Red Clay School Board Candidate, Kenny Rivera, Responds To My Questions

Kenny Rivera is the second of two candidates (Other candidate post here) to reply to my questions concerning the upcoming Red Clay School Board Election.

Kenny Rivera’s answers to my questions:

Why are you running for school board, and what are the top three things you’d like to accomplish during your term?

My reasons for running are simple:  I am both a parent and an educator. These roles combine to provide me with a unique perspective. As a teacher, I see the good things occurring in our public schools day after day. As a parent, I’m constantly in tune with what Kelley and I want for our two sons, so we can be sure our community public school is the best choice for them. Being on the School Board will allow me to use both of those perspective to provide great service to all constituents and stakeholders in the Red Clay School District.

The first thing I’d like to accomplish during my term is to strengthen our “priority schools” and to foster a true sense of community at each of our schools, especially the ones generally labeled as “high-needs.” All of our schools need strong community support, but there are definite gaps in activity at some schools versus others. The District must continually seek out ways to engage the community — and specifically, parents — be it through home visits, frequent parent information nights, or school-based community centers. Next, I’d like to see an added emphasis on early childhood education. Many studies show the cause of the achievement gap has its roots in the years before a child enters kindergarten. We must secure funding and strengthen our resolve in bringing stable early childhood education to all of our eligible elementary schools. Another thing I’d like to accomplish during my term is an increase in offerings and enrollment in AP, gifted, and college course offerings. To remain competitive, we must offer higher-level courses to all students who require that “extra push.” Increasing the number of these programs at our higher-needs, higher-poverty high schools could enable them to attract and retain greater numbers of students.

Red Clay’s city elementary schools are all high poverty schools. How would you address this issue? Do you have a plan for these schools?

This is an issue that’s close to my heart. The challenges and deficits faced by many low-income students are critical. These students are often without a voice, and the Board must always act in their best interest. We first need to build a positive relationship with parents. Our highest-poverty schools located in Wilmington must not be seen as schools that have fixed operating hours between 8:30-4pm. These schools must be treated as vibrant community centers that stay open well past the final bell. Health, social, and food services, arts programs, summer educational, and enrichment and training programs for both students and adults must be offered to bring the parents into the mix and make them less likely to view school as a negative experience for both them and their children.

Class size is another challenge that faces these schools. Let’s face it; our higher-poverty schools experience more learning and behavior challenges because the issues affecting our students at home often translate to issues at schools. The lower-poverty schools don’t have nearly these types of issues. We need smaller class sizes in these city schools. Teachers need to be able to work more individually with the highest-needs students. We need to treat these students holistically to give them just the supports they need, be it instructional or emotional-behavioral. Lowering the student-to-teacher ratio in these schools will not be an easy task and there may not be the political will to support this, but this is an avenue that must be explored to ensure these schools aren’t left behind.

We also need to make sure the technology we provide to the students at schools transfers to the home setting. High-poverty students are at a competitive disadvantage when they don’t have access to the technology that their less-impoverished counterparts do.  Access to technology is a requirement for success in the 21st century. Also, we need to boost the amount of reading specialists in these schools. Many studies indicate that if a child is not on grade level by second grade, their chances of reading fluency go down dramatically as the years pass. Literacy Nights at some of our high-needs schools have been successful in the past and we must replicate them in both quality and quantity throughout the District.

What is your position on charter schools? Do you feel charter schools impact traditional public schools? If so, how?

Charter schools are a complement to community public schools. Red Clay has been at the forefront for providing some charter and magnet schools to its residents. A concern I have, though, is that successes at charter schools have not adequately been documented nor transferred to other public schools. I would be very interested to see what successes from the charter schools could be replicated other schools, both charters and community public schools.  Until some relationships are bridged between all schools, people will continue to question whether or not charter schools successes are a result of innovative techniques or simply skimming the best parental-supported students out of our community public schools.

One of the reasons I’m running is because the Board must ensure that our community public schools continue to approve, and that the offerings at those schools are such that parents in our District don’t feel compelled to choice their students to charter schools. We must create relevant, attractive academic and support programs at community public schools to make them as desirable to as many people as possible. Again, charter schools serve as an excellent complement to our community public schools, but my first priority will be to the community public schools.

When the 2,000 seat Bank of America Charter Schools open do you see these schools affecting Red Clay city schools?  If so, do you have a plan to offset the impact and keep Red Clay schools competitive?

When all of our Red Clay schools are performing at the level parents expect them to be performing, the opening of this charter school will be minimal.  If parents still have concerns about the quality of education or the environment at some of our schools, then we may lose some of those active parents and students with the opening of the Bank of America charter. This will only add to the challenges facing our district.

Red Clay offers a wide range of excellent programs, courses, and types of schools. There should be no reason why a tax-paying parent should think their child cannot get a quality education in a Red Clay community, magnet, or charter school.  My goal will be to create individual school profiles that are easily understandable to parents and members of the community to build upon Red Clay’s reputation for outstanding community public schools. These school profiles would clearly outline and highlight specific programs that showcase the individual school’s strength. This means the Board will have to continue to serve as the financial watchdogs for the District to make sure funds are being distributed wisely and equitably among schools. The District needs to market its schools. Our community public schools are anything but ‘traditional’. I like the growing use of social media to highlight many of the successes in our schools. This must continue, but there needs to be a greater base of advocacy to show off the excellent work at all schools.

What is your opinion of Race To The Top (RTTF)?

Being the chairman of the Race to the Top Fund Committee in the Brandywine School District has given me a unique perspective on RTTF.  Even though, ideally, I think most decisions dealing with education should be reserved for the states and local boards, the state’s RTTF grant gave each district the opportunity to work together with all stakeholders.  I have found this process worthwhile because it has joined all the major stakeholders in the district to think concretely about how to improve our schools and how to provide more resources where they are needed most to benefit our students.

The effectiveness of RTTF is still unclear at the present moment. I have personally found the Professional Learning Communities (teachers working together regularly on lessons and assessments) very beneficial in improving my own teaching.  I also like the emphasis many districts placed on early childhood reading. My major concern has been how much of the large pot of money is actually reaching the students in the classrooms. The State and districts have hired more administrators and consultants, and even the Performance Zone Schools (so-called, ‘underforming’) are spending a lot of money on professional development, instead of spending the money in the classrooom.

The Department of Education has continually changed its mind on what constitutes their expectations from school districts and teachers As representatives of the State Department of Education has said me at various RTTF workshops, “We are building the engine as the plane flies.”  With high-stakes testing attached to RTTF through school and teacher accountability systems, there should be a well-conceived plan to implement before action is taken.  Lastly, RTTF has resulted in more standardized tests, which reduces the already limited time to use school technology and other important subjects that are not tested.  Overall, the jury is still out for the time being on RTTF.

Given recent current events, do you feel Intelligent Design should be taught alongside Evolution in our public schools?

This question prompted me to do a little research and talk to parents, teachers, and members of the community about Red Clay schools’ science curriculum. From everyone with whom I’ve spoken about the science curriculum, this is not presently an issue in Red Clay and the District’s science programs are excellent.

Any controversial issue, though, that would arise pertaining to curriculum would come before the Board. I would expect we would receive rational commentary from the content Curriculum Council, teachers, administration, and community stakeholders on issues like Intelligent Design and Evolution so that the Board could make informed decisions as they pertain to curriculum.  Our ultimate goal will be to ensure that our students are prepared for further education, the world of work, and responsible citizenship.

Additional Information

Please visit my Facebook page or website to learn more about me and my vision to improve all schools:

www.facebook.com/electkenny

http://home.comcast.net/~kennyrivera