How many years have you lived in Maine?: 20 years

What experiences,  motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective School Committee representative?:
My experience and proficiency with educational laws, statutes, Portland school policy and parliamentary procedure; my motivations to represent the interests of all students and to work towards a community-based school system that serves the larger community and is supported and valued by the entire community (including non-parents); and my leadership styles of seeking grace under pressure, working to achieve solutions by adequately identifying problems, interacting and debating respectfully, and working to discover the positive outcomes and possibilities that may result from negative situations, will make me an effective School Committee member.

If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect young people in Portland?:
My top three priorities will be to increase student achievement for all students, establish a curriculum that prepares students for college and increase their access to college, and to achieve tighter and more efficient management of school finances.

Please share one positive change you have seen in our schools and in the School Committee over the last year?:
The School Committee over the past year has seen several positive changes, one being that the public perception of partisanship pervading the Committee has waned, partially because of my commitment to the Portland schools continuing regardless of how many people of what party comprise the Committee.

Please share one frustrating change you have seen in our schools and in School Committee over the last year?:
While it is easy to site the financial changes (i.e. overexpenditures instead of surpluses) in the past year, as a frustrating change; as an ultimate optimist, I also recognize that this dilemma has compelled the Committee to begin to take action on items that were recommended by its own Finance Committee three years ago, that it then didn't have the muscle to act upon.  In any negative situation, there are many possible positive outcomes.  The consolidation of financial management, maintenance, and transportation services, for example, could be positive outcomes from the negative financial experience, without which the Committee would not have developed the courage to act upon because of previous "turf" issues.

What competing responsibilities do you have: professionally and personally?:
Having been on the Committee for nearly six years, I have learned how to best manage my professional and personal responsibilities that I have outside of the School Committee, with those responsibilities associated with being on the Committee.  Although I am a single male with no children (a point some like to use to question a Member's ability to connect and be effective), it is my tenure on the School Committee that has connected me to the community and family populations.  Many parents have thanked me for being an involved single non-parent, and for acting for their interests in ways that they (parents) themselves cannot afford the time and energy to do.  Having managed different responsibilities for this long, I do not believe any of them are in competition with each other for my time and energy--although it does take a while to learn how to juggle these effectively!

How would you make Portland schools more effective and cost efficient?:
We need to increase student achievement for all students by employing the best and most qualified teachers, increase our energy-efficiency in all buildings, use our buildings (many of which are at half capacity) and space more wisely, consolidate services with the city and/or surrounding school districts anywhere possible, and identifying financial efficiencies, are the most important ways to make our schools effective and cost efficient.

Where do you see Gov. Baldacci's consolidation plan or school closings fitting into your measures to increase cost effectiveness?:
As I mentioned above, most of our schools and primarily our elementary schools, have a lot of empty space.  Many are at only half of their potential capacity.  This will require consolidation of schools, although most candidates will not talk about this because most are afraid to talk about this subject.  While I have always been a supporter of neighborhood schools with increased walkability, we must recognize that the district is changing with decreasing student enrollment and dwindling financial resources.  When I ran for re-election in 2004, my position on school consolidation was that while I appreciate neighborhood schools, I also can appreciate the value of strong schools as community centers.  If a school can serve a larger community and its needs not only for education, but beyond, than much of what is valuable in a "neighborhood" school can be preserved.  As we consolidate our schools, it is important that our schools also serve relevant functions as centers for ove!
rall community and civic engagement.
The Governor's plan calls for some cost efficiencies that will have to be realized in the coming years.  The blessing behind this plan is that now the School Committee must act upon what the Joint Finance Consolidation Committee reported three years ago as necessary steps to realize efficiencies.  Cost effectiveness and administrative efficiency may be realized by merging and consolidating financial management, maintenance, transportation, payroll, administrative and technological services with the city, with the city's departments generally taking over these functions.  Special education efficiencies can be realized with greater collaboration with surrounding school districts that share many of the same challenges as Portland.  We are also beginning to realize cost effectiveness through collaboration in the area of transportation, with a recent initiative announced where South Portland will take care of maintenance of Portland busses, saving Portland money, and making South!
  Portland money.
The Governor's plan gives us an unprecedented opportunity to implement cost-effective measures for which previously, my colleagues on the Committee had not the political will to do.

