Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Answers to OUTLOOK Newspaper

Published on October 28, 2008 in Blog and Election Issues. 0 Comments

Submitted to North Shore OUTLOOK, Oct 28/08 for their Election Issue.

1. Why are you running for election?

During this intense election period (Federal, US, local), and the economic crisis, I see a worrisome trend — politicians calling for more government to correct problems and the public lapping it up.

Where did this kind of thinking come from?
 
I see this blind faith in government as eroding and usurping our freedoms.  That we have a government monopoly public education system is the main reason for this thinking.

I’m running to raise the alarm that public schools are training a placid, uncritical, and dependent citizenry. This is all contrary to human nature and this social engineering has gone too far.
 
2. What is your professional background?

BA (Psychology)

3. What are the important issues facing the school district that you are
interested in addressing if elected?
 
- Honor instrumentality in the lives of people — individuality vs collective mind-sets

- Local school autonomy, parents governing their own schools.

- Abolish school boards which rob parents of effectiveness, instead channeling them into fund-raising.

- Make sure students develop solid academic skills and critical thinking.

 
4. Official campaign slogan

AUTONOMY

 

Published in the Outlook Online, was the following:

 

Although most school board candidates are hoping to serve out their three years, one West Van trustee hopeful hopes to work herself out of a job.

Tunya Audain, another federal Libertarian, is running on a platform to dismantle the local school board. At her website, abolish-school-boards.org, Audain explains that the school board is an unnecessary fourth level of government that centralizes too much power in too few hands.

Instead, Audain promotes more of an independent school model where parents look after their child’s school.
Audain, who last ran for school board in 1975, is also taking aim at adult classes run by the school board including quilting and yoga. No word from Audain on where classes such as Jewellery Junkie 101 and Double Nine Patch Quilt should go if the school board is abolished.

sneufeld@northshoreoutlook.com

 

Grand vs Shabby — Board Offices vs Schools

Published on October 28, 2008 in 101 Reasons to Abolish and Blog. 0 Comments

 

Reason #11 in my rapidly evolving 101 Reasons to Abolish School Boards from my site:

http://abolish-school-boards.org

11:  School Board administration offices far exceed furniture standards in local schools.

Why the inequity?  Where are the priorities?  Does your school have shaky fiber-glass chairs for the children to sit in vs $800 chairs for once monthly trustee meetings?

Please see discussion in this online story from Sun Reporter, Janet Steffenhagen : Beautiful and Not So Beautiful Schools

And comment as below:

Wendy Smith said:

I have been in and out of many district administration centres over the years, going back to the years when they were simply called "board offices."  I have yet to find any classroom or other student facility in any district which approaches their grandeur.  Eight hundred dollar board chairs while kids sat in stackable fibreglass chairs, many of which were cracking and wobbly, birds’ eye maple board tables, expensive and unnecessary renovations–I’ve seen a lot of it.  And, consistently, the schools in the lower-income areas of the district were particularly shoddy and shameful in comparison.  I live for the day when students in each district are working in facilities equivalent in quality.  Realistically, I know it will never happen.  (I did, however, respect one superintendent who told me that he’d furnished his office at his own expense.)

Wrap it all up in whatever wrapping you choose.   Check out your local district administration centre, then go to a school in an economically-deprived area in the district, check it out, and draw your own conclusions.
October 28, 2008

(PS:  My Comment on this issue:  Do we, in the social sciences, have a Hypocrisy Scale?  If not, let’s design one.  Tunya Audain)
 

Answers to Newspaper Questions

Published on October 27, 2008 in Blog and Election Issues. 0 Comments

 

These are the answers I submitted to the North Shore News for publication in their forthcoming Election Pages (election Nov 15/08).

1.  Age – 71

2.  Occupation – Retired

3.  No of children? – 2 daughters, 4 grandchildren

4.  Political Party – Libertarian

5.  Are you soliciting sponsorship?  NO, not seeking CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), teacher union or WVCGG (West Vancouver Citizens for Good Government) approval.

