er Ty. fig om ——— mmm, ——— Hn i hnBpioL » 5 EE T3703 SNL yn 6 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, April 21, 1993 = 93 VL By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Seven candidates, all cross-filed with both the Republican and Democratic parties, are vying for four open seats on the Lake- Lehman school board in the May 18 municipal primary. In Region I, which comprises Lake Township, Noxen and Har- veys Lake, Irene Brislin and Alan Moss are contenders for Mildred Dobash’'s vacant seat. Patricia Gold and Samuel F. Rhodes, III, are running for Kenneth Willi- mas’ vacant seat in Region II, composed of Ross Township and the central and south west dis- tricts of Lehman Township. In- cumbentsJoseph “Red” Jones and Dr. Martin McMahon are opposed by John S. Bobersky in Region III, made up of Jackson Township and the northeast distict of Lehman Township. The Dallas Post asked each candidate to answer five ques- tions about education. The ques- tions were asked of each candi- date in the same manner and in the same order. Their answers (| a) ; appear in grid form. The candidates Does Lake-Lehman offer a sufficient variety of courses? If necessary, where would you cut back first, in classes with low enroliments or sports and activities? Should Lake-Lehman offer an honors program for academically advanced students? Do you support funding school through an earned income tax or the current property tax? What is your opinion of outcome-based education, O.B.E.? JOHN S. BOBERSKY Region lI I think that there is a good selection of courses, but I would like to see more emphasis on the “basics,” English, reading, writ- ing, math and science. I don’t think that cuts are needed to control the taxes and work towards a zero increase. We must cut wasteful spending - if a team needs only 10 sets of sweats, why buy 50? People should know where the money is going and how it's allocated. Definitely. The students shouldn't have to be held back in classes where they don't learn anything. I don't believe in using them as “peer tutors.” An acceler- ated program is a definite advan- tage. I have no insight into this. Iam scainst it because I think ) 9: that it would result in a decrease of academic performance. It's geared to keep all students on the same level, using the advanced ones as “peer tutors.” It would cost five times more than our present system — who will pay for that? It must be studied more because it hasn't been proven to work anywhere. IRENE BRISLIN Region | I think that there's enough of a | variety. I favor the core curricu- lum, emphasizing the basic sub- jects, which the district is cur- rently developing. Both academics and sports are important to the students’ growth and development. I know that some teams are augmented by booster clubs, but I'm not familiar with where the monetary base is located. Although the current trend is toward heterogeneous grouping, I favor an accelerated track for academically proficient students. Many districts are cutting honors classes because they believe that they tend to isolate the gifted students, who should be chal- lenged as much as possible. The different programs — honors, ad- vanced placement (AP) and accel- erated — should be more clearly defined. It's difficult to assess, especially with the new changes in curriculum. Several bills on this issue are in committee in the state legisla- ture. I am for anything that will help the average family's budget, whatever is most fair to the most people. I don't know if there is such a thing as a fair tax. There are many ramifications, for ex- ample people with two homes, each in a different district. I truly believe that we need changes in our present educa- tional system. The state has failed to present a clear, concise case on all issues of O.B.E. It must share information and surveys of exist- Wl) ® ing programs with teachers and the public. The program and its cost must be explained to the public. PATRICIA GOLD Region II The high school has a sound variety, and my friends and neigh- bors say that they are happy with the elementary school's offerings. One constructive criticism: Iwould hope that when specialized courses are offered, that the teach- ers have all of their materials at the beginning of the course, so that the students will derive the greatest benefit from them. I'm committed to a solid pro- gram including both academics and activities, but given a choice, I would reduce spending in activi- ties first. We're in the business of education. Most definitely. Traditionally, the students who excel are the future world leaders. we cheat our future if we cheat them; they must be challenged on all levels. I favor an earned income tax. The current property tax is unfair because it distributes the ccst of education in a disproportionate way. The state and federal gov- ernments are reneging on their pledges of educational funding so that they can say that they didn't raise our taxes, leaving it up to the local governments. I believe that property taxes threaten the sen- jor citizens’ financial security. RS RTS ER i I most definitely and emphati- cally oppose it. I have spent the last one and one-halfyears study- ing both sides of the issue and think that it's a desparate at- tempt by the state to justify why it spends $10billion ayearon public education. I think that O.B.E. will blow up and the teachers will be blamed for it. O.B.E. de-empha- sizes competition and individual achievement; basically it's a so- cialistic attitude which restricts the achievers over those who are being left behind academically. It gives the underachievers false expectations that they will be “A” students because the standards BL vas been lowered. JOSEPH 'RED’ JONES Region Ili We have a good balance of courses. I'd really love to see a full year of public speaking required for all high school students. I would have to take a long, hard look at all sides of the situ- ation. I don't want to hurt either academics or activities, because activities are an extension of our educational system. I would do whatever is necessary to econo- mize in all areas of the budget so that no one area is harmed. Yes. I have talked to many students and believe that gifted students, if not challenged, be- come bored. I would like to see the schools : operated by the county, with only one superintendent, one bus contractor, one insurance com- pany, etc., while keeping each school's local identity. I think that the General Assembly should put teachers on the state payroll, which would take the burden from local taxpayers. 