Election Day, November 2, 2010, will mark the first time that any members of the Harford County Board of Education will be chosen by the public they will serve. In most other school districts in the state and in the nation, school board elections are nothing new. But in Harford County, where the Maryland governor used to appoint all school board members, the voters will soon elect three new board members, and make a bit of Harford County history in the process.
Readers who are interested in the change from an appointed school board to a blended board are encouraged to review The Dagger’s guide to the 2009 law that brought about the transition in progress. The bottom line: Harford County is moving away from a school board with seven appointed members, to a nine-member board made up of three appointed members and six members who will be elected in each of the six Harford council districts. The transition to the new system will be complete in 2014.
For now, our focus is on the first set of elections being held this year in three Harford council districts – Edgewood/Joppa (District A), Fallston/Abingdon (District B), and North Harford (District D). In the non-partisan primary held in September, voters in each of these three districts narrowed down larger fields of candidates to the top two vote-getters. On November 2, these remaining two candidates in each district will again face the voters of their district, again in non-partisan elections. The three winners will be seated on the Harford County Board of Education on July 1, 2011.
Mindful of this moment in history, and of the relationship between the quality of public education and the quality of life for all, The Dagger posed some fairly pointed questions to the two finalists up for election in each of the three Harford council districts. All of the candidates were given the same questions and while their answers will be published here in a series, all of the candidates’ responses were received prior to publication – in other words, no peeking at one another’s answers was possible.
With thanks to all of the candidates for their prompt responses, The Dagger brings you the following Q & A with the candidates for the Harford County Board of Education:
Earlier, we heard from candidates Cassandra R. Beverley and Ron Eaton in Fallston/Abingdon District B. Next up is North Harford District D, where the choice will be between electrical systems engineer Rick Grambo, and Lorrie Warfield, a stay-at-home mother. Below are the questions as written by The Dagger, followed by the candidates’ unedited written responses.
Q1. School board members are often called upon to make decisions in areas where they may not have experience or expertise, such as the school curriculum or the capital budget program. Briefly describe how you would make decisions in areas outside your personal expertise.
Rick Grambo:
As I have said all along, no one person can have all of the answers, and successful professionals know how to sort input from different sources and formulate winning plans. I will draw on the experience of a large network of capable individuals to help us through these difficult times, that network is our community.
We also need to recognize that there are hundreds of School Boards throughout the country that face similar challenges on a daily basis. Harford County should establish working relationships with the most successful of those, and learn from their wisdom.
Lorrie Warfield:
The way that I would make decisions that would be outside of my area of expertise would be to contact and maintain a good working relationship with members of the community, parents, teachers, students and administrators. That way I could understand the full effect of any decision’s made on those persons. I would also research how any decisions made regarding curriculum’s or budgetary concerns have affected other school districts.
Q2. The State of Maryland has adopted new education reforms calling for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation to be tied to student performance. Baltimore City has recently begun to develop their evaluation criteria and all local school districts will have an opportunity to do the same. Other than test scores, what are some student performance measures that you would consider to be valid for the purpose of teacher evaluations?
Rick Grambo:
Competition provides the best incentive for hard work and innovation, often resulting in lower costs and higher quality. The Race to the Top program includes new teacher evaluation policies in an attempt to create free market conditions where none currently exist. I prefer school choice options as the very best way to introduce competition into our school system. Parents ultimately should decide where to spend their education dollars.
A school principal is in a unique position to evaluate the talent of their staff, and should preside over decisions concerning salaries. A Principal can use test scores, student progress, and parent satisfaction in combination with the intangibles to make informed judgments about the employees. Tracking real world outcomes of students who progress through the system would be a useful tool for making adjustments to the criteria over time.
Lorrie Warfield:
In order to fully judge a teacher’s performance considerations must be made in order to ensure that any factors that are not within a teacher’s control do not affect their salary. Those factor’s could include; attendance, learning disabilities, illnesses and the school’s prior performance. For the record I do not agree with this educational reform as I believe that it will negatively affect schools that have historically lower test scores in attracting and retaining quality teachers.
