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State
Education Board Race Marked with Agreement
from Gongwer 10-6-02
For more articles on disabilities and special ed visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
The State Board of Education race is traditionally difficult
to run. There is rarely an issue or situation that separates
the race from what happens at the top of the ticket.
Compounding that this year, at least among the major party
candidates, is a general agreement over the issues to be
addressed and, for the most part, agreement on how to address
those issues.
Republicans Michael Warren Jr. of Franklin, the current
secretary of the board, and Carolyn Curtin of Evart and
Democrats Elizabeth Bauer of Birmingham and Nancy Quarles of
Southfield all said infrastructure costs and school
accountability are topping the lists both of what they and the
public are discussing. And they agree that state standards
should not be cut and Proposal A of 1994 should not be touched
in trying to address additional school needs.
The four are instead trying to differentiate themselves based
on experience and background.
Standards have been a top issue for the board in the past
several months as it tries to meld the federal "No Child Left
Behind" act with the new accreditation system, Education YES.
And the candidates said people around the state are also
concerned with how those programs will work together and
especially how the penalties in the federal legislation might
affect state schools:
"I'm fighting for high standards for schools," Mr. Warren
said. "A lot of folks out there think lowering standards is
the way to go."
"There are no regulations published yet but there huge
penalties," Ms. Bauer said of the federal law. "I think our
state is struggling mightily with that. We're failing against
standards that are way higher than some other states that had
no failing schools."
"I think there's a lot of uncertainty right now on how No
Child Left Behind and Education YES are going to come
together," Ms. Curtin said. "There's a lot of unease out there
not knowing what they have to do. Administrators and teachers
already got a full plate right now."
"The board needs to make sure some of the punitive criteria
that's in (the federal law) that our school districts do not
incur that," Ms. Quarles said. "I think it's unfair to say
that Michigan schools are failing because we not using the
same criteria. We need to make sure the federal standard meets
our measurements. We don't want to see our standards go down."
Ms. Bauer agreed that Michigan's standards are correct, but
she said Michigan schools also should not suffer the financial
consequences-being required to set aside certain federal funds
for assistance programs and transportation to other schools in
a district-for meeting standards that schools in other states
are not required to meet.
Mr. Warren argued the state should further increase academic
standards, particularly adding requirements for additional
social studies programs. "There are large deficits of
understanding of our basic American principles," he said. "We
are fools to believe we're going to be a successful republic
if our students don't have understanding of American
principles."
Part of improving the quality of schools, the four said, is
improving the buildings they use. All agreed that many
districts have infrastructure problems and that the state will
ultimately have to be involved in the solution.
The Legislature ultimately has to solve the problem because it
ultimately deals with state funds, Ms. Curtin said, but she
said the Legislature should be looking to the board for
assistance in solving the problem. "I think they certainly
could be drawing upon their expertise," she said.
Said Ms. Bauer: "(Proposal A) really gave the state
responsibility for funding education. So the State Board of
Education needs to work with Legislature to come up with a
viable way to fund infrastructure. And I'm not saying the
state has to pay it."
The board also needs to continue its work with early childhood
programs, all of the candidates said.
"The (age) 0-10 population is going to continue to grow very
quickly," Ms. Quarles said. "We have to make sure we give kids
the strongest and the best education in the early years."
Ms. Bauer said the special education system should be a model
for the rest of the education system in that it uses
individualized educational programs for each student. But she
said that could only be possible in general education with
sufficient funds to reduce class sizes.
One thing that is separating the Democrats from the
Republicans is discussion of the structure of state government
regarding education. Ms. Quarles and Ms. Bauer both argued
that educational programs that Governor John Engler moved into
various departments should be returned to the Department of
Education.
"I think the board has worked very well under the
circumstances and the setting they're in: an administration
that's usurping a great deal of their authority," Ms. Quarles
said. "We need to bring all the education programs back into
the Department of Education so the superintendent can oversee
them. ... It is certainly easier and to the benefit of the
programs to be together."
