).  The CMP, for example, requires that:

1. A magnet school must be an A or B school as defined by the Arizona Department of Education school letter grade system.

2. Students in magnet schools will score higher than the state median in reading and math on the state assessment.

3. Students in magnet schools show higher growth than the state median growth in math and reading.

4. Magnet schools will secure the growth of the bottom 25% of the students at the school at a rate higher than the state median growth of the bottom 25%.

5. Magnet schools will reduce achievement gaps between the racial groups so that achievement gaps between racial groups are less than those in schools not participating in magnet programs.

--> Desegregation funding

* Use properly—explain spending, so community (including Plaintiffs) understands without having to ask.

--> Explore grants and other sources of funding to supplement budgets for diverse students with extraordinary needs, including refugees, English language learners, students living on their own or in foster care, etc.

Facilities

--> M & O: Community Schools:

* Engage the community to understand and gauge needs, desires, intentions to work together to make the best use of TUSD schools; continue to consolidate buildings (based on parent input regarding their needs and desires); lease empty space out to community; invest in new, updated spaces.

* Invest in solar energy.

* Establish multiple community task forces—stop outsourcing, reach out to employees and neighbors to bring people together and stop alienating families.

* Empower custodians and other employees responsible for plant operations to lead, improve systems, collect feedback, and use the feedback to improve.

* Raise the pay rate for all "blue collar" employees. 

* If the board can get elected by slathering names all over town, the board can get an incentive passed—pass a bond or an override to increase the M & O budget.

-->Busses

* Improve efficiency by empowering current leaders to continue to step up and continue streamlining processes.

* Raise salaries, populate busses with safety monitors, and collect input about how to improve morale from the bus drivers and monitors.

Communication

--> Use free technology to establish systems of communication in the community to build trust, provide transparency, and engage the community in positive and open interaction.

--> Invest in technology to streamline processes, stop waste, and improve communication with employees and with the community at large.

--> Revise and update the TUSD website to make it easier to find information, including the Unitary Status Plan.  The USP should be as prominent on the website as the Strategic Plan.

--> Revise the Strategic Plan to include specific and measurable outcomes so any reader can tell when goals are reached.

* Currently, the first point reads: "Strategic Priority #1: Curriculum: TUSD will design an aligned, articulated and well-administered curriculum that supports academically high standards of learning for all children, integrates college- and career-ready skills, incorporates fine and performing arts and is culturally relevant for our diverse student population. It will be reviewed and revisited regularly to meet the changing demands of our students and community."  

As an example of how I would revise the plan, I developed the following.  I would work in collaboration with the Superintendent and other board members, so this is just an example of the type of planning I believe necessary.  To start, I would replace the first point as it is written above to:

Strategic Priority #1: Curriculum: TUSD will ensure that there is available on each school’s individual website a curriculum map for each subject taught at the school, across grade levels. 

* Specific: TUSD will design an aligned, articulated and well-administered curriculum that supports academically high standards of learning for all children.  Measurable: TUSD will provide curriculum maps.  Achievable: The Supt. will work with principals and teachers to determine a schedule to fulfill this responsibility.  Results-oriented: Parents will find the maps online, at each school website.  Time-bound: The curriculum maps will be up and available for parent inspection by May 2017.

* S: The curriculum will be reviewed and revisited regularly to meet the changing demands of our students and community.  M: School principals will lead their staff in reviewing and revising the curriculum on a timeline set at the school level, posted to the school website.  A: The Supt. will work with principals and teachers to determine a schedule to fulfill this responsibility.  R: Parents and other community members will see updated curriculum maps each year, which reflect the changing needs of the students and the community.  T: The maps will be available on school websites beginning in May 2017.

* S: Students will graduate ready for college or for employment.  M: TUSD will collect (and share on its website) data regarding college entrance and graduation rates and for post high school graduation employment rates, beginning in May 2017.  TUSD will create a system to collect contact information for TUSD graduates, so TUSD can send graduates periodic surveys collecting information about college and work experiences.  A: The Supt. will work with principals and teachers to determine a schedule to fulfill this responsibility.  R: Reported data will show that students graduate at a rate of 80%, enter college or enter the workforce at a rate of at least 90%, report that they are equipped to work or study at a rate of at least 80%, and graduate from college in 5 yrs or less at a rate of 60% (I just chose these numbers at random as an example).  T: Data will be collected beginning in March 2017.  Data will be reported beginning in September 2017.

* S: schools will offer courses in the fine and performing arts.  M: List schools, will offer courses in the fine and performing arts.  A: The Supt. will work with principals and teachers to determine a schedule to fulfill this responsibility.  R: parents will find these courses listed and students will be able to enroll in the courses on school websites.  T: completed on date . . . .

* S: schools will offer culturally relevant classes that reflect TUSD’s diverse student population. M: TUSD will offer list courses, at list schools.  A: The Supt. will work with principals and teachers to determine a schedule to fulfill this responsibility.  R: Students will report that they are taking diverse courses with diverse students, as reported by teachers, and parents will find these courses listed and students will be able to enroll in the courses. T: completed on . . .

-->The Superintendent should present the Board with a timeline, perhaps in February 2017, detailing the curriculum map completion goals and dates for each school.

The Difference Between Buying E-Curricula (Bad) and Providing Each Student With a Computer (Good)

To provide each student in TUSD with a computer so that it becomes a one-to-one district like Sunnyside does not require purchasing an e-curriculum.  In fact, I am adamantly opposed to large scale purchases of e-curricula, particularly from companies like Pearson.  Teachers should be developing curricula in collaboration with other teachers on sight, based on individual student needs and our community's goals for our schools; multinational corporations do not have the expertise necessary to develop curricula that raise student achievement levels in TUSD.  Well educated teachers know that corporations take part in corporate processes—not educational ones—to form curricula.  Thus, teacher reliance on textbooks to plan curricula is and has always been misplaced.  

Educated teachers know that a textbook, whether online or in-hand, is not a curriculum—it is a political document that reflects publishers’ connections to lobbyists, not the most up-to-date applications of what we know about how people learn. 

Just because multinational behemoths (like Pearson, Microsoft, and Apple) are trying to take over the world of education and turn it into a for-profit venture—quantity at the expense of educational quality—does not mean that we should buy what they are selling.  They are happy with McDonald's-like public schools that are low quality, potentially poisonous, but cheap and easy to sell. 

I am a fiscal conservative, I find business and tax law fascinating, and I enjoy studying strategic for-profit ventures.  I am also aware of the fundamental importance of a high quality education.  Before you join the Pearson-public-schools-can-be-like-McDonald’s brigade, think about what you want from our schools and for our children. 

I believe that education is a fundamental human right for a very good reason—even if corporate giants like Pearson insist on framing that right in terms of their company’s bottom line.  Students do not need e-curricula.  But they would benefit from the enhanced communication with teachers and access to the teacher-created materials that a computer would provide. 

In sum, TUSD should be a one-to-one district—so it should purchase a computer for each student (with grant money, for example).  TUSD should not buy an e-curriculum.  TUSD has a curriculum; if there are problems with it, the District should provide teachers the time and guidance necessary to improve that curriculum.