Q3. Maryland school boards are charged with many responsibilities. Among them are hiring the superintendent, setting both capital and operating budget priorities, formulating policies for school system operations, and establishing local curriculum guides and courses of study. Are there any previous decisions made by the Harford County Board of Education that you would seek to review or overturn?
Rick Grambo:
-I believe the Board could have done a better job reducing the cost of recent construction projects. The result of this overspending is Principal and Interest payments of about $25.5 million dollars per year for the foreseeable future.
-“Stretch spelling”, “Everyday Math”, and the “Block Schedule” have been sources of much discussion in the community. I think the BOE should revisit these programs and invite a more open discussion this time around.
-It is worth noting that the HCBOE has not been supportive of alternatives to the traditional public school. I would like to see the Board invite discussion on school choice options and how they could be incorporated to improve the current system.
-Adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act on September 14th 1992 was a huge mistake. The budget has ballooned since it was passed, and across the board student performance gains have not been realized. We need to make sure Harford County does not make the same mistake chasing Race to the Top funding.
Lorrie Warfield:
Some of the previous decisions made by the current board that I would wish to review or overturn would include the hiring of the current superintendent, the budget’s and expenditures for the last couple years, and which elementary school to build. The reason that I would reevaluate the hiring of the current superintendent is that I believe strongly that whomever is in that position must have a strong tie to the community in which he/she is serving by living in it. I would wish to review the budget’s for the last few years because I strongly believe that there are area’s in which some waste could be eliminated by setting up controls. Examples of those would be the mistake at PMMHS regarding the track. The situation could have been avoided had whomever was signing the checks for payment to the contractor ensured that the job was done correctly. If the mistake was discovered then it could have been fixed at no cost to the taxpayers. The last decision that I would wish to explore would be the current elementary school construction. I believe that both area’s are in need of overcrowding relief and if it was possible I would like to further research the pros and cons of both schools.
Q4. Adequate funding is a perennial concern for school board members. Next year, HCPS expects to face an operating budget deficit, estimated at nearly $14 million, if additional funding cannot be secured. What cost saving measures would you be willing to consider as a member of the school board? Please name at least two specific examples.
Rick Grambo:
This is a great question and I think it is very important that candidates encourage meaningful discussion about the serious economic issues counties are faced with. Many would agree that $14 million dollars is an optimistic assessment of the deficit.
Americans need to decide what we expect from Government schools. Today’s public school system is not simply a place parents send their children to learn. It has grown into a social services agency tasked with much more than just teaching our children. Do we want a Government charged with solving all of the challenges we face as Americans? Is the government responsible for all aspects of the education our children receive? Should we as parents and community leaders play a larger role in raising our children? The community needs to discuss these types of questions, in a civil productive manner, if we are to avoid the financial emergencies taking place in other parts of the country.
Salaries and pensions make up roughly 82% of the BOE budget, leaving very little room to make changes without impacting the employees. The BOE must examine the entire budget and remove all wasteful spending, but to solve the long term challenges fundamental changes are needed.
As requested, I have identified some specific examples of budget items that warrant more discussion:
-The 2010 budget places the Special Education cost for each of 5,277 students at $23,741 while the Non public placement line item is $47,093 for each of 205 students listed. The general education cost of $9,537 for each of 36,637 students is by comparison much less.
-The largest portion of Special Education Budget is the Home school section, listed at $19,335,440 and making up roughly half of the special education budget.
-Psychological Services and School Counseling Services make up over $9.5 million dollars of the total $14.7 million dollar Student Services budget. Parents, churches, and other community resources can easily fill in if reductions are made in this area.
– Pension costs are rising fast, and may rise even faster if the state puts more of the burden on our county as has been discussed. In 2007 total pension expenditures were roughly $19.5 million dollars (the county only contributed $1.6 million); with 2011 pension expenditures budgeted at $37 million dollars (the county only contributed $2.8 million). I suggest immediate changes affecting any future hires as a starting point. Political poison or not, we must address this issue.
-All of the new construction has left the county paying considerable interest on the bonds used to fund the building of new schools. The 2011 budget includes over $11 million dollars in interest payments. The county needs to find a way to pay off the existing debt quickly, and cannot afford to enter into any new debt.
