A message from a candidate for the Board of Education seat representing Wards 5 & 6:
Dear Neighbors,
I would like to introduce myself to you as a candidate for the Board of Education to represent Wards 5 and 6. I am running for this seat for the same reason I have dedicated the past eight years to working for DC students: because I want to ensure that all children have access to high quality schools. And I think the best way to achieve this goal is to improve the traditional public school system and make it the first choice for DC families. I am ready to work full-time to make this a reality.
I believe that traditional public schools and charter schools are vital assets in our city’s educational future. We must leverage the energy and innovations of both systems to improve academic achievement for every student. As the School Board member for wards 5 and 6, my top three priorities will be to:
(1) Fund Schools First. Ensure that all schools are always fully-funded—if cuts have to be made, let the administration take the hit, not our kids.
(2) Get Resources to the Classroom. Create an Independent Construction Trust to manage a verifiable process to construct modern classrooms in every school; ensure that teachers are paid on time and children have the materials they need to learn.
(3) Empower Principals and Teachers. Attract the best and brightest teachers and provide high quality professional development; give principals more control over budgets, authority to create school-wide educational strategies, the ability to purchase services on the open market, and the right to fire teachers and staff who fail to perform.
I am the only candidate in this race who has worked as both a teacher and a public school administrator. I bring extensive management and budgeting experience and a graduate degree in Public Administration, which has given me the training to approach problems from a rational, informed perspective. One of my endorsements includes that of EdAction – a volunteer group of DC-based parents, educators and concerned community members working to improve the quality of the city’s public education system:
“We feel that Lisa’s demonstrated commitment to public education, as well as background in policy and management, makes her the ideal candidate. Lisa has been working in education in D.C. for nearly a decade. She helped to launch and expand a school from the ground up. With that experience, she brings incredible knowledge and experience in management, program development, facilities, budgeting and fundraising - areas which will be critically important to her as a Board member.”
I encourage you to view my website (www.lisaraymond06.org) to see who is supporting me and to contact me at 460-9874 or at Lisa@lisaraymond06.org to share your ideas and concerns about DC public schools.
I hope I can count on your support during my campaign – and your vote on November 7.
Sincerely,
Lisa Raymond
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UPDATE: no more anonymous postings to this thread please. There is a bit of nastiness popping up in the comments. Use your name/a handle, or don't comment on this one. If you are worried about being sued for something you are thinking about posting, then you shouldn't post it because if it is tortious, it is tortious & irresponsible whether your name is attached to it or not. Be respectful & be polite. Act like adults, or I'll close the thread.
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18 comments:
Why are you beating around the bush about being a CEO of a Charter School?
Didn't Caesar Chavez charter schools fail 3 of 4 test benchmarks for math and reading?
Have you worked at a school,where you didn't get to cherry pick your students?
just curious
google says that Lisa Raymond supporter "EdAction" is a "PAC which works to ensure future Americans receive a broad liberal arts education. Opposes control of education by state and federal governments."
just the facts
IMO, we get the schools that parents demand. Crappy public schools are the result of low parental expectations and demands on the schools, elected officials, and their kids. The exceptions in the DC public school system prove the rule.
It was easier for most middle and upper class (white and black) parents to leave DC, or at least the school system, than battle Barry's patronage system.
It's a miracle that anyone with Raymond's qualifications and practical experience would want to get anywhere near the current dysfunctional system.
Borbely I can understand. He likes to keep the pot stirred up. He tosses around thinly-veiled accusations of racism to keep things interesting. The current partially elected, mostly incompetent school board would be a perfect fit for his talents.
I'd like to remind people that, paticularly if you are going to make comments about inviduals, you should at the very least being using some sort of online handle (Im not asking for your real name, but something would be nice).
Barry hasn't been change of schools for many years, But Lisa Raymond has been and the recent test scores of her school, do not reflect very well on her management ability.She is heavily supported by a PAC that does not want charter schools held accountable or using our tax dollars.
