Candidates 100324 School Bd

1.	*Do you like children?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes that is why I teach
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes definitely, well sometimes maybe not so much
	•	Jeannie Mackie

2.	*In your opinion, what will be the impact on Anchorage Schools of the influence the Texas School Board has on the nation’s text books?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Anchorage picks its own books so they have no influence
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Texas buys a large quantity of text books but that shouldn't drive our choices in text book selections. That's the beauty of the free market there are always good alternatives.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

3.	*Do you support other educational options like the King Career Center?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes vocational ed is the future
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes, and we need to expand vocational education because that's such an important part of our local economy
	•	Jeannie Mackie

4.	*How will you prevent or react to biased / religious education in public schools?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Covered by policy already so just enforce current policy
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	I'm a strong supporter of the separation of church and state. We must always be tolerant of the many religion that make up the rich culture of the ASD
	•	Jeannie Mackie

5.	*How can we improve the relations between the School board and teachers when none of the current School Board members are educators?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Elect me. I am the only candidate who is currently a teacher
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	With the exception of Tommy O'Malley, my 20+ years experience as a military and civilian flight instructor make me the most experienced educator of all the candidates. I will not hold that against my opponent, that something she can't help. As a current union member myself I understand the friction that can develop between staff and management. The best thing we can do to improve relations for teachers is make class sizes smaller and give them more of a chance for successful student outcomes. As a 20 year public servant, I know that is the biggest thing that the really good public servants wants from management, is the support that enables them to be successful.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

6.	*What topic would like to talk more than 20 seconds about the most?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Wasteful spending in the ASD
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Baseball or Michelle Rhee- Chancellor of the Washington DC public schools. It's about a tie.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

7.	*What percent of Girdwood’s taxes goes to the School District?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	No idea the municipal taxes are allocated through the assembly
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	About 50% of our property taxes go to the ASD which pays for 31% of the school budget. That up 88% since the 2000/2001 fiscal year
	•	Jeannie Mackie

8.	*What is the best way to deal with under-performing teachers?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	There is no definition of underperforming teachers just underperforming students.So without a definition then you have no way to act.
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Let the teacher have an opportunity to police their own through professional standards from the union. If additional training and professional development will help we need to try that. If teachers are incompetent they need to find another occupation. There's a process for that. Keeping bad teachers around because it's "too hard" to get rid of them sets a bad precedent.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

