D-PAIR Candidate Questionnaire

By Patricia M. "Pat" Kohnen

Twenty one Questions and Answers

1) What is your opinion regarding NCLB (the "No Child Left Behind" Act) and its impact on student's academic achievement? NCLB is a complex piece of federal legislation that has good intentions, but is under funded at the federal level and introduces additional red tape and bureaucracy. The legislation contains a series of Titles that address various aspects of education. Title I + At-risk Students; Title II + Highly Qualified Teachers & Class Size Reduction; Title III + Limited English Proficient Learners; Title IV + Safe and Drug Free Schools; and Title V + Innovative Programs. The state of California and the federal Department of Education have come to an agreement about how our schools' progress will be measured which is called the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The NCLB legislation also requires each school district to develop and adopt its own Local Educational Agency Plan (LEAP) which covers five goals. #1 Reading and Math Achievement of All Students; #2 Limited English Proficient Students; #3 Highly Qualified Teachers; #4 Safe Schools; and #5 High School Graduation. Students academic achievement is specifically addressed as part of Goal #1 of LEAP.

2) Describe the tactics that you would use with: (1) the teachers' union; (2) other school board members; and (3) the superintendents to ensure that the first Priority in decisions is driven by what is best for the children? How is this different/the same as tactics used by current/former school board members? I feel that overall decisions in the Dublin School District are driven by what is best for children. There is a statement on the wall in the Board Room; "We are committed to the success of all our students." This is also printed at the bottom of each board agenda. As a board member I would advocate for students. My campaign slogan is Kohnen for Kids. My goal as a board member is to be a trustee member of a governance team, not an individual with narrow interests or agendas serving on a board. Trustees know the district must serve all children, not just some or a few. Every child must have access to a high-quality education program and no child or group is favored.

3) Do you feel parent input and participation for student academics is adequate in the district? What changes might you suggest if any to solicit and encourage more input? For example, a district-wide PFC, PTA or other mechanism for district-wide communication (similar to how Pleasanton has a district-wide PTA)? I feel that the Dublin School District and School Board value parent input. Parents can make sure that they communicate with their child's teacher(s) and participate in school activities. Students are more likely to succeed if they have strong adult support, encouragement, and involvement in school affairs. I would welcome collaboration among parent groups whatever they are; PTA, PFC, or PFO. Organizing at a district level could be a very positive thing.

4) What role do you believe parents should play with respect to collective bargaining issues that come before the district? My understanding is that Collective Bargaining does not really allow for parents to have a direct role in the negotiation process. Parents can communicate ideas to school board members and district administrators. The district has a negotiating team and the school board has input, but does not directly negotiate with the bargaining groups. The negotiation process considers interests of the district and bargaining units with a goal of a win win solution for all participants.

5) How would you describe the impact of instructional minutes in the classroom to student academic achievement? Are you satisfied with the district's current policy? I believe that there is a positive correlation between instructional minutes and student academic achievement. The goal is to maximize instructional minutes within the constraints of a very tight budget and a less than ideal funding model from both State and Federal sources.

6) In priority order, what are the top three program obstacles to student academic achievement in DUSD and how would you address them? One obstacle is State funding. More funding could provide richer programs including more art, music and physical education, class size reduction at more grade levels, more counselors, expanded libraries, classroom sets of textbooks, and more AP sections at the high school, to name several things. The District needs to cooperate with organizations such as the California School Board Association (CSBA) to lobby in Sacramento for increased funding. I would also get to know our State Assembly person and state senator. I know the current 18th district Assembly woman, Ellen Corbett. She has endorsed me as a candidate for the Dublin School Board. She has termed out and most likely Johan Klehs will be elected in her place. He has also endorsed me as a candidate for the Dublin School Board. A second obstacle is ensuring that there are excellent teachers to teach our students. Dublin has excellent teachers and was able to hire 40 very well qualified new teachers this year. I would support the teacher development opportunities happening in the district and encourage more. The California Center for Literacy Development (CCLD) is in its third year of training teachers and previous to that Dublin teachers and administrators attended workshops in Denver related to literacy development.. Dublin is training teacher leaders in strategies for students to think about what they are doing. A Secondary component is being developed and the strategies are being expanded beyond reading to other areas of learning. The District also has the Tri-Valley Teacher Induction Project (TV/TIP) which is a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program. I would support the District's plan to have the 2005 CA Association for Employment in Education (CAFÉ) Northern CA Recruitment Fair at Dublin High School next April. A third obstacle is parent and student responsibility. There are many responsible parents and students in the district, but improvement is always possible. Academic achievement is influenced by adult participation in Parent Information Nights, Parent Conferences, and homework support (provide time and appropriate place). I would encourage parent education through information on the district website or workshops. The library at Murray Elementary school has recently acquired parent resources that can be checked out by parents. Perhaps other district libraries could provide similar materials.