As for "It's a miracle that anyone with Raymond's qualifications and practical experience would want to get anywhere near the current dysfunctional system."
Lisa Raymond has been sucking a nice salary off of that "current dysfunctional system" for quite a while, thank you very much.
Does she plan to quit her job and work full time for the school board? Does she plan to abstain on votes that affect charter schools?
more facts
Two corrections...
1) Charter schools are NOT allowed to "cherry pick" their students at all. ALL charter schools must accept students from all over DC. (Unlike say the reknowned Oyster Bilingual in Woodley Park--so oversubscribed now that only kids who can afford to live in pricey WP get to go there...at least native English speakers. There may be room for native Spanish speakers from out of the school's boundaries)
If a charter is oversubscribed then all applications go into a lottery system, just like the DCPS out of boundary process.
Unlike say the mysterious and likely illegal, "interview" process currently in place at the "regular" DCPS Watkins Montessori (12th and Penn SE)program. Prospective students in the three year old program are "interviewed" and the teachers attempt a balance of boys and girls, a certain range of ages, etc...nice for them but seems a little fishy to me.
Every year parents who want into that program scrounge around look for anyone to give them accurate info on that program...only through the playground grapevine are they really clued in to how it works. Try calling the Watkins office, you get nothing.
2)Lisa has quit her position at Chavez from what I understand.
And I don't think anyone would want charter schools to be exempt from the same academic standards as other public schools. And charters can be closed if they fail.
Lisa Raymond was endorsed by EdAction DC, not the PAC EdAction (which comes up when you Google the name.) EdAction DC is a group of education professionals committed to supporting DC Public Schools in part by helping to elect good leaders to the DC Board of Education. They are an all-volunteer organization and highly supportive of traditional public schools. Many members have had teaching positions and other experiences in public educaiton. They supported the campaigns of both current board member Victor Reinoso and fomer member Julie Mikuda. I would note that two of Ms. Raymonds opponents, Mssrs. Borbely and Baldi sought, and did not receive, their endorsement after a rigorous questionnaire and interview process. As you can imagine, they are not the same "EdAction" which supports the privatization of public schools and are most certainly not a PAC.
Just the facts.
Hello, Lee Glazer of the Save Our Schools Coalition here. I think that everyone should know a little more about the DC EdAction group, which has been described (misleadingly, in my view)as supportive of traditional public schools and as a "grass-roots" organization of concerned citizens. Many members of EdAction have very close ties to the charter school and voucher movement, and all seem to subscribe to a free market approach to eduation. Here is a list of members, with founders marked with an *:
- Kelly Amis, program director, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
- Nicole Barry, deputy director, Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
- Jacquelyn Davis, exec dir of the DC Program, New Leaders for New Schools, co-founder of Hands on DC
*- Matthew Dunne, ?
- Christine Enyeart, Education Statistics Services Institute / American Institutes for Research
*- Kaya Henderson, on the board of EdBuild with John Hill of the Federal City Council
- Traci Higgins, deputy director, New Leaders for New Schools
*- Michelle Hynes, dir of programs for Experience Corps
*- Darin McKeever, exec dir and co-founder, Heads Up
*- Julie Mikuta, co-founder of SEED PCS; EdAction-backed DCPS Board of Ed member; Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for EdBuild
- Heather Peske, senior associate, Education Trust
- Ariana Quinones-Miranda, Fight for Children (which administered the voucher program before WSF took over);and former exec. director, DC Public Charter School Association
- Kendrinna Rodriguez, director, DC Office of Public Charter School Financing and Support; prior to this worked for Robert Bobb in the City Administrator's office
*- Danny Rose, deputy chief of staff, Friendship Edison PCS; assistant director, Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (charter advocacy organization)
*- Mona Sanders, exec dir of Mentors Inc.