Ms. Quarles argued the split of the programs has particularly
hurt the King Chavez Parks program, designed to assist
minority students seeking education degrees. "Without the
people who have the concern for it, the program's not being
utilized the way it should," she said, arguing that the
program was moved to the Department of Career Development but
the people overseeing it were left in Education.
And all are trying to overcome their key political handicaps:
no money and little recognition of race much less the
candidates involved.
"I'm finding that many people not aware that there's a state
board of education," Ms. Quarles said. "With the policies that
are being set, we need to be sure the constituents, the
citizens, are aware of the effort."
Said Ms. Curtin: "Most people never ever know who the
candidates are. Some people tell me, 'I just don't vote for
those.'"
And she said she could raise money for advertising and other
mass efforts, but had been advised not to bother. "I could
spend $50,000 to $100,000 in this race," she said. "It might
make me feel better, but in the end I was told wouldn't make a
bit of difference."
She is spending some money in the race, printing and
distributing fliers with her picture and positions around the
state. The tactic, in fact, generated some concern in one of
Ms. Curtin's granddaughters, a preschooler, who, watching her
mother compile mailing packets, asked, "Is grandma missing?"
Mr. Warren, who was appointed to the board, said the area to
cover is daunting from a traditional campaigning perspective.
Of his 1994 Senate race, Mr. Warren said: "You can personally
knock on the doors of enough voters to make a difference.
Here, because it's a statewide campaign, it's not quite as
easy as walking down the street and knocking on doors."
But he said he is still out traveling the state trying to meet
people. He is also trying top reach them through the Internet
with his Web site.
He argued the race would get more attention if it were
separate from the other statewide races. A plan he announced
this week would move the board, as well as the university
boards and local school elections, to a single, odd-year
election.
"Public education is too important to get lost in the middle
of the general election or to be slighted in low-profile,
low-turnout local elections," he said. "When you're competing
for media attention with millions of dollars of campaign ads,
it's very hard to rise above the noise and clatter of the
general election."
Ms. Curtin anticipated a close gubernatorial race would lead
to ticket splitting that would make it even more difficult to
predict the outcome of the education board races.
Mr. Warren said ticket splitting will be important if
Democrats maintain the early lead they have at the top of the
ticket. "If I lose and my running mate loses we're going to
have 7-1 Democratic board," he said. "That's real unhealthy to
have that on either side."
To make up for the lack of funds, and to try to conquer the
lack of visibility, all four have been hitting the road to
talk to education and other groups, and general residents,
around the state, pushing the board and their proposed role on
it.
Mr. Warren said he is working from his incumbency position,
touting the actions the board has already taken on many of the
issues in the campaign, as well as his own role in pushing for
more technology in the classroom. "My good hard work on the
board raised awareness of my efforts, as opposed to my
opponents," he said.
Ms. Curtin, a current member of the Mecosta Osceola
Intermediate School District, said she has experience that no
other member of the board can tout: "I'm the only candidate
who has any local or ISD experience," she said. "That's the
one area that should be represented at the table."
She argued that the board has to take a statewide view of
issues, but it also has to realize how its policies affect
local school districts. "Lots of times a policy gets set and a
program gets set in place, and before it has run long enough
to measure results it's taken away," she said.
Ms. Curtin also argued that experience taught her to look to
her constituents for the solutions to problems the board is
facing. "I don't think a good board member ever has an
agenda," she said.
Ms. Quarles, a House member from Southfield who is barred from
re-election due to term limits, said she would bring the board
a stronger understanding of the budget process and the
legislative process in general. "As a legislator I've
certainly always been there to support education," she said.
"I've been a policy leader."
Ms. Bauer said she was drawing backing from her time as
director of the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service.
Attorneys and school officials she worked with in that
capacity are now supporting her and she said she built name
recognition with parents and others she reached as an
advocate.
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