7) What is your opinion about performing a gap analysis comparing our schools with the top Bay Area schools, and then using that as a short-term roadmap for policy changes to ensure our kids have the same educational opportunities as those in the top schools? The Dublin District is continuously making assessments to ensure that it is doing all it can to ensure the success of all students. I don't feel another new analysis is needed at this time. The Education Services Department is currently doing many things to ensure the success of all students. Education Services includes Curriculum, Alternatives & Support, Instruction, Student Services, Staff Development, Evaluation, Community Outreach, and Program Development. The Board has adopted Four Bold initiatives to ensure excellence in Dublin Schools. Associated with the Four Bold Initiatives are Expected Student Learning Outcomes, and a three year plan toward achieving world class status.

8) Do you believe students should be required to pass a test or be recommended by a teacher to take an AP class, or that it should be open to all students who wish to participate? Why or why not? The Dublin District in the last five years has made significant progress toward offering more AP classes. I think it is reasonable to have some pre-requisites to participate in AP classes, as long as there is a process to handle exceptions. An AP class is not the right choice for all students. Because of the size of Dublin High School most AP classes are only one section. As the High School grows more sections can be added.

9) What is your opinion about the state goal of all 8th graders completing algebra? I support working toward the state goal of all 8th graders completing algebra, although there may need to be special accommodations for certain special needs students. One of the District's Expected Student Learning Outcomes is 80% of all 8th grade students will successfully complete Algebra I and 1 year of foreign language.

10) What is your opinion about waivers for the new Algebra I high school graduation requirement? It is my understanding that waivers will not be granted in the future. I understand that last year a waiver was granted for two students.

11) What is your opinion about adopting the state approved/funded reading curriculum )Which is a hard core phonics base)? I believe that a balanced reading program is the best approach. The District has many teachers trained in medicognitive strategies to improve reading comprehension and literacy levels at the elementary levels with some expansion planned for the middle and high schools. Part of the program is to include seven comprehension strategies, including schema, questioning, synthesis and visual imagery. A large sign on one of the doors at Nielsen states Reading is Thinking. The Houghton Mifflin texts adopted by the District include phonics. One of the District's Expected Student Learning Outcomes is Guarantee all 3rd grade students will be reading at or above grade level.

12) What is your opinion about art, music, and daily PE curriculum? All are important subjects for students to study. Students are getting less instruction in these subjects than in the past because of hard choices that were required because of funding constraints. Organizations like Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE) are trying to support some art and music activities in the schools. Daily PE would be healthy for our students, but cannot be realistically funded at this time. Many students are able to participate in sports activities offered in the community.

13) Describe the qualities of the ideal teacher and how you would ensure we attract and retain the best teachers for our district? In my opinion an ideal teacher loves students , is fully certificated in the subject they are teaching, has excellent class management skills, and communicates well with other teachers and parents. The District can attract and retain the best teachers by providing a safe and exciting work environment, professional development opportunities, plus competitive salary and benefits. The District plans to host the 2005 CA Association for Employment in Education (CAFÉ) Northern CA Recruitment Fair at Dublin High School. Over 50 school districts participate in the fair that in 2004 attracted over 400 teacher candidates. Hosting the fair will provide positive exposure for Dublin Unified. The District is posting jobs on the website and working to put an efficient and accessible applicant tracking system in place. Important professional development activities offered by the Dublin District are the California Center for Literacy Development and the Tri-Valley Induction Project (TV/TIP) for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA).