*- Mikaela Seligman, founder, New Eyes Consulting Group
- Cynthia Skinner, senior project manager, New American Schools
- Abigail Smith, a vp at Teach for America, PTA officer at a DCPS school (not sure which)
- Joe Sternlieb, deputy director, Downtown Business Improvement District
- Fonda Sutton, co-founder of Haynes PCS, and co-founder and former director of Community Academy PCS; now with American Institutes for Research
*- Kelly Young, president, 21st Century Democrats
Kaya - I wouldn't hold your breath about meeting with Lee. She'll probably be too busy trying to defend and support the status quo with her buddies Marc Borbely and Gina Arlotto. Louder does not equal smarter.
just a hunch
Hello, Lee Glazer here, again. Thank you, Kaya, for actually attaching a name to your post. I apologize for incomplete information regarding EdAction in my earlier post, and I invite you to fill in the blanks and correct the errors, because it hasn't been forthcoming.
On May 24, I requested information on EdAction on the concerned4dcps listserv, and here is what I learned: In concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com, Kaya Henderson wrote:
"My name is Kaya Henderson and I'm a member of EdAction-DC. EdAction-
DC is a group of community members concerned about the District of
Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and we work to fundamentally improve
the public education system by identifying and supporting effective
leadership. Most of us are education professionals and parents here
in the District.
We began in 2000 when the school board was reinstated. We wanted
to accomplish two things:
1) to remind DC residents, especially young professionals, that
the school board races mattered, by bringing attention to election;
2) to bring new blood and new ideas to the reinstated board
In addition to hosting a grassroots "School Board Matters" city-
wide campaign to encourage voter participation, we sought to
identify and run a candidate who wasn't a "usual suspect," who we
thought could significantly contribute to the new board. We were
successful in helping to elect Julie Mikuta to the board that year
in the District 1 seat. In 2004, we reconvened around the District 2
seat and helped to identify and elect Victor Reinoso, despite a
field of 7 candidates and a powerful incumbent.
As the 2006 elections approach, we are committed to a continued
focus on the school board races and are trying to determine our
capacity to assist candidates in the 3 open races.
We had been approached by both City Council candidates and Mayoral
candidates for endorsements, campaign assistance, etc. We explained
that we are working only on the school board elections, but given
our interest in the perspectives of the candidates on education,
decided to provide our members and interested community members with
the opportunity to hear from each of the mayoral candidates (the
sheer number of council candidates precludes us from hosting
listening sessions with them) - not in a debate or forum style, but
that we'd give them each a short time to explain to us why they are
running and to hear a bit about their views on education.
Marie Johns spoke to us in March, Linda Cropp will join us this
Thursday, and Michael Brown will speak with us in June. We have not
yet solidified dates with any other candidates.
We are a small, but hardworking group of folks who have chosen to
focus on one part of the school system that we think is critical to
its improvement - the school board. We invite interested folks to
join the EdAction listserve (edactiondc@yahoogroups.com) to keep up
with our activities. Things are a little slow now, but will heat up
once campaign season really gets going, and we need as many
committed participants as possible.
Oh, and on the money issue, we have none. Participants host
meetings at their homes or offices and provide refreshments. I hope
that helps to clarify a bit about EdAction. Feel free to email me
if you have more questions that I can answer."
Kaya Henderson
From: "lee glazer" ...
Date: Wed May 24, 2006 7:29am(PDT)
Subject: Re: [saveourschoolsdc] [Fwd: EdAction Listening Session
with Mayoral
Can someone please provide information on EdAction--who are they,
where does their money come from, etc.
Thanks,
Lee---
Since Ms. Henderson did not identify any specific members of their group (whose rather inactive listserve I joined earlier this month), I did my own research and provided on this blog what I considered to be pertinent information about its members. Is there some reason that publicizing their links to organizaitons such as the Federal City Council and EdBuild rankles?
At the very least, it would be helpful if Ms. Henderson or someone else would be willing to post a list of the EdAction members who participated in vetting current BOE candidates.
As to meeting to discuss education issues, Save Our Schools has a website--www.saveourschoolsdc.org--and an email address--saveourschoolsdc@yahoo.com--for anyone who would like to learn more about our work or meet with us. We have met with the founders of EdBuild, as well as with Parents United, the Kimsey Foundation, FOCUS, elected officials and individual representatives from DC charter schools and charter advocacy groups.