-HCPS students who fail entrance exams at HCC require taxpayer funded remedial instruction. This program needs to be eliminated.
What other services does the school system offer that can be easily replaced by existing community resources?
Ultimately Parents are responsible for raising and educating their children. By reducing (and in some cases eliminating) mandates placed on the BOE by federal and state agencies, real cost savings and educational improvements can be realized. The Harford County Board of Education must use its voice, and work with other school boards, to demand the necessary changes in Annapolis.
Lorrie Warfield:
Some of the cost saving measures that I would explore to reduce the deficit would include further consolidating the upper administrative positions and reducing excess “throw-away” expenses. I believe that many of the upper administrated positions could be further condensed. It would make good sense in economical trying times like now that positions could be further grouped by duties. I also believe that there could be quite a bit of money saved from the bottom up by eliminating excess paper’s and supplies that are typically thrown away. Many of paper’s could be send electronically. Even though this looks like a small expenditure it does add up once you look at the larger picture.
great questions and a big help in selecting someone, thanks dagger!
Mr. Grambo,
If your plan to save money is based almost entirely on cutting special education funding, then I suggest that you run for Congress instead of the school board. Special Education students are guaranteed to receive those services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (originally passed by Congress in 1975, and most recently re-authorized in 2004). It was passed precisely to keep people like you from doing what it seems you wish to do–Save money by cutting the budget from the neediest students. It’s a spending based law, so you could conceivably cut funding for the special education kids, but you’d be kissing all federal education funding for Harford County goodbye.
Incidentally, this is why your repeated calls for school choice are rather pointless as well. It’s a fiscal impossibility. As you noted, students don’t receive one equal chunk of the funding. If you give an average student $15k to go to a private or charter school, that SOUNDS great. That would be his average amount of funding in the public schools, and he can just take it to a private or charter, right? Wrong. As you yourself noted, the average student only receives a fraction of that money in the publics. Give him that money to go elsewhere, and where will the money for the special education kids come from?
I addressed this concern with your positions in an earlier thread, and you promptly ignored it and left that thread. Now, after you’ve already been made aware of the impossibility of some of the key pieces of your platform, you continue to argue in favor of school choice and against special education kids. Is this the kind of “discussion” you aim to enter into? One where people inform you of things that you did not know, just for you to continue full speed ahead with your flawed viewpoint? That kind of tunnel-vision strikes me as a bit dangerous.
Also, schools are not businesses. The reason teachers get upset at the idea of putting us into competition with each other for our salaries has nothing to do with fear of accountability. It has everything to do with the nature of education as a collaborative profession. If I create a unit plan that meets with success, I share it with my colleagues. They do the same. If we are all set in competition with each other, do you think such a thing will continue? We aren’t in the business of generating money or constructing products. We are in the business of educating children. There is no industry that is in any way similar to that. Trying to force the ideas and policies of money-driven industries on the education world is doomed to fail.
I also question your desire to put an absurd amount of power into the hands of principals. I had a principal in HARCO a few years back who hired female teachers based solely on their physical attributes. He was famous for it (thankfully, he’s gone now). He had a group of friends that he would go out and drink with, and if you weren’t part of that crowd, you got nothing but grief from him. I’m not saying that this man was the norm, but consider the fact that people like that DO exist and you want to give such people control over what teachers make. Also, administrators aren’t generally as concerned with student achievement when compared to the classroom teacher. The Principal’s job is to interact with the community. I’ve seen assistant principals sweep plagiarism or failing grades under the rug to allow a student to play sports or graduate. This wasn’t done in the best interests of the child. It was done to keep the parents from complaining.
Based on everything I’ve seen, Ms. Warfield is the best candidate here. She’s not backed by a big political movement, but she isn’t blinded by one either. Her concerns and views have more to do with the county than with national politics.
PS- Mr. Grambo, while I’m sure you would like to blame former President Clinton for No Child Left Behind, it was actually proposed by former President Bush, and passed in January of 2002.
Grambo already has all the answers. At least Ms Warfield listens. She has potential.
I suspect you would vote for Ms. Warfield because she is small thinking and would be easily manipulated by the unions. The best candidate to benefit the unions I suppose, but not the best candidate for Parents and Students. I feel she is more aptly suited for PTA president, NOT the BOE. She is in way over her head.
