You asked, they answered: Tom Lynch, School Board candidate

Tom Lynch was the only one of the initial non-responders to actually turn in the answers and he did it in record time, here it is!

1. Turnover of principals at Wood, Lincoln, Encinal and other schools have been high, how important do you think stable leadership is for schools?

You can add Bay Farm School to the above change in leadership list.

Stable leadership is important. Having the right person for the right job is more important. The hiring and retention of site administration is under the domain of the Superintendent. In both the Lincoln and Bay Farm cases, the Principals were both hired by our current Superintendent and left while working for her. In both these cases, I believe the individuals moved on for opportunities that better suited their styles, one Principal moving on to become a principal in Lake County, the other moving on to become an elementary school principal in Dublin, Ca.

And in the case of Bay Farm, the new Principal is a much better fit for the school. Teacher’s moral has improved and the interaction with Parents is much higher.

You asked, they didn’t answer

That’s all folks, yes it took forever to get through all the questionnaires, but I thought that each person who actually filled out the questionnaire deserved their day in the spotlight since these questionnaires tend to get all shoved on a page even though the candidates put so much time into completing them.   However, there were a few out there that did not complete the questionnaire.

Who are these slackers?

Read on…

Almost final School Board questionnaire

Big news on the School Board election front, Alameda Education Associates (AEA) aka the Teacher’s Union, has made their endorsements for School Board already.  Alameda Patch has the details on this one:

A panel of AEA members interviewed all nine school board candidates recently, and all candidates participated by answering written as well as oral questions, according to the AEA. The teachers’ union chose three people to endorse for the following reasons, the release said:

“Trish Spencer, incumbent, is a parent, attorney and proven advocate for students and education in Alameda. Trish always puts the interests of the students first.

“Barbara Kahn, parent and grandmother, has been active in Alameda schools for over 50 years, and believes a voice must be raised in support of our children. Barbara wants the focus to be on what is truly important in a school district — students, teaching and learning.

“Jon Murphy teaches nursing at Merritt College, serves as co-chair of the California Community College Budget Committee, and just completed his doctorate in educational leadership. Jon is excited about students achieving their highest potential in a district where parents, teachers and staff can work collaboratively.”

I’ve updated the Election 2012 roundup to reflect these new endorsements.

And the news about Beverly Johnson dropping out is official, from Peter Hegarty of the Alameda Journal.  And she is now endorsing Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft.

Now on to the questions!

I cleaned them up a bit, feel free to add more suggestions, I’ll send these off on the first of September: