My Answers to Questions Posed by Albany Community Members

By Patricia "Pat" Low

WHAT DID YOU ACCOMPLISH DURING YOUR PREVIOUS TERM?

Before I can answer this question, I think it is important to clarify the scope of a California public school board member's responsibilities. Many members of the community seem to be under the mistaken impression that we run the schools and that we are allowed to tell principals and teachers what to do (I am aware of this because numerous members of the community tell me what they think principals and teachers should be doing and expect me to direct school staff to follow their suggestions). In fact, board members' responsibilities are strategic. We are supposed to be focused on the big picture issues of the district and to be looking at how to improve and adapt strategically over time. We accomplish this in two primary ways: 1) setting, approving and revising board policies and 2) directing, setting goals for and evaluating the performance of the one district staff member we do supervise: the superintendent. In addition, it is important to understand that a single board member does not wield power. The majority of the board must agree in order for us to take any action that affects the school district.

Keeping the above definitions in mind, I summarize below some of what the board has accomplished during my four year term from November 2008 to November 2012:

• The board and district staff have worked hard to both economize, raise revenue via parcel taxes and support our wonderful community fundraising organizations so that we remain fiscally solvent, with sufficient financial reserves. This is a major accomplishment given the draconian cuts and deferrals of state funding of education during this time.

• During my term as president of the board, the board agreed to clarify and make more transparent to the public our process and actions by creating a governance handbook, which I drafted, that outlines protocols for how we work as a board. This work is also an investment for future transparency and effectiveness of the school board as it is a living document that future boards can review and revise annually.

• The board also created a governance calendar that makes more transparent our annual tasks.

• The board directed the superintendent to initiate and implement a strategic planning process that involved representative stakeholders in the community and district in order to clarify our community's vision of what kind of education we want for our children as well as ways in which the district can improve.

• The board also integrated into the governance calendar a cycle of goal setting and evaluation of the superintendent. The two year cycle that we created enables the superintendent to implement the strategic plan goals with her staff and to report to the board and the public on her progress. In January of 2013, we will have the first reporting, using sources of data that include student and staff surveys, of progress on these goals. Considering the difficult economic times in which this was accomplished, I am proud to have helped establish a process for both progress and improvement in the district and evaluation and accountability for the performance of the superintendent.

• As a part of the strategic plan process the board approved, district staff have: implemented positive climate programs in the elementary and middle school, organized an anti-bullying forum for the community, organized parent education forums on homework, sleep and student stress (including forums in multiple languages to serve our immigrant community), increased our mental health services to our students, begun the work of establishing essential standards in every subject area and grade level, linked the common core standards to these essential standards, begun creating assessments linked to these standards and more....

First, let me make clear that in answering, I am giving my opinion as an individual. My individual opinion does not represent the school board's opinion.

Evaluation of teachers is a hot button topic nationally and can be a divisive topic that creates partisan arguments, which get us nowhere. It's important to be thoughtful, open to change and not defensive. Keep in mind that in Albany, as is common practice, the evaluation of teachers is negotiated with the teachers' union and written into the teachers' contract.

Here are my thoughts on guiding principles for effective evaluation of public school teachers:

1) There is a great deal of research and pilot work going on nationally, some of which has the promise of making teacher evaluation more rigorous and effective. Some of the themes that are emerging are: involving practicing teachers in the design, development and implementation of the evaluation (see Ohio's work: http://www.tqsource.org/publications/practicalGuideEvalSystems.pdf), peer coaching in both teacher induction and teacher evaluation.

2) Achieving tenure in a public school district should be both more transparent and more rigorous.

3) Effective evaluation should not be comprised of one formal observation of a teacher's class during a preestablished, scheduled time as has been the tradition. Teachers and administrators agree that more frequent, informal observations ("pop in" visits) give a truer picture of a teacher's work.

4) Effective, fair evaluation should have as its primary focus the support and improvement of the practices of teachers. But it should also outline a clear process for both consequences and support of teachers that cannot prove competency within the evaluation process.

5) In order to effectively implement #s1, 2 and 3 & 4 above, members of the public everywhere including Albany will need to consider more funding for education and higher pay for teachers.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SPECIAL RESERVE FUNDS, FUND 17--SPECIAL RESERVE AND FUND 20--POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS, IN THE ALBANY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT'S BUDGET AND WHY HAS MONEY BEEN MOVED IN AND OUT OF THESE FUNDS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS?

Staff originally put money into Fund 17 for the purpose of accomplishing the goals and funding the activities set out by the district strategic plan. These activities included professional development training for teachers and stipends for teacher leaders to meet and work on the goals Given current state budget cuts, deferrals that cause significant cash flow concerns for the district and uncertainty about the possibility of trigger cuts in the second half of the school year, staff recommended to the board at the beginning of this year that this money, $ 1,127,000, be transferred into the district's general fund.

Fund 20, which contains $1,208,875, is meant as savings for the district to fund our liability for post-employment benefits that we must pay to our retirees in the future. Under a previous superintendent, the school board at that time directed staff to save this money in Fund 20. The school board has 3 options: 1) Place some or all of the money in an irrevocable trust that can only be used to fund retiree benefits; 2) Leave the money in Fund 20, knowing that we have the option to transfer the funds back to the general fund or into an irrevocable trust; 3) Transfer some or all of the funds into the general fund.