You ma’am, appear to be a socialist and your frame of thought is the number one problem with our public education system today. You have made it clear in your post, that you support stealing funding from my children in order to pay for the children with special needs. In addition my children are being indoctrinated and are suffering in this socialist failing school system as it stands. They learn fair and equal social policies that are all but that. They only server to insure we are all equally miserable. They are paired with flailing students in order to boost that students performance. I could go on and on about the failing tactics incorporated in the HCPS class room, but I would be here all day. IT IS TIME FOR US TO STOP PROPPING UP THE FEW AT THE DETRIMENT TO THE MANY!!!!
These failing tactics are exactly why parents SHOULD have a choice where their childs funding is applied. Even if it is as you say, and that choice is a fiscal impossibility, having someone on the Board that recognizes this is enough to get my vote. Introducing competition into the public school system scares the Teachers Unions… AS IT SHOULD! Why is this.. because Teachers Unions know that the private sector is out performing them on EVERY LEVEL!
Mr. Grambo is the man for the job. He states that as a member of the BOE, and I am paraphrasing here, he would like to adopt best practices from the most successful education systems around the country and incorporate them into Harford County. Please explain to me how this is bad policy. He also states that he intends to strive to operate under budget. Are you serious, UNDER BUDGET, why Mr. Grambo how could you state such things…lol. News Flash teachers Unions. I think it’s also clear that throwing more money at the problem is not the answer so I support this “insane” proposal 1000%.
“Psychological Services and School Counseling Services make up over $9.5 million dollars of the total $14.7 million dollar Student Services budget. Parents, churches, and other community resources can easily fill in if reductions are made in this area.” AMEN!!!!
We are the TAX payers and we are sick of the Teachers Unions pushing us around. It is evident in this thread, that the teachers are more worried about their salaries than they are the students. I know many of you will try to dispute this but the proof is in the pudding. We are sick of the public school system under performing and overspending. You work part time and are compensated more than our military members who sacrifice ten fold more than you its time you are held accountable. We can now vote for a board member and oh how we see you tremble.
Mr Grambo you are on the right track. When you have the Teachers Unions upset and afriad you must be doing something right sir. – “Pension costs are rising fast, and may rise even faster if the state puts more of the burden on our county as has been discussed. In 2007 total pension expenditures were roughly $19.5 million dollars (the county only contributed $1.6 million); with 2011 pension expenditures budgeted at $37 million dollars (the county only contributed $2.8 million). I suggest immediate changes affecting any future hires as a starting point. Political poison or not, we must address this issue.”
Again I reiterate, MS. Warfield is a good candidate for PTA president NOT the BOE.
Good Day
1st, while this might shock you, I was never a member of the union when I taught in Harford County. I decided that they really didn’t do much for the teachers OR the students, and that they didn’t deserve my money.
2nd,it’s neither the union nor the board of education that decided to mandate that special education students receive the services they need. It was the federal government (as I said in my first post–most recently, former-President Bush). A school board in Harford County Maryland can’t overturn the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. To have a platform based on doing just that doesn’t make Mr. Grambo a visionary. It makes him an idiot. It’s like running for Mayor of Bel Air on a platform of repealing women’s rights. He might believe that it’s the best way to go, but the school board will have no authority to do such a thing.
3rd, once you get above the partisan rhetoric and recognize that fact, you will understand why school choice is FISCALLY IMPOSSIBLE. It’s not a matter of whether it’s a good idea to have options. It’s a matter of figuring out where that money will come from. It CAN’T be taken from the special education students as suggested by Mr. Grambo. It’s against the law to do such a thing. If Mr. Grambo has a plan to fund school choice that DOESN’T break the law, he has yet to vocalize it. I’d love school choice if it could be done without shattering the budget, but it’s just not possible.
His platform is flawed. I say this as a person with two eyes and a brain. Rather than be a person with two ears and an open mind, you automatically assumed that I was in the pockets of the union or a political party. Wrong on both counts. I’m not like yourself or Mr. Grambo. I’m looking at these issues as a person who wants to see the best result for the students, parents and teachers of Harford County. You two are too busy pretending to be big-shot politicians that you’re blind to the fact that this shouldn’t be about politics at all.
