Candidate for
Board Member; Pasadena Unified School District; Seat 3

Scott's Vision for the PUSD

PUSD - The District: I have a unique vision for the district. I want it to be a collaborative enterprise from top to bottom---administrators, teachers, parents and students truly collaborating and cooperating for the benefit of the students we serve. This means we district employees must be open to ideas from wherever they come, and form true partnerships with parents, students and advocates. We have islands of this happening across the district.

In addition, this means that we must create a sense of teamwork vertically and horizontally in the district. We don't have this yet. There is still a disconnect between the Ed Center and the folks at the school sites. This is a problem because then information does not flow the way it should in the district, and accountability and efficiency become problematic as well. We have a great way to go in this area of changing the culture of the district from an "us vs. them" mentality to a buy-in of all to our common purpose. We will have to break down the lack of association between groups of staff that keeps biases intact and enables us to project those biases onto others' work. The more that we can breakdown this lack of interaction, the less people will be able to stereotype "them."

I believe that I offer the unique perspective of a former district teacher who can empathize with folks at the sites while also appreciating the service of those at the Ed Center. My work as a board member, a current high school teacher, a college professor, an instructor of teacher and administrator credential candidates, a coordinator of professional development for science teachers and an evaluator of educational reform initiatives allows me to see the perspectives of the different groups involved in the educational enterprise. I enjoy applying my points of view to the effort of bringing the district together as one team.

In the curriculum area, I believe we need much more flexibility in the secondary program to better give the youngsters the personalization they lose when they leave the elementary program. We have to re-design our high schools to make them more like the 21st century that we all live in. This means more relevant career technical education, smaller learning communities and more one-on-one attention. It means flexible scheduling and independent study for those who don't thrive in the large classroom environment. We also live in an information age and our schools need to catch up to that reality. There are now many ways that a student can acquire the information they need to learn, many ways they can learn and assimilate it and many ways they can demonstrate their learning. We need to adapt to these information age developments

COUNSELING - We need to relieve the counselors of the clerical duties they currently have and allow them to do real counseling. I have evaluated a school where they had guidance technicians who did the routine scheduling tasks, which freed the counselors up to do in-depth follow-up and real counseling. I have supported such a model in remarks to my board colleagues and staff. I also think each secondary school should have a dedicated college and career counselor who works with general academic counselors.

TECHNOLOGY- We need to have teachers incorporating the latest educational technology fully into the classroom with fast web access for lessons and presentations. We need the latest probeware and software to be used with laptops in our science labs. The district is investing in improving the IT systems of the district, including upgrading the backbone of the system. I fully support such investments. INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS: This is a promising program that includes a more well-rounded education and enrichment and rigor beyond the regular classes. We need to fund more coordination and support for it, and also link the IB at Willard to the IB program at Blair. It really gives students who take it a leg up for college success.

CHARTER SCHOOLS: I support charter schools that offer services, programs or curricula that most schools do not provide. Some examples of these are those that focus on dropout recovery, those serving expelled students and teenage mothers, those offering flexible schedules such as independent study for those youth that have to work and those offering online learning. In general, charters are supposed to be places where things can be done differently, where things can be tried out and refined, that districts can then benefit from if they choose to implement them.