What is the role of School Committee in determing the school budget?  What ways would you improve the process of school budgetting?:
The School Committee works with the Superintendent in determining the appropriate levels for the various lines in the school budget, and works with the city council to make sure the various totals match up to the levels that the Council, and taxpayers can support.  I have already introduced several policy changes related to school budgeting, in response to obstacles and challenges encountered this year, that the School Committee is already considering and may have already passed by the time this survey is reviewed.
Among the policy proposals are requirements that the schools finance committee be immediately reported to about any projected over-expenditures, and that the FC submit recommended amendments to the school budget to reflect over-expenditures and reductions that preserve a net zero impact on the bottom line.  Also, the department will be required to submit a complete and detailed monthly report on the budget (not just a summary as is current practice), including reports of all transfers and projected over-expenditures.  The budget process is also clarified in the policy proposal, so that once the Superintendent submits her budget to the School Committee, she cannot change it without the express approval of the Finance Committee (so that the budget isn't constantly changing as the FC is reviewing it).  There is also express language acknowledging and recognizing the school FC's role in ascertaining the city council's support for the budget and its various lines, and working wit!
h the city's finance committee to realize future efficiencies.
I would also propose that we implement a process of school budgeting comparable to the Boston Public Schools, where school budget planning for the next year begins in October, by looking at actual expenses to date.  As Finance Committee Chair this year, I intend to begin our school budget deliberations in October, to be able to allocate more time and better energy to devising next year's budget.

With the current reality of Portland's school budget, cuts seem likely.  What would you cut and why?:
I believe cuts can be made without affecting students directly, and many of these cuts have been referenced in previous answers.  Central Office can be moved to City Hall, and School Committee meetings moved to Council Chambers, to free up space in PATHS for other educational uses, freeing us up to close one or more other buildings.  Our maintenance services cost the schools much more than the equivalent services provided by the city, and the city can effectively deliver these services.  In fact, in most school districts, maintenance services are taken care of by municipalities, not schools.  Our website and computer technology services could be consolidated, and again, the city provides these services more cost-effectively, and I would say also that they deliver them better.  Transportation needs to be discontinued for high school students (excepting special education students), who have access to the Metro school buses and will develop deeper appreciations for public trans!
it through such use.  School transportation exceptions also need to be looked at where many students are getting bused just a block or two to and from school, and in established walkable  distances, offer more crossing guards instead of busing.
Creative educational programming may also lead to some cost-reductions.  For example, simply making one middle school a k-8 school for example, would make it possible to close one or two elementary schools, and would continue to support the concept of a "menu of choices" for Portland students and parents.
In reference to cuts that do have an "impact" on students, I would look at non-mandated services such as learning strategists and the Portland Partnership Developers before I would ever consider cutting sex ed, music, foreign languages, or sports.
There are a lot of teachers for a school district with a declining population, and eventually, the school district is just going to have to deal with the inevitability of looking at teachers.
There are some inequities within the district that could be looked at which would realize efficiencies, and with thoughtful planning over the long-term, they could likely be realized as the aging baby boomer educators (almost half of our teaching force) retire in the next several years, so that we don't have to lay individuals off.
For example, the differing block scheduling at Portland and Deering High School accounts in inequities of teaching positions, for it takes more teachers per student at Deering to effectively work within their block schedule.  I support unifying the two schools block schedules to achieve equity in teaching resources, and to realize collaborative opportunities between the two schools and efficiencies in teaching.  For example, if they shared the same schedule, you could have one German (a hypothetical example) class with 13 students instead of one at Portland with 7 and  one at Deering with 6.  We need to use our staff time and energy more efficiently by having one full class instead of two half classes.
Another area to look at, is whether to require teachers to teach six blocks instead of five, and hiring lesser paid employees to overlook the study halls.  This alone would save the district almost a million dollars, although I realize the current concern is that the educators are able to fulfill their professional development expectations by not having to teach six blocks.  As Finance Committee Chair, I have asked the Superintendent to spend the next year looking at the question of how professional development can be alternatively offered to provide for teachers' being able to teach six blocks instead of five, and I do expect that a solution should be devised within the year to accommodate this necessary change.
We need to be ready to implement these changes in teaching staff numbers, so that when the masses of veteran educators retire next year and the few years thereafter, we will be able to take a huge portion of those reductions without hiring new people for all of the positions and without having to lay off dozens of teachers.
Thoughtful planning will make all of these considerations easier for everybody.