Also- Being willing to admit to what they don’t know and expressing a desire to seek out that information doesn’t mean that someone is in over her head. This is a school board in a small county in Maryland. These candidates are not running for secretary of state here. I’m perfectly confidant that Ms. Warfield will be more than capable of learning what she needs to learn to do the job well. The fact that you dismiss a mother and a housewife as being unqualified to deal with issues relating to school and children further exposes your idiocy. How dare you state that she is somehow unqualified to fill this post. I admit to being shocked at that level of snobbery from the Tea Party movement that proclaims to be all about governance by the average citizen.
I’d rather see someone on the board who is willing to learn. Mr. Grambo has demonstrated a lack of understanding of the issues involved in public education, but he runs away from people who attempt to share that knowledge.
This might surprise you, but I am not a member of the Tea Party. I simply stumbled upon this article on Facebook. After reading said article, I think the man is dead on with his analysis regarding the state of the HCPS. Even if he can’t eliminate all the overspending and under performing of the HCPS system, he is at the very least aware of it. Also, you continue to argue that you would rather have someone who is willing to learn the job rather as they go vice be armed with answers and knowledge prior to taking the job. THAT ALONE TELLS ME YOU ARE A MORON and NOT FIT TO LEAD NOR TEACH ANYONE. With your logic we may as well hand over the purse strings to any old person with a high school diploma. I am not even going to address your other comments because, to be honest, I didn’t even read your entire post since you are just trolling at this point. This is probably the same reason why Mr. Grambo chose not to engage you.
It would appear that you have never held a job that required results and expectations or you would not champion a candidate that needs to learn as she goes. I think most parents do not want the leaders of the HCPS “learning as they go” at the cost of our child’s education. Anyhow, Mr. Grambo won his election…so now we get to see how logical and practical people get things done. Pay close attention, you just might learn something. Good day!
LLBradfam- I just saw your response. You may want to take the time to read the rest of my post. When presented with two options– one who promises to do something that he is not legally allowed to do, and another who shows a willingness to learn on the job– you’re damned right I would choose the latter. Any good teacher will tell you that it’s far easier to get someone to he/she is a blank slate. If they come in with a head full of incorrect information, it’s actually MUCH tougher to get them to learn (because they must first UNlearn the nonsense).
I’m aware that Mr. Grambo won the election. It doesn’t impact me in the least. Regardless of your oh-so-pointed evaluation of my ability to be a teacher (without actually reading most of my post), I took my highly qualified, award-winning skills to NY. My students routinely nail the Regents exam, which is quite a bit more challenging than the HSA. I track HCPS because I still have a number of friends who teach in the county. Trust me, I’m not alone in waiting for Mr. Grambo to attempt to follow through on his campaign promises. Hell, I’d buy a ticket to watch him attempt to subvert the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. It should be high comedy.
That should read “get someone to learn” when he/she is a blank slate.
Let me get this straight… Mr. Grambo is against a system that pays for performance? That rewards schools that do things to get students learning and improving test scores? He is against a system that rewards states for strengthening charter schools and weakening teacher union’s control over local school systems? That allows students in a failing school the chance to transfer to another school or charter school?
Because this is what No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top does.
Mr. Grambo is EXACTLY the reason I was against the idea of an elected school board. While every single other candidate recognizes the need for public education and will fight to fund our schools, Grambo wants to cut money to the students who need it most. So typical. How could the voters of D turn down good people like Hau or Dauphinias is beyond me; but at least Worfield will listen to teachers (Grambo likes to say he will, but every time I have approached him about cutting costs he gets angry and even starts to shake; and I am a teacher!).
Does Mr. Grambo really believe that parents, churches and the community can provide psychological and counseling services for special education students? Absurd. I have been told the man is an idiot and now I beleive it.
How do both of you candidates stand on the BAHS hazing/bullying incident?
I feel you are all sorely misinformed. Mr Grambo truely understands the difficult choices will require that some protected and sacred cows may end up being slaughtered for the good of society. It’s been too long coming. We all need this guy.