How many years have you lived in Maine?: 30

What experiences,  motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective School Committee representative?:
I believe that my passion for education, love of teaching and belief in the notion that we all can make a difference is the motivation for wanting to serve as a member on the Portland School Committee.
My own experience in raising two children who have attended Portland Public Schools with my youngest graduating this past June from PHS, gives me the additional perspective of a parent. This is an important consideration for participating fully in the process as I have sat on both sides of the education table, as the educator and as the parent with both roles bringing a somewhat unique set of circumstances to any discussion.
Currently, my position affords me the opportunity to work with teachers from around the state in a leadership capacity.  My role as a professional developer and consultant to my peers and colleagues has allowed me to develop skills that I believe will be helpful in working with community members, school personnel, city councilors and school committee members to realize the goals and aspirations of the committee.


If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect young people in Portland?:
My top three priorities affecting young people in Portland would be to support opportunity for all learners at all levels of education to reach their potential; provide necessary resources to ensure that all students/staff have a safe teaching/learning environment that is conducive to a diverse population and optimizes learning; and to use district/school data to look for trends in student thinking to ensure the highest quality of instruction is maintained throughout the district.  All three of these priorities would help to prepare students for a successful productive future after graduation.

Please share one positive change you have seen in our schools and in the School Committee over the last year?:
I believe the school committee has engaged in discussions around class rank and tracking which are potentially hot buttons for some, to try and figure out what is in the best interest of Portland students.  I think that is a positive not to shy away from potentially hot topics, but to be thoughtful and thorough in discussing and researching a practice in order to make an informed decision.

Please share one frustrating change you have seen in our schools and in School Committee over the last year?:
The most obvious frustration is the current over expenditure of $2.5 million.  This has cast a shining, not so favorable light on the largest school system in Maine and raises concerns for accountability.  It is the school committees responsibility to uncover what went wrong to avoid it happening again in any dollar amount.

What competing responsibilities do you have: professionally and personally?:
I am not sure what is meant by competing responsibilities in this question.  If it is referring to time, I feel that with my youngest having graduated this past June, I have more time available to give to the school committee work.  My current position also allows me flexibility in how I allocate my time.
flexibility in how I use my time

How would you make Portland schools more effective and cost efficient?:
One of the issues impacting the efficiency and ultimately the effectiveness of schools is teacher professional development.  Since teachers are the closest to the students, it makes sense that they would have opportunity to collaborate and hone their craft knowledge to be responsive to the ever-changing landscape of teaching and learning.  There are so many variables today that are effecting teaching time, that what is often left out is the time to support teachers/staff in their continued growth.

Where do you see Gov. Baldacci's consolidation plan or school closings fitting into your measures to increase cost effectiveness?:
Collaborating with local school districts makes sense in terms of sharing costs for supporting teachers professional development needs.  It would allow for differentiation of information so that all teachers/staff are able to access what is a true benefit to their own current understanding of teaching and learning.  It makes sense to me that being able to maximize regional resources would benefit education as a whole in the state.

What is the role of School Committee in determing the school budget?  What ways would you improve the process of school budgetting?:
I believe the school committee should absolutely be part of the budget process.  The goals of the committee state that the resources be available to meet the goals so without say in the budget, that would be difficult to do.  The school budget process needs to be looked at from top to bottom and procedures and policies need to be put in place that reflect accountability to the budget.  Being transparent to the community about budget decisions should be a standard for the process.

With the current reality of Portland's school budget, cuts seem likely.  What would you cut and why?:
In order to talk about cuts, I would need to know what is currently in the budget and what % of the budget is allocated to those expenses.  I think questioning line items is a good practice since few things stay stagnant within the education business.  Cuts in the budget should be done thoughtfully with an understanding of the obvious and sometimes less obvious ramifications to the big and little picture.

What priority in funding would you give Portland's new Expeditionary Learning High School?:
I would need to have more information to respond to this question.

How do we increase the number of graduates that go on to pursue post-secondary education?  What benchmarks would inform Portland schools towards reaching these goals?:
We increase the number of graduates that pursue post-secondary education by creating a culture in Portland schools that begins in elementary school that education is a life-long endeavor and continuing to do so provides many more opportunities in life.

Data shows enrollment is declining in Portland schools.  Why do you think this is?  What, if anything, should be done about it?:
I believe that the tax structure and increase in taxes has caused many to move to neighboring communities.  There should be conversations begun to look at the trend and make decisions about the reasons for the changes; i.e. taxes is that a legitimate reason or is it something else.

Do students for whom English is a second language have access to a quality education?:
I believe that the Portland school system has made many successful attempts to support ESL students in the schools.  I believe this is an issue that will always be prevalent given the influx of the diverse languages that come into the schools and therefore will always need to be assessed.

Do you think student transportation needs any changes?  Why or why not?:
I don't have enough information currently to weigh in on this issue.  I would need to be better prepared to respond to the current policies and procedures.

Do you have children and where did/do they attend school?  If they were schooled privately, what was the single biggest factor in removing them from public education?:
I have two children.  My son is a June graduate of PHS and is attending SMCC in Sept.   My daughter will be a  senior at Loyola College in Maryland and is a 2004 graduate of PHS.