9.	*What makes you think reducing class size will improve anything?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Experience.
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Common sense and tons of empirical data. There is an optimum range for class sizes, meaning at some point very small class sizes are harmful because they lack the group synergies that is available in an optimum learning environment.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*10.*	*What can be done to have immersion programs in all schools?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Not possible as the pool of talent is too low
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	The immersion program are offered in the school district are great programs. My wife is fluent in 5 languages so I can see the great benefit that learning another language can provide. Though I'd like to see more immersion programs in the district, unfortunately they are very resource intensive operations so immersion programs in every school would not be practical.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*11.*	*Are you a supporter of testing?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes in fact I support a High School Entrance exam
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*12.*	*Do you favor continuation of the Activities Bus for Turnagain Arm students?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes, if the utilization is high enough. If only a few student are utilizing this resource we may have to look at contracting out some sort of shuttle van service to make it more viable.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*13.*	*Do you support President Obama’s revisions to “No Child Left Behind?”*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	No
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Generally, Yes. NCLB was in need of some revision. I'm also a supporter of President Obama's teacher merit pay initiative.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*14.*	*Many students in high school abuse drugs and alcohol. What will you do to address this?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Random drug testing of students doing activities. The only change needs to be automatic expulsion from ASD on 3^rd offense
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Early education and aggressive intervention
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*15.*	*The average teacher pays $400 a month for health insurance. The average administrator pays $0.00. Why is that and how would you make it more fair?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Better negotiator for principals, Reallign contracts for teachers and administrators
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	It's not a matter of fairness. That is a negotiated part of the AEA collective bargaining agreement. If the teachers want completely free health care they should make that one of their negotiating priorities in the next contract.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*16.*	*Should teachers get more money for the job they do?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes $25,000 a year more
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Some teachers should. Some should get much more. The ones that do the tough duty like Special Ed, or are in high demand like math and science. Also teachers who are exceptionally productive in improving student outcomes should make more
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*17.*	*Do high schools start too early?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	No
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	No. Early starts are a good habit pattern for the world of real life.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*18.*	*What can be done about new schools being built that are 123% of capacity before they are done? (Sand Lake elementary)*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Shifting at the school
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Portable buildings must be used until either bonds are passes for expansion or neighborhood school boundaries are changed.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*19.*	*Will you support bond for school maintenance and why?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Major maintenance/ New construction should be the only bonding the rest should be in the budget.
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	NO. Bonding for maintenance must be avoided. Maintenance must be budgeted. If the maintenance budget is consistently too low it must be increased. When you bond for maintenance you change the tax cap and allow runaway spending.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*20.*	*Please list five things you intend to change / introduce to the schools.*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	More vocational classes / Reduce overhead
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	1. Smaller Class Sizes 2. More physical activity for students to combat obesity and promote better learning. 3. Smaller Class Sizes 4. More vocational education 5. Did I mention smaller class sizes? 6. see http://GriffinForAnchorage.com for more details.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*21.*	Currently the bus going to South High School will not take other students going on to other schools, i.e., Highland Tech and King Career. What would you do to fully utilize this service?
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Sole source contracts is the problem not the bussing
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	I need to look into that. If there's a way that's efficient to do all of those things we should be doing it.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*22.*	*What is your feeling on sex education? Should we be teaching abstinence only?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Sex ed has been proven to be completely ineffective so has abstinence. I would be in favor of eliminating sex ed
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Teaching abstinence only doesn't work. Sex ed. should be age appropriate and closely coordinated and approve with parents wishes.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*23.*	*Are you comfortable with the current role the teacher’s union plays in our educational system?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Yes unions are there to serve a purpose, I do not
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Not completely. Nor am I completely comfortable with the current role of the administration. Any time the agendas of adults interferes with the agendas of what's best for the kids I have a problem.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*24.*	*Would you support teacher competence testing?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	We already have highly qualified testing
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*25.*	*Do you support a K through 12 school in Girdwood?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Not unless the community builds one
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Yes, If the community supports it and it's economically and academically viable.
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*26.*	*What would you do to improve school lunches?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Cafeterias should be making their own food on site. Not distributing from a central location. The food choices need to be more fresh fruits and salads and less pizzas and tacos
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Pack one from home
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*27.*	*Do you support a high school program in Girdwood?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	It is a matter of time until the population of Girdwood could support a high school. There is not an easy fix. You cannot get the education you can at Dimond in a school of less than 100 students
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	See question 26
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*28.*	*How would you work to reduce dropout rates and increase graduation rates?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	High School entrance exam. Delinquent school for delinquents
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Smaller Class Sizes. “Class sizes are too large. Through the generous support of taxpayers at all levels, the Anchorage School District is staffed and funded to be one of the best school districts in the country. Since 2000/2001, we have added over 1,000 new staff positions without an increase in student population and more than doubled our spending on a per-student basis. Despite this increase, our student outcomes are well below expectations and our class sizes are too large. Numerous studies show we can reduce class sizes and improve student outcomes without spending more money by redeploying teachers from bureaucratic positions back into the classrooms. To achieve this, our school board needs effective leadership that will ask the tough questions and stand up for students, parents, teachers and taxpayers.” http://GriffinForAnchorage.com
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*29.*	*How would you improve student academic performance?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Set standards they must master beginning with kindergarten and first grade. No social promotion. Remedial classes for those not making the transition between elementary and secondary
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	SMALLER CLASS SIZES http://GriffinForAnchorage.com
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*30.*	*What are your thoughts on the teaching of evolutionary theory vs. intelligent design in our public schools?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	Keep the intelligent design argument in the religious schools it is a defective argument
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Students should be made aware of every side of each issue so that they can make choices that fit their particular circumstance
	•	Jeannie Mackie

*31.*	*What strategies should be employed to get more or all children performing at acceptable levels per national standards?*
	SEAT A
	•	James Labelle
	•	David Nees	ASD kids do perform at a national standard, what we want is more children meeting the minimum to be productive citizens in Anchorage. So we as a community have to tell the schools what we want from the students when they graduate
	•	Tommy O’Malley
	•	Don Smith
	SEAT B
	•	Bob Griffin	Smaller class sizes http://GriffinForAnchorage.com
	•	Jeannie Mackie