As to the claim that Save Our Schools represents the "status quo," I would like to point out that the SOS Coalition is not and has never advocated for the "status quo." The status quo in DC is a divided,separate and unequal hodge podge of so-called choices,most of which are not delivering a quality educaiton to some, let alone all, of our children. Last spring we organized a series of city-wide teach-ins in which we were extremely outspoken on the dysfunctionality of DCPS, as well as on the problems of privatization. Lisa Raymond attended the teach-in at the Capitol View Library. Marc Borbely attended the one at Eastern HS. (For the record, neither Lisa nor Marc is a member of Save Our Schools. Many of our members worked closely with Marc on the School Modernization Campaign and are supporting him because of his commitment to grass-roots involvement, transparency, and equity, as well as for his tireless work for modernization funding.)
Please visit our website at www.saveourschoolsdc.org for more information. This is the last time that we will respond to anonymous postings.
here are a few e-mail postings from lee glazer and marc borely from the concerned4dcps yahoo group that some might find interesting
Re: [concerned4DCPS] Fw: School Modernization Financing Act of 2005
Oh yeah, Landrieu is in for it. I'm sure that her hometown papers would love to know how hard she's working here on Capitol Hill for the mostly white, relatively affluent Two Rivers families who, not coincidentally, will be clients for her husbands burgeoning real estate business.
Cheers,
Lee
----- Original Message -----
From: Ed Dixon
To: concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: [concerned4DCPS] Fw: School Modernization Financing Act of 2005
Now can we work on that other snake, Senator Landrieu.
Marc Borbely wrote:
>Jack Evans is promising (in writing) to hold a hearing before July 15.
>His staff has sent the form response, below, to at least two people.
>- Marc
>
>
>-------Original Message-------
>
>
>>From: "Frankel, David P."
>>Subject: School Modernization Financing Act of 2005
>>Sent: 15 Jun 2005 17:12:55
>>
>> Dear Councilman Evans,
>>
>> That's welcome news. Thank you.
>>
>> David
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Evans, Jack (COUNCIL) [mailto:jackevans@...]
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 4:40 PM
>> To: Frankel, David P.
>> Subject: RE: Please Ask Jack Evans to Hold a Hearing on the Schools
>> Facilities Bill
>>
>>
>> Frankel - Thank you for writing me regarding this important issue. My
>> staff
>> is currently working with the staff of Councilmember Patterson to find a
>> date to hold the hearing which accommodates the both of us. We will
>> definitely have the hearing before the Council recesses on July 15th.
>> Thank
>> you again for writing. Jack
>>
I think that it is laughable that Lee Glazer can be against charter schools but she doesn't send her children to their in boundary neighborhood school.
Per pupil funding follows the student whether it is at a charter school or an out of boundary school.
I have visited both Brent(her in bound school)and the cluster school(the school Ms. Glazer chose) and they seem to have all the same programs so I don't know why she would choose not to send her children there unless she likes her kids to go to school with people just like herself. Maybe Ms. Glazer should spend less time suing the city and other public schools and more time helping her neighborhood inboundary school become the school she wants.
Ms. Glazer and SOS should mind their own business.
And yes I will stay anonymous because I am afraid you'll get one of your white affluent friends to sue me.
I love the fact that their attorney (save our Schools) sends his kids to private schools! They may lack scruples but they are overflowing in hypocrisy.
And in the meantime, children continue to get a crappy education in DC. What a waste of energy - let’s not get caught up in their negativity and focus on the good things that are happening with regard to education in DC - there are plenty of stable, normal folks out there busting their chops to make schools better.
By the way Lee, Senator Landrieu has done her part for the Cluster School - I do believe she has helped appropriate money to the schools your kids attend - if you all don’t want it over there at the Cluster, I am sure there are plenty of other schools in the neighborhood that would be GRATEFUL for the help. The email you posted about her husband is just bitter, not to mention ridiculous.