14) What is your opinion about allowing or disallowing teachers to job share? Do you believe it is as effective as having dedicated teachers? Why or Why not? I think it is a positive thing to allow job sharing for some teachers as long as the teams are carefully selected. It can help some teachers manage their work/life balance or provide an opportunity for a teacher to be a part time administrator. It can be an opportunity for the students in the class to have more than one teacher to relate to. It could potentially mean that students would be taught by fewer substitutes. It is my understanding that there have not been parent complaints about job sharing teachers.

15) What is your opinion about safety at our schools? How would you ensure that children are protected from strangers that come on campus while children are in school? The District does many things to provide safe schools for all students. After the terrible incident at Columbine the Dublin District re-examined and reinforced safety procedures. Some safety items include a School Resource Officer, an Employee ID system, a Visitor Pass system, phones in classrooms with direct access to 911, a special code to alert district staff about an intruder or need for a lock down, and radio communication between school sites. In the future video surveillance is being considered. The school campuses are not gated; so there cannot be a card entry system like some businesses employ.

16) Are you willing to offer an open door policy for parents if selected as a board member? Yes. My telephone number is listed in the phone book and my home email address is pmko@aol.com. I would be willing to talk if you see me around Dublin doing errands. Board members also have a Dublin School District email address. I would always be willing to listen, but as one person on the Board I could not solve individual concerns. I could direct parents to resources that are available to them and suggest agenda items for school board meetings.

17) What is your top community service accomplishment? Serving on the Dublin School Board from 1995 to 1998. I was part of the Board that hired Dr. John Sugiyama to be superintendent, and developed Seven Bold Initiatives which have evolved into the current Four Bold Initiatives for the District.

18) Why do you want to run for the school board? I love learning, education and schools. I'm convinced that education is very important for the well being of a community, and that everyone needs to care and be interested even if they do not currently have children attending school. Because I will retire from a 25 year business career the end of September I have a new gift of time that I want to use to support and improve the Dublin Schools. I feel that I can use skills that I have developed during my business career and previous community volunteer service to help the growing and changing Dublin School District navigate wisely through this time of change.

19) How many school board meetings have you attended in our district? For what reasons did you attend them? I was on the School Board from 1995 to 1998 and before I was on the Board I regularly attended Board meetings for several months to prepare myself to be a candidate. I have received the agendas for the 6 years since I left the Board because I wanted to be aware of what was happening; so that I could be a better board member for Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE). I attended some Board meetings to support DPIE presentations and I occasionally watched parts of Board meetings on Community Television.

20) How many hours per week are you willing to commit if selected as a board member? I would expect to spend about 20 hours per week. My time will be very flexible since I will be retired as of 9/30/2004.

21) How would you improve the school board's performance? (please refer to the following board assessment tool as an example http://www.nsba/org/smoley/quiz.cfm) I would support bringing in a facilitator from the California School Board Association (CSBA) for a teambuilding workshop for the entire board soon after the new board has been seated. I would personally participate in board development activities offered by CSBA and encourage other board members to do the same. CSBA offers an excellent Masters in Governance program for board members. I would support published norms for school board behavior. Two valuable pieces of advice were presented at the 9/13 orientation session for school board candidates. Vote as an individual, but implement as a board. The board decides what happens in the District, not how it happens.

22) Endorsements. As of September 20, 2004 I have the following endorsements for my campaign to become a Dublin School Board member. Janet Lockhart, mayor of Dublin; Claudia McCormick, Dublin City councilwoman; Randy Shumway, president Dublin School board; Tom McCormick and Dan Scannell, directors Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD); Pete Snyder, former mayor of Dublin and current BART board director; Yvonne Cerrato, president of Alameda County School board; Ellen Corbett, 18th district assemblywomen; Johan Klehs, candidate for 18th assembly (Ellen Corbett has termed out); Christine Bennett, parent; Liz Schmitt, long time Dublin resident and former school board member; Mary Beth Acuff, Dublin Heritage and Cultural Arts commissioner; and Tri-Valley NOW PAC.