My name is John Mann and I am a candidate for Director District 2 for the Lewis Palmer D-38 School Board. I have a proven record of performance in leadership and management positions as a career officer in the USAF, and as a classroom teacher at Lewis Palmer High School.

I am committed to making D-38 one of the best school districts in the nation.

The following is an introduction and overview of my candidacy, followed by answers to a series of questions posed by the Lewis Palmer Education Association to all D-38 School Board candidates.

Record of Performance:

I have two distinct career experiences that will combine to make me a highly effective D38 school board member. First, I gained invaluable experience and skill in leadership and management positions throughout my 24+ years as a USAF officer. While assigned at squadron level, I held every key squadron management position and advanced to flight lead, instructor pilot, and mission commander, eventually leading combat mission in Iraq during Operation DESERT STORM. I concluded my flying career as a squadron commander of a fighter squadron stationed in Germany where I was responsible for over $600 million in fighter aircraft and the 260 personnel assigned to operate and maintain them. As a senior officer, I attended the National War College and served as a senior staff officer and executive officer for the Commander of U.S. Space Command.

The second major experience in my professional career was to be a classroom teacher in both math and physics for the past nine years at Lewis Palmer High School. I have taught all levels of high school academics, from pre-algebra to AP Physics, and coached both girls and boys sports. I have come to appreciate the quite distinctive nature of working in public education. I have learned the value of developing a solid and communicative relationship among three key sets of people; student, his/her parents or guardians, and teachers/administrators. I have also learned that the business of education must be very diverse and flexible if it is to meet the needs of every child in the District. From personal experience, I know that those in public education have a most difficult and very often under appreciated job.

Initiatives during my nine years teaching included creating the "Introduction to Aerospace Engineering course, which was accredited by the University of Colorado, Boulder, College of Engineering. I also created the College Physics class, which was accredited by the University of Colorado, Denver, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I inaugurated both the AP Physics C curriculum at LPHS and the Women Interested in Science and Engineering Club.

My primary motivation for wanting to serve as a D-38 Board Member is to help refocus the District so that the issue of educating our children is in the forefront--where it should be. Over the past few years, there have been far too many disappointments in Board performance. We are all aware that District leadership has been unable to address the issue of growth satisfactorily. Bond issues have failed in November elections, as have numerous District requests for Mil Levy Overrides. Negotiations for acquiring land for a new high school have been ineffective, and perhaps even a little embarrassing. Secrecy surrounds the departure of a superintendent last winter.

As a result, the current Board lacks credibility and the current focus of conversations throughout the community about the District and the School Board election is on adults. Leadership, management, and communications. Issues or discussions concerning the quality of education we are providing to our children are essentially nonexistent. We should be debating whether or not our K-12 curriculum is on target, or whether we are reaching all students. We should be asking whether or not our elective programs in the schools are sufficient. Is PLC really getting the job done for us, and if not what do we need to do to improve it? Quite simply, we are unable to get to these and other questions about our children's education because those types of questions are no longer on the agenda in the community.

As a member of the Board of Education, I would ask my fellow Board members, as well as the Superintendent and his staff, to consider placing more emphasis on our students' performance compared to national benchmarks. Currently, much of our data is presented to us referencing the performance of other schools in the state. However, our children will be competing with students and adults from throughout the nation, and even internationally, and we must be absolutely certain they are ready for that competition.

As an example, let's compare last year's ACT composite scores for D-38 students with those of the national student population. The ACT is a test given to students throughout the U.S., and is a measure of academic achievement. So the ACT results can give us one measure of our District's performance in education as compared to other schools both within Colorado and throughout the nation.

Last year, the average D-38 student composite score was 21.4, which matches almost exactly the national average. 21.4 also matches the composite score for the state of Virginia, which ranks number 32 out of 51 states (counts the District of Columbia). By comparison, our neighboring community to the south is doing better. Cheyenne Mountain High School's composite was 22.9, which is more than one standard deviation higher than our scores and matches New Hampshire's composite score; New Hampshire ranks number 6 nationally.