Oh yeah, Landrieu is in for it. I'm sure that her hometown papers would love to know how hard she's working here on Capitol Hill for the mostly white, relatively affluent Two Rivers families who, not coincidentally, will be clients for her husbands burgeoning real estate business.
Cheers,
Lee
I wonder if Ms. Glazer is still willing to stand by her assertion that Save Our Schools and/or its "coalition" has never advocated for the status quo. Isn't Elizabeth Davis a member of SOS?
As you'll note in the listserve posting that follows, there's a lot of talk about protecting DCPS teachers' jobs and quality of life, but not one mention of students, children, or learning. The anti-school choice crowd is about protecting union jobs, not educating children. Remember, Glazer, Arlotto and the SOS crowd support Marc Borbely. Draw your own conclusions.
If it looks, sounds, and smells like advocating for the status quo, chances are, it is advocating for the status quo.
Cheers.
--- In concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com, Elizabeth Davis wrote:
Hi Steve,
As the Chair of the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) Committee on Political Education (COPE), you are in a key position to inform and engage DCPS teachers in the ongoing struggle against privatization of public schools and other public spaces. as a member of the WTU, I am gravely concerned about the timid response of our Union on the subjects of privatization, charter schools and vouchers. Each of these will have a profound impact on DCPS teachers and the state of public education in the District.
Educating the members of the WTU about the impact that these issues could, and will, have on the job security and working conditions of DCPS teachers is critical to maintaining the the status of the Washington Teachers' Union in enacting or shaping public school reform initiatives in the District. I fear that if we are not at the forefront of these reform initiatives, then we will forever be at the tail end...reacting to reform agendas after it has occurred rather than having a stake in shaping it ourselves.
The impact of privatization and charter schools on public education in the District are issues that WTU members are keenly interested in. It's the responsibility of the WTU COPE committee to inform and engage DC teachers about these issues. \
Please let me know if the WTU is willing to fax out the following notice about the sale of public property (namely schools!) in the District
QUESTION: WHY SHOULD DCPS TEACHERS FIGHT TO ENSURE THAT PUBLIC PROPERTY IS USED TO SERVE COMMUNITY NEEDS?
A: BECAUSE IF DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE SOLD FOR PROFIT, THE DCPS TEACHING FORCE COULD POSSIBLY BE REDUCED!!!"
Q: WHAT CAN DCPS TEACHERS DO TO STOP THE SALE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
A: Join the People's Property Campaign Rally at Pre-Christmas Mayoral Bullpen
Q: WHERE?
A: At the Open City (Café), 2331 Calvert St, NW (near Woodley Park Metro)
Q: WHEN?
A: Wednesday, December 14, 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Q: WHO?
A: Empower DC, Critical Resistance, Save our Schools DC and more.
--- In concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com, "lee glazer" leeandevan@... wrote:
Oh yeah, Landrieu is in for it. I'm sure that her hometown papers would love to know how hard she's working here on Capitol Hill for the mostly white, relatively affluent Two Rivers families who, not coincidentally, will be clients for her husbands burgeoning real estate business.
Cheers,
Lee
UPDATE: no more anonymous postings to this thread please. There is a bit of nastiness popping up in the comments. Use your name/a handle, or don't comment on this one. If you are worried about being sued for something you are thinking about posting, then you shouldn't post it because it is tortious & irresponsible whether your name is attached to it or not. Be respectful & be polite. Act like adults, or I'll close the thread.
Telling the truth is not a tort, nor is making an anonymous posting on a blog. But you're right, a little civility goes a long way.
Rudeness is not a tort. What I was saying is that if you write something that is tortious, it remains tortious whether or not it has a name attached to it. I ask people to use a name or handle, not only to claim responsibilty for posts, but also because it lets readers know if the are responding to a single anonymous person, or to 50 anonymous people. It's a clarity thing, and a courtesy thing.
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