6.  Do you live in the municipality you seek to represent?  Yes

7.  What higher education qualifications do you hold?  BA (Psychology) Saskatoon, Teaching Certificate, Ottawa Teachers College

8.  What Parent Advisory Council experience have you had?  Was on executive of parent groups.  Got news coverage for protesting “Mickey-Mouse” English tests.

9.  For non-incumbents:  How many board meeting have you attended in the last 3 years?  Attended 3 board meetings in West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Vancouver.

10.  What is the single biggest challenge facing your school district? 

Genuine parent involvement is lacking. Having worked hard in the early days to validate PAC’s I’m disappointed to see parent energy being channeled into fund-raising.

11.  How will you achieve a solution?

I will do all I can to accomplish local school autonomy. Parents should have an instrumental role in decisions on programming, quality, achievement and staffing.

12.  Why are you running?

I’m running to discuss issues generally and, in particular, to see how many people support abolishing school boards for the sake of autonomy and savings.

13.  You website – http://abolish-school-boards.org

 

Board Should Drop Quilting and Other Recreation Courses to Adults

Published on October 26, 2008 in 101 Reasons to Abolish and Blog. 0 Comments

More on 101 Reasons to abolish….

10.  School Boards should not be running recreation classes for adults. 

This is in direct competition and duplication of services provided by recreation departments, senior citizen centers, libraries, museums, and hosts of other public and private services.  In the current calendar (80 pg) for fall 2008, the West Vancouver School Board classes include:
Yoga, Quilting, Poker. Social polish for the holidays, Antiques shopping field trip, Conspiracy theories, Floral design.

Sure, classes are held mainly in the evenings and in the schools.  But, these community facilities can easily be used and scheduled by the Municipal Recreation Department.  And, the Curriculum Center, intended for teachers, is also heavily booked for these day classes.

Are these programs cost recovery?  I don’t see how they could be.  The big cost, from the community oversight point-of-view, is the time and energy spent by staff and trustees involved in this inappropriate effort which seriously detracts and diverts from the primary intended purpose of education of students in their jurisdiction. 
 

Speakers Denounce Standards to Educators

Published on October 26, 2008 in 101 Reasons to Abolish and Blog. 0 Comments

More….101 Reasons to abolish….

9.  School Boards and other public education bodies love to hear speakers who denounce standards. 

Currently, the most popular speaker against standards, testing, homework, and merit pay is Alfie Kohn, a frequent flyer to BC.

Most of his talks are to educators, who are then urged to spread his message to parents.  These are some Kohn quotes from the Salt Lake Tribune, Oct 20/08

When the scores go up, it’s not just meaningless. It’s worrisome”

The best teachers spend every day of their lives strategically avoiding or subverting the Utah curriculum,"  

See the whole story here.

Also, please see this take on Kohn to the Concord Review by Will Fitzhugh , Parallel Universe.

 

Campaigning to Abolish School Boards

Published on October 24, 2008 in Blog and Election Issues. 0 Comments

 

(Below are my background notes for the 2 minute presentation taped for local TV.  I don’t know how the final will look or sound.  Air time (Cable 4) for West Vancouver candidates are:  Sat Nov 1, 8-9:00 am & Sun Nov 9, 6:30-7:30pm.)

The last time I ran for School Board Trustee in West Vancouver was in 1975 and I ran then as a parent of 2 young students in the school system.  I wanted to make things better for them and others in West Van schools.  I did not get elected.

Now, I’m running as a grandmother, 33 years later, and in all that time I do not see things having improved….responsiveness to student needs, relationships with parents don’t seem to have improved…parents are still frustrated and families are still not meaningfully involved in governing their schools or successful in pushing for achievement goals.  In fact, things are worse, more complex, more entangled than ever…..

I’m running not for power or to sit for 3 years at symbolic school board meetings.

I’m running in order to have conversations on issues with people during this election period.