To the north, both Fairview High School in Boulder and Cherry Creek High School in Denver exceed the D-38 composite by approximately 3 standard deviations, and have composite scores that are higher than the number one state on the ACT list (Massachusetts).

While I am happy with our scores, and that we rank in the top 15% of schools in the State of Colorado for ACT composite scores, I cannot be satisfied that we are so far behind other schools in Colorado who have similar demographics yet compete well with other schools across the nation. I would ask the superintendent to validate any conclusions drawn from data such as this ACT data, and provide recommendations for improved support to the building principals and teachers in their efforts to raise the level of D-38 students at all levels.

The Bottom Line:

So I welcome the challenge of serving on the D-38 Board of Education, taking on the challenge of restoring cohesiveness and functionality to the Board, and reopening a relationship between the District and the community that is based on trust and open, honest communication. Accordingly, I have placed my name on the Ballot to run for the position on the Board that represents Director District 2. I ask you to consider my experience in senior leadership positions, my nine years teaching in the classroom, and my position on the issues as you vote. Thank you.

Questions posed by the Lewis Palmer Education Association to all D-38 CandidatesGeneral Questions

1. What is your purpose in running for the school board?

The short answer is that I have an extreme appreciation for the value of a good education. As a USAF officer, I had an incredible number of experiences and highly interesting assignments working with a diverse number of people from around the world. I am fully aware that those experiences and interactions with people were made possible by the excellent education I was fortunate to have received primarily as an Air Force Academy cadet. When I retired from the Air Force, I chose to work in public education in order to do what I could to help ensure today's generation of students are similarly prepared for their future. Today, after having taught for the past nine years at Lewis Palmer High School, I am prepared to continue to serve District 38 as a member of the District's Board of Education. My experiences in leadership and management working with diverse populations will combine with my knowledge and understanding of public education to help me be a valuable member of the leadership team for the District.

2. Tell us about the issues that are most important to you and why they are important.

When I entered the Air Force Academy I soon learned that I was not as well prepared for its academic challenges as I thought I was. I was more than a little amazed at how much better prepared many of my classmates were, and I quickly recognized that they had attended a public school system that focused on student achievement on a national level. I will never forget that first year and the impact of the disparity in public education between many of my classmates and me.

Therefore, I feel very strongly that the most important issue in the District, and our most important task as educators anywhere, is to ensure that our students are among the best in the nation, and totally prepared for any challenge they may face, whether it is in a college classroom or the workplace. We must recognize that today's students will compete not only nationally, but also internationally in both postsecondary education programs and in the professional workplace. It is absolutely imperative that we prepare them for their future by ensuring they have one of the best educations in the nation. Our schools must earn the reputation as being among the best and our Board of Education and Administration must do all it can to support reaching that goal.

3. What are the most pressing problems in our school district?

Our most immediate and pressing problem is one of leadership in the District. Over the past few years, our leadership has struggled with several issues. The challenges of rapid growth in the area have resulted in the District giving confusing messages to the public on solutions. There have been too many configurations proposed for the District's high school(s), and too much turmoil over location and acquisition of land. Bond and mil levy override proposals have either failed or passed by very slim margins. Too many patrons in the District are unsatisfied with the amount of turnover in senior administrative positions, including that of Superintendent, staff, and building principals.

The corrective action for all this starts at the top. The D-38 Board of Education needs to become a cohesive team that makes good policy decisions and communicates positively with administrative staff, teachers, and the community. The Superintendent, his staff, and building principals must be supported fully in their efforts to provide the best work environment for the teachers and the best learning environment for students. When this happens, student achievement will rise, and we will be having discussions about how to make it rise even further, instead of debate and controversy over finance, management, and other issues that are not the primary business of the District.

