My Written Answers to the Gov't Subcommittee for Chamber of Commerce

With the business community providing a significant portion of school funding, the business community expects accountability from the school district. What are the measures of accountability and how would you propose communicating this to the business community?

My platform is Focus, Accountability, Transparency, and Results. My yard signs carry this message.

Focus - we first need to create a shared vision for what ‘good' looks like; closing the achievement gap is a good objective, but it is not a vision. Why can't the EP school district perform at the same levels as Edina? Minnetonka? Wayzata? We need to raise the bar! Who is out there looking for best practices and bringing them back to the board and administration?

Accountability - According to our web site, we have 1.2 non-teachers for every teacher. The instructional vs. non-instructional spending levels have not changed state-wide in 20 years. That means for every $1 of additional tax money we ‘invest' the same $.40 in non-instructional spending.

We also have a system that does not manage out its underperforming teachers. This is one area that our Educational system can benefit from business. We cannot afford to have entire classrooms of students not excel because they ‘drew the short stick'. We can no longer treat our best teachers the same as our underperforming teachers.

The current board needs to increase accountability of the administration.

Transparency - we need to engage the community in a dialogue over key policy issues. There are too many instances of this administration confusing monologues with dialogues. Why is Eden Lake the only elementary school with a ‘no homework' policy? We need board members who are willing to ask more critical questions. We need a board and administration that is more willing to engage its best and brightest teachers for solutions and better ways to implement goals. We need more transparency on results. We need less ‘spin' in our Accountability Reports.

Results - we need clear and concise goals that are measurable. We need to be focused on the right things (example of what is not a good goal - the board and administration is contemplating measuring the degree to which our kids wear seat belts as an indication of them making safer decisions)

Other than dealing with the projected budget deficit, what is the single most important challenge and/or opportunity the district currently faces?

Preparing our children for the challenges of a 21st century workforce from within a system built for a mass production, mass consumption 19th/20th century industrial system.

I have held VP and SVP titles at Best Buy and Musicland. I have held Senior Strategy, Business Development, General Management, and operations positions. I grew up in the Information Age. I have seen the impact that technology has had on the workforce.

The idea of going to school, earning a degree, working at one employer for 40+ years, and retiring comfortably on a pension or social security is unfortunately a luxury of past generations. Most businesses have already rationalized benefits. Younger workers believe they are paying into a Social Security system that will be there for others but not for them. Manufacturing jobs in many sectors have already been moved overseas and MBA's in India making far less than their US counterparts are eager to take what used to be ‘information age' jobs. In the future, employers are going to find ways to further reduce fixed costs which will likely create a much more ‘fluid' workforce. Make no mistake, the demand for talented workers will be there - it is the way workers will engage the workforce that will change.

Our children will need specific skills to face these challenges. Our elementary and middle schools need to redouble their efforts towards building core ‘thinking' and ‘communication' skills - mathematics, the sciences (natural, formal, social, and applied), and English/vocab/reading. We need to build even stronger foundational skills at these levels so we can effectively accelerate learning at the High School level.

What skills should students learn during their K-12 education that will be the greatest help to businesses when they join the workforce?

Future generations of workers will need stronger communication skills to deal with a more fluid workforce - including verbal arguments and written word. They need to have stronger analytical and problem solving skills. They need to have developed a view that learning does not end at K-12, college, or (for the lucky few) graduate school - but instead view learning as a life-long journey. They would have learned a love and thirst for learning. They will have a solid understanding and appreciation for our nations history and would have learned the values that made/make this country great. They will have a healthy respect for diversity that extends beyond race or gender. They will have learned to the value of humility and self-reflection/honest self-assessment. They will be confident in their skills and knowledge and comfortable that although they may not know the answer that they can figure it out.