Lynne Lenhardt
Delmar
Occupation: Substitute teacher and math tutor
Question: Why are you running for a seat on the Bethlehem School Board?
Answer: I am running because I strongly believe in continuous improvement and that we can always do better. There are students who still “fall through the cracks.” We need to ensure that ALL of our students are successful.
Q How will your experience serve you on the school board?
A My 27 years on the Board provide a historical perspective and a frame of reference as we make future decisions. There is a lot of change occurring in education and there is much to learn from the past. Secondly, my experience on the Board of Directors and now President of the New York State School Boards Association brings a regional, federal and statewide perspective to the Board. My involvement in advocacy at the state and federal levels has given BC a louder voice in budget and other education issues. I believe my statewide position provides a valuable resource for the Board’s decision making.
Q What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the district?
A Balancing the needs of the district with the available resources is always a major issue. I feel that a board member translates the will of the community to the education of the child. This becomes difficult when the state balances its budget on the backs of school districts as it did with the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA). The state has withheld education aid from schools in order to reduce its deficit. While the GEA was reduced this year, allowing us to restore some cuts, it needs to be totally removed.
The second challenge comes from a combination of the common core learning standards, testing and the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). Separately, they are all important to the educational process (historically, we’ve always had academic standards, testing and teacher and principal evaluations). What is different is that the common core learning standards (which are good standards and allow individual school districts and individual teachers to develop their own curriculum) were “rolled out” too quickly by the State Education Department (SED) and didn’t allow for a transition period and sufficient time for staff development. The testing of students on these standards has raised concerns because the standards are sequential beginning in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Students are being tested having had limited experience with the standards. There are also questions regarding the validity of the tests. Lastly, the test results are being used to evaluate teachers and principals. Their purpose is to assess student needs and to drive instruction only.
Q What are your ideas for addressing these challenges?
A To address the funding challenge, we need to continue to advocate with the governor and or state representatives to eliminate the GEA and increase foundation aid. This would allow us to continually improve our educational programs without overburdening our taxpayers.
The second challenge is more difficult because there are several facets to it. We need to ensure that the staff is fully trained to teach the common core learning standards and that parents understand what the standards are and how they are being implemented in the classroom. We need to pressure SED to ensure that the tests are aligned with the standards and that they are age-appropriate, and that they serve the purpose of assessing student needs. The APPR should be structured to accurately reflect student growth and success in the classroom.