4. Would you seek our Association's recommendation (why or why not)?

I most definitely seek the recommendation of LPEA. We both seek the same objective, that of providing our students with the best possible education. And we both clearly understand the daily affairs of the classroom and the importance of having excellent teachers and first-rate support from the school administration, the District staff, and the public. An endorsement of my ideas and of my candidacy from LPEA would be a very natural thing to occur.

In addition to seeking a recommendation from LPEA today, I would also seek your active support over the four years I would be a member of the Board. Formal and direct feedback from the teachers is invaluable, and LPEA would be an outstanding organization that could provide that feedback without jeopardizing any sort of organizational relationship between a teacher and his/her principal. I would welcome LPEA attendance at BOE meetings, and the opportunity to get direct feedback from LPEA. I see only positives for the District resulting from a healthy and communicative relationship between the Board of Education and LPEA, and would seek a way to make open and honest communications happen on a frequent and regular basis.

5. What are your school board interests and priorities?

As a member of the BOE, my main interest is to set a challenging goal for the District, that of becoming one of the best districts in the nation. Our children are very bright and talented, and we must ensure we develop their intellect and their many talents fully so they can go out into the world and pursue their dreams.

Doing just that must be our first priority, and we must create the policies and organization that support the building principals, teachers and the actual classroom teaching. The Board must develop consensus among itself as to these policies, and the Superintendent must run a stable and robust organization to execute them. Thusly, the building principals and their teachers/staff will be empowered to challenge and to support our students as we prepare them for their future.

Throughout all these processes and activities, our communications must be frequent, open, and readily accessible by everyone, staff, students, parents, and the citizens of the District. We must push information to the public, and not require the public to have to go look for the information. Actually, this should be a natural and exciting thing to do. Our students do wonderful things daily, and we have excellent staff working in this District. We should not miss an opportunity to recognize our outstanding students and staff and to brag to the public about them on a frequent and regular basis.

6. What changes would you like to see in our District? Why?

I think we could improve our communications strategy in the District, with respect to both external and internal communications. Rather than simply post a message or bulletin on the Web site and rely on the target audience to find it, I would propose a more proactive effort that helps our patrons know something new is out and makes it easy for them to find it. One method would be to maintain an email list, and when something that is particularly newsworthy arises, send an email to the list with a short synopsis followed by a hyperlink from the email directly to the document on the District Web site. A method such as this would allow the individual to receive an alert to a new message, and give him/her a quick and easy way to navigate to the Web site and to find it that new message.

There are other avenues for open and clear communication available as well. The BOE and the superintendent could host quarterly news meetings with citizens and/or representatives from the media. We could push a press summary to the media after meetings where important issues are discussed or decided. There could be a weekly article, each and every week, in print media highlighting a particular school, class, or activity. But the key concept is that we need to change the communication from the "pull" system it is now to a "push" system like the ones described above.

7. What is your position on employee salaries and benefits in our district?

Plain and simple, salaries are too low, and have been too low for too long. In addition, there is too much disparity between the salaries in D-38 and those of neighboring districts. While it is very nice that the District pays for medical benefits for the District employee, the out-of-pocket cost to the member for family medical is prohibitive in many cases. The D-38 salary schedule and benefit package is a major reason why many young, talented teachers leave to work in other districts.

a. Do you believe district voters have been made aware that LP 38 is one of the lowest paying districts in the area?

To a certain extent, yes they have. But I'm not sure the District has sufficient credibility in the community for the words to really resonate with the voters when it comes to communicating on matters such as these. When I speak with many residents about compensation, often they immediately bring up the subject of the Superintendent buyout last winter or of dissatisfaction in other areas of District management. Without credibility, the District is severely hampered in its efforts to communicate with the voters and to gain support for increased taxes for compensation.

b. What can be done to improve salaries and make them more competitive?

That is a tough question, one that really must be answered after a tremendous amount of investigative work and thought are put into the question. Every possible solution, or contributor to a solution, must be carefully considered. In the long run, there will probably need to be some change in the way Colorado finances education. District leadership will want to be aware of and a part of any efforts aimed in this direction.