1} ant Bp don’t reject all of o) )B. E. : onl of hand - it has some good points. What we need is more intelligent j information from the state, so that local school districts can make informed, educated decisions. q1@ hl @ « i@® DR. MARTIN MCMAHON Region Ili The courses are very good as they stand. We are currently de- veloping a core curriculum, em- phasizing basics, to better meet the students’ needs in these ar- eas. By avoiding the old “general diploma” track and offering a variety of electives along with the core subjects, we are preparing every graduate for either entry into a meaningful job or some type of further schooling. We have discussed this at length and would have to look at both programs. We have studied various educational options, such as telecourses through Penn State, which could actually help us broaden the curriculum. This would be relatively easy to set up, since we already have the satellite dish antenna. In the past two years, we have cut 10 percent a year across the board from the sports budget, most of which is made up of transportation costs and coaches’ or advisors’ sala- ries. Th esports budget doesn't make up a large part of the total district budget. Although Lake-Lehman has an accelerated track, we don't want them to feel “trapped” or stuck in one track of study. We want to make all educational options open to all students. The system has become flawed. I think that we need a combina- tion of the earned income and property taxes, which would be more fair than the present sys- tem. According to the Pennsylva- nia School Boards Association, the state is supposed to fund 50 percent of public education, but it is presently funding only 36-37 percent, forcing districts to rely more on local property taxes. Any changes to this system must come through the state legislature. O.B.E. has many good parts, but also too many unanswered questions, such as how specific outcomes will be assessed; through testing or performance, for example. O.B.E.’s goal of pre- paring students for entry either into meaningful jobs or miners ® schooling (a technical school, two- year college or four-year college) is very good. Requiring each dis- trict to have a strategic plan of goals and long-term objectives to be met and allowing local control over the curriculum by leaving these decisions up to each indi- vidual school district are also good points. ALAN MOSS Region | I think that there are too many courses. I favor cutting any non- academic courses, such as “Dress- ing for Success.” This type of class takes time from more valuable math, history and science courses. The schools are trying to be all things to all people rather than concentrating on sound basic education. Possibly reductions might have to be made in both areas, for example condensing several classes into one, or cutting an activity that isn't very well-sup- ported. Both of these would have to be studied and seriously con- sidered. I have considered that. Cer- tainly those blessed with higher intelligence will always advance faster in their studies. But would like to see extra effort concen- trated on the slower students who need additional help, if a choice had to be made on how money is spent. Depending on how it's set up, I think that the earned income tax would be more fair than the pres- ent system. O.B.E. is the unqualified lead- f« ing the unwilling to do the unnec- 2" & | essary. I fear that it's far too lib- eral and removes the challenge from learning. If every student gets a passing grade, this may teach them that they don't have to excel. The state is spoon-feeding propeganda tolocal districts’ stra- tegic planning committees to have them believe that they are having arole in their district's plan, when Harrisburg already knows what it | 3} & wants. The mandates are scary — if our strategic plan doesn't look like the state's, they can send in a panel to take over the operation of the entire district, not only the curriculum, but also the taxes. SAMUEL F. RHODES Ili Region li There's always room to expand the variety of course offerings. Specifically, I would like to see foreign languages introduced in the junior high. Because of the country’s large Hispanic popula- tion, I think that it would make sense to begin teaching Spanish in these grades. Latin would also be useful, especially for vocabu- Jary building. I don't believe in cutting back on any academics. I would like to see courses offering outdated material, for example, general math, consolidated to make them more applicable to real-life situ- ations and technology. But activi- ties are also important because the students learn lessons that they wouldn't in the classroom. Yes. The schools must educate the students to the best of their abilities — both the highly intelli- gent and those who need extra help in some areas. I absolutely favor a percentage- based earned income tax. The property tax is unfair because it has no relevance to the residents’ ability to pay - especially senior citizens. I am a big proponent of progressively-based funding, which I would like to pursue by lobbying our representatives. I've discussed this with many people and read the state outlines and revisions - in theory it's hard to disagree with the ideas that every child can learn and every 1 ® i child must be allowed to reach the top of his ability. But there are several different educational forms —- how will they get the teachers to use them? The teachers will get lots of outside help in training and development of lesson plans, while the student/teacher ratio will go down and the pay up. With these incentives, wouldn't any district improve? Possible we can create something that the major- | ity will be happy with, but it will need a lot of public support and involvement to implement.
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