Candidate: Chris Myers
Address: 1952 Talbot St, Toledo, OH 43613
Age (on Oct. 21): 32
Web site (if any): http://myersforschoolboard.com
Party Affiliation: Republican
Education (school and degree):
1. Huron High School, Huron Ohio
2. Bachelor of Education in Secondary Social Studies - University of Toledo 1998 - Cum Laude
3. Master’s of Education in Education Technology - University of Toledo 2000
Occupation:
Webmaster for the University of Michigan School of Education
Why are you qualified to be on the Toledo Board of Education?
The role of a board member is to establish policies to govern and give guidance by which the district will function. My educational background as well as my access to education resources enable me to understand the issues, set good policy and effectively evaluate employees of the board. Board members are also the community representatives and I have worked to facilitate input and inform citizens of what goes over the last year. The Web sites http://ideasfortps.com, http://tpssearch.com, as well as reaching out to the community through the reporting of my meetings, demonstrate my commitment to being a good community liaison. My background, my understanding of the issues and what I have already accomplished without being on the board, set me apart from the other candidates and make me more than qualified to work for you on the board.
2. There have been calls for change and reform at Toledo Public Schools. What three things need to be changed most in your opinion?
1. Academics must be strengthened. We can’t have strong schools without strong, engaging academics. Stronger academics prepares our students, makes them less likely to act up, provides many study tracks, and I have proposed ways to improve our academics.
2. Fiscal responsibility. The board must understand the money they spend is not their money, it is our money and they are entrusted to use it wisely. I applaud the district for the start of fiscal responsibility by implementing zero based budgeting and finding almost 20 million dollars. Now we need a board to step it to the next level and I have proposed a new budgeting plan to do just that.
3. Openness. Not only is the district dragging their feet, but also they are taking steps backward. You now have less ways to communicate to the board and they turn down citizens like me who offer to stream the meeting live for free, as well as trying their best to make sure we have the back row seats inside the meeting room. I have clearly demonstrated through my work the past year that you will be important and that I work for you, not the other way around. With your vote, I will push for some unprecedented openness once on the board.
3. What would you do to work with and improve relations among board members? And between the school district and the community?
A good working relationship is one where equals can disagree while still being professional. You can still see poor relations among board members at the meetings so not everyone buys into the professionalism yet. While I expect to disagree with all board members at one time or another, I will be professional at all times.
I have watched the meetings for over two years. Instead of providing more ways to solicit our input, they have not improved, but actually regressed. Now you cannot even e-mail the board, and now if you don’t have business before the board, you need to wait until after the board members, administration and union officials talk before you can speak late in the evening. How wrong is that? I would change that, put the citizens first, provide multiple avenues of communication with the board including Web sites, e-mail, instant message, and also recording meeting so that you we can access the board and district decision makers on our time-not their time.
4. What is your position on charter schools and the Ed Choice voucher program that uses public money to fund private school tuition?
Parents exercise their legal schooling choices for two reasons: 1. They want a specialty education such as the School for the Arts or for children with autism, which are very successful. 2. Parents are so frustrated with poor academics or lousy customer service that they enroll their children somewhere else. It is easy to say parents should not be choosing to use vouchers and attend private schools/charter schools and hard to implement the reforms necessary to compete which is why we keep hearing board members and district leaders attack the only options parents have when they are not satisfied. I plan on working hard to address fundamental problems because I am not afraid of hard work and competition. If you look at my focus on academics, teacher improvement and customer service, you will see I will work to address the problems that cause parents to choose to send their children elsewhere. Until the district improves its academics and customer service, why would anyone want to limit choice? Fix the problems and compete and you will have nothing to worry about.
5. How would you address the memorandum of understanding that promises to pay teachers and paraprofessionals a retroactive 1.48 percent pay raise for time worked since December, 2002, when a new operating tax is approved? And do you think salary schedules for teachers should be increased?
The district and our community cannot continue to accumulate debt that cannot be paid, because voters will not support a levy that will only pay outstanding debt. This agreement also hurts the union members because the district cannot pay any raises to employees without “new” money. The unions and the district must sit down and resolve the issue for the sake of their union members and to maintain the trust of the community.
We need to shift salaries to a merit based system so that we can reward the teachers that work hard and do a good job. I presented this proposal two months ago because it is where we need to be and would have tremendous benefits on the district. It is unfair to the good teachers that bad teachers are rewarded at the same rate. While cost of living increases could be in the interim solution, we must move toward this goal.
6. What should be done to improve the standardized test scores and academic performance of students in those schools that have failed year after year to meet the minimum standards established by the state? And by extension, what should be done to improve the district’s academic rating, which is now academic watch?
In July, I noted the district was failing to follow the No Child Left Behind act by not producing or implementing mandated restructuring plans for Fulton and Pickett. Without noting this, the district would not be in the process of developing the plans for these schools and taking reform seriously. We need more board members familiar with education issues and laws so the district will not be behind eight ball in following the criteria they agreed to follow. We as a community cannot allow schools to continually fail. We pay a lot of money with the expectation they are successful.
I put academics as my first priority for a reason. We must ensure our kids are learning and not being taught to the test. We must reward staff willing to work hard, use innovative methods of teaching and supporting students. I have presented plans to do just this.
Addressing the low performing schools and improving the academics will naturally improve the district ranking. The district must focus on solutions that address the heart of the problem, not be seduced by attractive short-term solutions that only look good. We can no longer “market” our way out of problems. Hard work and concrete reforms will get the district where it must be and I plan on doing just that, which is why I want your vote on November 6.