However, there are short-term solutions such as the Mil Levy Override (MLO) that provide for relief in the near term. If the voters pass that request, there will be additional money for addressing the issue of teacher compensation, but again, only in the near term. There will come a time when that override, though a permanent part of a taxpayer's tax, can no longer generate enough revenue to keep salaries at an appropriate level. The 1999 MLO is an example of this dilemma; it is still, and always will be, a part of the property tax bill for residents, but it has lost its ability to effectively protect teacher salaries from inflation. That is part of the reason the voters are being asked to approve yet another MLO. And just like the 1999 MLO that is no longer sufficient, the day will come, although it may be a few years down the road, when the 2007 MLO is no longer sufficient. We simply will not be able to rely on MLOs indefinitely to boost teacher salaries to keep them competitive.

Another stopgap solution would be to trim expenses elsewhere in the budget, such as eliminating a staff position, program, or physical asset such as delaying the replacement of one or more buses. Of course, such a trim won't be done without an impact on our daily operation; we will be faced with making a choice among all bad choices. Generally speaking, we will lose an elective, increase class size somewhere, or cut services, such as compromise our bus fleet. Any of these choices would be detrimental to our attempts at offering our students the best education possible and/or the service of the best facilities.

Overall, I think the new BOE must make a strategic plan to address teacher and staff compensation over the long haul, and come up with a workable, long-term solution.

8. What other incentives could the District institute to help attract & retain quality teachers?

A basic premise in any organization is to make the employees feel valued. A regular and very visible (in the public domain) teacher recognition program would be very helpful. Routinely bragging about our superb staff to the District and to people throughout the state would help to make D-38 a place where people want to come to work.

Another idea that would help in this regard would be for the District to upgrade the Professional Development Program (PDP) for teachers and staff. To a large degree, PDP is left up to individual teachers to carry out. Teachers, who are already busy with classroom preparation and work, must create and manage their own PDP efforts. They must figure out what they want to do, prepare all the administrative work to schedule and register, get it done, and then report back to the District and apply for credit. Often this is done without proactive help from the District. Another approach would be for the District to get inputs from the schools as to what sort of PDP is needed, then go out into the community, the state, and perhaps beyond, and find quality PDP opportunities for those teachers. There are many resources available within the state, such as universities or businesses in the area, as well as online opportunities. In addition, there are outstanding opportunities for Professional Development outside the state, some of which include scholarships to help defray costs. If an office in the District could focus on developing an inventory of these resources, the quality of PDP would rise, and PDP in the District could become an invaluable asset in the effort to recruit, train, and retain quality people.

9. How do you view CSAP? What about the way schools are rated on the School Accountability Reports?

CSAP has brought some good things to Colorado's education effort, but these good things have come with a price. First the good things. Prior to the introduction of CSAP, reporting of school and district academic performance was not standardized and therefore hard to interpret. For example, when I was taking classes to get my teaching license, we heard a great deal about one particular school district in the area that had all sorts of math interventions in place, and that they were achieving milestones in math education that other districts in the area were not. Both their message and its delivery were impressive. However, when CSAP was introduced and produced its first set of standardized scores, it became apparent that that district's interventions were not working nearly as well as originally thought. Not only were they not achieving the milestones they claimed, they were nearly the bottom district in the area. So CSAP provided an objective measurement tool that district could use to better understand its students' achievements, modify its interventions and provide better services to its students.

The downside to CSAP has been to take some focus away from higher-level achievement. Pressure for schools to do well is significant, and some schools have reduced the teaching effort in advanced courses and refocused it so as to better its CSAP scores. While this results in a better report card for the school, it lessens the high-end achievement that students also need. Another significant aspect of CSAP is that the test is administered in the spring semester and takes the equivalent of approximately five classroom days to complete. In a semester already hampered by snowy weather, spring break, and spring fever, this five-day loss in contact time is significant.

With so much emphasis on CSAP on the school rating system, and with CSAP drawing focus away from higher end learning, the school rating system is disproportionately centered away from higher end achievement.