The main issue I present is that of the relevancy of the school board system itself.  I see the school board as an unnecessary 4th level of government.  Why do we cling to the large central control institution of school boards when we have the successful model of independent schools where parents govern their own schools?  Or we can try the charter school model where teachers and parents govern an autonomous school.

If school boards were abolished we would achieve enormous cost savings, perhaps to the amount of $1,000 – $2,000 extra per child which could either go to all students or dedicated to serving special needs.

Other issues are community education.  Should school boards, for example, run Yoga and quilting courses? No.

Should school boards recruit and educate international students — for profit?  No, that is not their mandate.  Leave that to the private sector.

Other issues I want to discuss with people are vouchers and tuition tax credits.  What about the idea, in the name of transparency, of having the board post online their cheque registry of ALL expenditures?

Basically, my belief is that the best decision-making is that done closest to the individual and in the case of education, closest to home.  That means having the family as closely involved in choices and decisions in education as possible. 

The best model for school governance is local autonomy, therefore we don’t need school boards.  Phone me or visit my website:  http://abolish-school-boards.org

 

School Boards and Incompetency

Published on October 22, 2008 in 101 Reasons to Abolish and Blog. 0 Comments

 

 more on 101 Reasons to Abolish School Boards….

 8.  School Boards are a great field resource to study incompetency. 

Where did Laurence Peter (co-author of The Peter Principle: Why Things Always go Wrong) do his research?
In this books he refers to Excelsior City Special Education Department  which is none other than the Vancouver School Board where he worked for 9 years (1955-1964) before going to teach at UBC.  The famous saying made famous by Peter, which everyone is familiar with is:

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

My observation is that school boards continue to exemplify incompetence and over-bureaucratization to this day. They are unique as a public body that seems to be most immune,  sheltered, under the radar….whatever…but generally exempt from the discipline of accountability or dedicated oversight.  I attribute this favored position to the fact that the "oversight" is done by tame trustees — lapdogs not watchdogs!
 

Literature Empowering Parents

Published on October 22, 2008 in Blog and Literature. 0 Comments

 

Because of more visibility during this School Board election period, I am being asked for more of the literature that helps empower parents to get the best education for their children.  I will publish much of this material in this category:  Literature.

Available

 

Campaign Handout

Published on October 21, 2008 in Blog. 0 Comments

 

This is the my handout for tonight’s all candidate’s meeting. 

Trustee candidates can’t speak, just hand out their stuff.

 

 X    AUDAIN, Tunya   School Board, West Vancouver

 

I believe Parent Rights in Education should be School Board Policy.

I see students as captive audience in schools, therefore they should be presented balanced views and opinions on controversial subject matters (climate change, social justice)

I believe parents should have an instrumental role in their own schools in monitoring effectiveness of programs and teaching.

I would like to see a much more accountable School Board when ALL cheques issued are accessible online on the Board website.

IF

You think we should open up the question of School Board Relevancy, and IF we should consider local school autonomy where parents are the governors in each school, and IF you feel we should talk about abolishing school boards, then a vote for me would put that in the loop for discussion in BC, whether I am elected or not.

For information on Parent Rights, Indoctrination Guidelines and Effective Schools Checklist, and more visit Tunya Audain at:

http://abolish-school-boards.org

 

 

Parent Rights in Education

Published on October 21, 2008 in 101 Reasons to Abolish. 0 Comments

 

Continuing to compile 101 Reasons to Abolish School Boards

7.  Parents Rights and Their Children’s Education is a taboo topic in school boards. 

Why?  When someone, naively and earnestly says that parent rights, written in a pamphlet or school handbook would help empower parents, that person is praised, then diverted to another topic or “convinced” in no uncertain terms that there are “many stakeholders, partners, decision-makers, channels of authority…..ad infinitum, to follow”.
Since 1975 I’ve been involved with a project, Education Advisory, to help empower parents as both consumers and producers in the education system.  The pamphlet, with the above title has been produced and reproduced in many parts of the English world, in print and online and is available here.