League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Butte County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Ryne Ladd Johnson Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Butte County Board of Education; Trustee Area 1

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Butte County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. In light of existing and anticipated budget cuts in every governmental service and shrinking tax bases, what are your ideas to keep education in our district the creative and productive experience our children deserve?

The BCOE must serve as a leader for all other school districts in Butte County in regard to budgetary planning and management. As a member of the Butte County Board of Education, given the fiscal realities that our schools face today, I would insist upon the adoption of, and strict adherence to, conservative planning principles to ensure that our schools remain solvent and preserve the ability to effectively teach core subjects first. I would then work with BCOE staff to ensure that additional programs and electives are well developed, integrated with the overall educational plan and effectively delivered, reviewed and evaluated. As a member of the Board, I would assist staff in establishing collaborative relationships and potential new sources of funding to support educational enrichment programs, including the arts, external field activities and experiential projects. Finally, I believe that by increasing the use of digital technology in our classrooms, especially where specifically identified capital grants are secured to purchase equipment, we will improve our ability to expand creative learning opportunities at the lowest fiscal impact to our schools.

2. What are the key benefits and drawbacks to parents selecting schools for their children, including the relatively new phenomenon of charter schools?

I believe that the primary benefit to providing parents with the ability to select schools for their children is that in many cases, it fosters a greater level of parental buy-in and active involvement in their child's education. Charter schools which offer a focused subject matter orientation or teaching methodology can engender parental support and involvement with the school, and in many cases they foster a special sense of identification amongst students with the school and its approach to education. What must be avoided, however, are situations where public funds are used to create "specialized" schools that leave some children and their families feeling excluded. To ensure that our public education system remains viable and capable of supporting the needs of our entire community, and all tax payers, we must ensure that public funds are not used to create schools that foster segregation.

To that end, I would like correct and clarify information printed by the Enterprise Record in the October 16, 2012 article, "Four Seeking Three Chico Seats on Board of Education".

In response to the question, "What is the biggest challenge facing public education today?" I listed "privatization" as possibly the biggest THREAT after public school financing. I was quoted as "leaning toward" privatization and this is NOT the case.

I have significant experience in the area of privatization, having worked on several high profile projects in airport and energy privatization around the world. This gives me a unique perspective on the benefits and drawbacks of privatization as an alternative to public control and ownership. With assets like airports, which are inherently businesses, privatization can be a useful approach in creating operating efficiencies, introducing new entrepreneurial activities such as enhanced retail operations and marketing to on-site operators. In some cases, privatization can afford greater access to capital, but not in all cases and often times, not at a lower cost than public sources.

With regard to public education, while we are facing a fiscal crisis to be sure, we face an even bigger possible challenge in the slide back toward segregation, where efforts to "fix" our public schools by private and quasi private approaches are in fact creating "classes" of students, hiving off the best and leaving the most challenging and expensive cases to be dealt with by our remaining public schools, which are then criticized as for being greater failures. It is a vicious cycle that is getting worse and will confront most schools boards in our country in the coming years, including the Butte County Board of Education, for which I am a candidate. That is what I tried to convey to the ER.

I am running for the Board largely because I believe that I have experience and skills to objectively evaluate options to "improve" public education. While I believe that a great deal of innovation in education will come from the private sector, privatizing our public schools in NOT the answer.

3. Charter schools are public schools supported by taxpayer dollars. How should they be held accountable to the public? Should their governing boards be required to adhere to the Brown Act?

All schools that receive public funding should be governed by the same rules, including the Brown Act.

4. There is widespread agreement –- and adopted learning standards –-affirming the role of the arts in a complete education. And yet, among schools and districts across the state, access to the arts is inconsistent or nonexistent. How should the state ensure that the arts have their rightful role in every K-12 curriculum?

Art is about critical thinking, creative problem solving and communication. These are also the fundamental elements of any (good) educational program. Given this, I believe that the arts should not be viewed as separate subject material, but rather incorporated directly into the development and delivery of core curriculum, at all grade levels, K-12. As a member of Board, and a strong supporter of the arts, I would welcome the opportunity to represent the BCOE in working at the local, state and federal level to expand representation of the arts in our public school curriculum.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 29, 2012 18:46
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