I would recommend two changes to the CSAP/SAR system. First, I would recommend a five-year cycle for CSAP. Any school that receives an "Excellent" rating three years in a row would be exempted from taking CSAP in the fourth and fifth years. It seems an unnecessary expense, both in time and money, for a school that establishes such a reputation to have to revalidate every year. Second, I would adjust the SAR criteria to increase the focus on higher-level learning and reward schools for increased performance in those areas.

10. Do you support the Mil Levy Override that is on the ballot this fall. Why or why not?

I assume the MLO this question refers to Issue 3a, the one asking for $3 million to operate Palmer Ridge High School and to increase compensation for licensed staff in the District.

Yes, I strongly support the MLO, issue 3a.

This MLO comes in two parts. $1.5 million is designated to operate the second high school. If this money does not materialize from the MLO, then cuts in budgets across the District will have to be considered; the impact of the MLO failing will be felt in every school and building in the District. This money is desperately needed to allow Palmer Ridge HS to open without financially taking from all the other schools in the District.

The other part consists of $1.5 million to increase teacher compensation. Currently, D-38 compensation is well below that of the neighboring districts, and this is having a significant and measurable impact on teacher recruitment and retention. An inability to attract and retain high quality teachers will have a long term, very negative impact on the education of student sin the District .

11. What have you done /will you do to ensure it passes?

As a part of my campaign for a position on the Board of Education, I have met with many groups of people, and with many individuals to discuss my candidacy and the issues. Unfortunately, most of these people have expressed that they do not support the MLO, and I have had lengthy discussions with them in an effort to change their opinions.

Significantly, every one of the people who object to supporting the MLO, and who say they will not vote for it, say that they lack trust in the leadership of the District to spend money wisely and therefore don't want to give the District more money to spend. Most reference the Superintendent buyout of last year, as well as the series of events associated with buying land for Palmer Ridge High School as evidence to support their position.

I have tried to help them view the MLO as an issue of financial support for the education of our children, one that is separate from the issue of leadership, and have tried to help them understand the specific impacts on education in the district that could occur if the MLO does not pass. While I think I have had some positive impact on a few of the people I have spoken to, many remain dissatisfied and distrustful of the current District leadership, and did not express a high interest in voting for the MLO. I continue to help people I speak with understand the importance of MLO, and to ask them to view it separately from the issue of leadership .

12. What do you believe is the role of a school board member in relationship to the superintendent, principals, teachers and school support personnel, and the community?

Acting as an individual school board member, the relationship with the superintendent is one of mentor, advisor, supporter and perhaps sounding post. I would view interaction of this type as exchanging ideas and opinions, trading advice, and learning about each other's role in a particular situation or event. If the board member was acting on behalf of the entire board, then he/she could also assume a directive role as long as that directive role was in accordance with the clear wishes of the majority of the board.

Acting as an individual school board member, the relationship with principals is much the same as with the superintendent-mentor, advisor, etc. One additional consideration would be to be mindful that any advice given to a principal could be perceived as direction, and as such could create misunderstanding or confusion as to who the principal directly works for, thus undermining the relationship between the principal and the superintendent. The board member must guard against this sort of thing happening. If the board member was acting on behalf of the entire board and if there is any sort of directive to be pointed toward a principal by the entire board, in most cases that directive should reach the principal via the superintendent, and not via the board member. To do otherwise would undermine the relationship between the superintendent and the entire board, as well as the entire board and all the principals in the District.

The same two concepts outlined above also relate to an individual board member as he/she relates to teachers and school staff, however even more care must be taken to avoid inferring direction in any conversation. In this role, the board member has a role that consists mainly of support and listening. It is difficult to imagine the situation where a board member, acting on behalf of the entire board, would be interfacing with a teacher or staff without the presence and involvement of at least the building principal.

The role of a board member with respect to community involvement, whether representing himself/herself only or representing the entire board, is mainly one of communication. Clear and honest communication with the taxpayers of the District is essential to building trust and support from the community. It is the community's job to support the District, but that support is not an automatic. It must be earned and re-earned on a frequent basis, and much of this is done via clear and open communication.