What priority in funding would you give Portland's new Expeditionary Learning High School?:
In increasing student achievement for ALL students, it is important that educational services be delivered in a variety of ways, to address the differentiated learning styles of our students.  Some will argue that the Casco Bay High School drains resources from other students, but I would argue that not having that school, drains resources from the students who need and are served by that style of education, and whom would not get equivalent delivery of education without it.  I am supportive of and committed to fully funding the Casco Bay High School.

How do we increase the number of graduates that go on to pursue post-secondary education?  What benchmarks would inform Portland schools towards reaching these goals?:
We should make the submission of a college  application a requirement for graduation.  I am also very excited to be looking into the establishment of a private foundation, similar to the Kalamazoo Promise (Michigan), which provides for four years of free tuition to any state university or college for graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools.  I have heard from some members of the philanthropic community, that this type of initiative in Portland (which is very close in size to Kalamazoo) would be of interest to them.  I have begun meeting with large donors, Trustees of the University of Maine System and Maine Community Colleges, as well as college Presidents and local and state leaders, to ascertain the possibility of such a foundation being realized to actuality.
The Portland School Committee, in supporting such an endeavor, could make good on its stated goal to pay for one college application for every high school graduate.

Data shows enrollment is declining in Portland schools.  Why do you think this is?  What, if anything, should be done about it?:
The urban flight to surrounding districts is a result of inequitable tax distributions in the Greater Portland area.  An initiative like the one stated in the previous answer (the Kalamazoo Promise) would completely turn this problem around, and instantly.  Once Kalamazoo announced the creation of this foundation, people started flocking to Kalamazoo, houses got bought up, housing developments began to emerge, and the school board had to begin planning to open more schools.  People get that excited about their children being given post-secondary education access, that they are willing to move.
The good news, is that student enrollment for the most part is declining statewide because less people are having kids.  It is probably less a reflection of Portland as it is on the current times.

Do students for whom English is a second language have access to a quality education?:
Yes, we have excellent offerings for ESL learners and immigrants and we need to maintain those services and improve upon them.

Do you think student transportation needs any changes?  Why or why not?:
Absolutely, as stated above.  High School students should take the Metro, and elementary school students within several blocks of their school, should walk.

Do you have children and where did/do they attend school?  If they were schooled privately, what was the single biggest factor in removing them from public education?:
I have no children, but I have friends that do.  I know a child in every school.    I would like to address the idea of being a parent as a pre-requisite for serving on the School Committee.  I don't believe this to be true.  As a 36 year old man, I may have liked to have had a child by now to raise as my own, but many personal considerations have to go into having a child, including finding true and lasting love, building adequate financial supports, and/or having the physical health to be able to have children.  Not all of us are afforded these personal luxuries and we should not be deemed "less qualified" because of it.  I may like to have had a child, but it's not as easy as simply "going out and getting myself a kid."  There are reasons I don't have a child, which I don't need to divulge in public settings, but I don't think my lack of offspring in any way hinders or impedes my ability to look out for the interests of all students or to maintain a meaningful connection !
with the parenting community.