In communications with the public, the board member must ensure the community clearly understands whether or not the board member is speaking as an individual or for the entire board.

13. As a school board member, what kind of communication do you want with our Association (LPEA)?

As in all communications, they should be open and honest. Both the board member and LPEA should always respect that details of some issues, etc, must be held in confidence. If in a situation where such a requirement exists, there should be no secret made about it; it should be clearly stated that some information must remain confidential, and everyone must respect that requirement.

Normally, such communication is intended to exchange information. Anything beyond that can become problematic, especially if it is not clear how the board member is speaking, either as an individual or for the entire board.

I would refer you to question 4 above. Question 4 asked whether or not I would like LPEA's recommendation, and in that answer I recognized the value LPEA could have as a conduit for communication that would not jeopardize relations between a teacher and his/her building principal or other administrator. As LPEA represents those who interface directly with students in our District on a daily basis, it should be invaluable as a communications channel to the BOE.

14. Do you support or oppose vouchers and private school tax credits and why? What is your position on charter schools?

I am wary of tax credits for private schools. If the private school is operated by a publicly held company, then granting tax credits for that company is probably inappropriate. If a student is attending a private school and has brought a voucher to that school, a tax credit for spending that money may be appropriate. Separating the moneys in these two cases will be challenging. Thus I am not enthusiastic about this option.

As to vouchers in general, I am open to the idea of vouchers for the purpose of a student attending an out-of-district public school. The voucher would be intended to supplement the PPR that the student would already be carrying to make the gaining school district break even on the student financially. In this situation, the use of vouchers supports the concept of choice, which I can generally support. If we do our job and make our District one of the best in the nation, a voucher system would work in our favor and enable us to be fully funded for any out-of-district students we attract.

I support charter schools that are well run and educate our students at the highest level. Schools such as these -the D'Evelyn School in Denver for example, are well run and have an outstanding history of educating students. On the other hand, there are too many examples of poorly run charter schools, and districts need to monitor and, if necessary, direct corrective action for charter schools in their district, just as they do with conventional schools in their district.

I would like to add that in considering charter or private schools that are run well and produce outstanding students, we should not be afraid to look past the governing structure of these schools, or the reasons they came about. We should analyze and catalog the reasons for their success, and determine, with an open mind, whether or not any concepts that are key to their success might be useful in our public schools. It is possible that we might find good ideas that would work in our District. If that is the case, we need to evaluate ways to implement them.

15. How much do you plan to spend on your campaign? How much money have you raised? Briefly describe your campaign plan.

My goal is to cap spending at $1,000 and I am on budget to do that.

I have raised $800 to date.

My campaign is fairly simple. I intend to speak with as many individuals and groups as possible, to both inform them of my ideas for education and to listen to their concerns and issues for the District. I am using signs and handouts to help with name recognition .

Conclusion:

When you receive your ballots in the mail, and make your decision about voting, I hope you will make that decision based on the issues that face the District and not based on personal relationships or feelings. I would not ask my best friends to vote for me unless he agreed with my position on issues and was confident, based on my record of performance in previous jobs, that I had the ability to work with the other members of the Board of Education to further the education of our children.

For me, the decision as to whom to vote for to represent Director District 2 boils down to a few questions. Are you happy with how Director District 2 has been represented for the past 4 years? Are you looking forward to 4 more years of the same representation?

Or, do you like John Mann's ideas and vision, and are you confident in his ability to work with other members of the Board, the Superintendent and his staff, and with the building principals and their staff? Are you confident in his ability to communicate openly and honestly with the community and to work to reestablish the community's support that is essential to moving the District forward?

The education of our children is one of the most important endeavors of our lifetime. I am, and have been, fully committed to the education of children in D-38. I would appreciate your vote for John Mann for D-38 Board of Education.

Thank you.

John Mann

mannjohn@comcast.net