TUSD candidates: Public schools offer more than charters

While the race is nonpartisan, dueling events on Monday showcased the Democratic candidates in a forum hosted by the Democrats of Greater Tucson, while the two Republican candidates shared a joint plan on how to improve TUSD schools.

Two of the five seats are up for grabs on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board. Nine candidates are running.

Five of the seven Democratic candidates took part in the Democratic forum — Rene Bernal, Don Cotton, Jen Darland, Adelita Grijalva and Betts Putnam-Hidalgo. Miguel Cuevas had a prior commitment, and Francis Saitta declined the invitation.

The Governing Board hopefuls shared their thoughts on the benefits or costs of public education compared with charter schools or private schools.

Bernal pointed to more support and the ability to offer extracurricular activities in public schools as a benefit, and cited “more burdensome” administration as something that is more likely to exist in a traditional public school than in a charter school.

Cotton was the only candidate to praise charter and private schools, saying competition is good, and if TUSD wants to compete, it must improve the quality of education. Cotton added that there needs to be a focus on class size, quality teachers and funding.

Darland said she feels that the best investment made is one in public education, adding that the school-choice push has undermined the fabric of communities. She highlighted services that charter and private schools do not offer, such as transportation, free and reduced-price lunches and academic interventions.

Grijalva cited the inequitable funding between charter and district schools as a result of decisions being made at the state level. She also noted the lack of services for English-language learners and special-needs students at charter schools.

Putnam-Hidalgo praised the diversity found in traditional public schools, saying that exposure will prepare students for the real world. She did say, however, that private schools have the advantage of not partaking in standardized testing.

Other topics broached by the candidates included managing multimillion-dollar budgets, working collaboratively with others and initiating changes to make organizations more effective.

The two Republican school board candidates, excluded from Democrats’ forum, held their own press conference Monday. Debe Campos-Fleenor and Michael Hicks announced their plan to spend the district’s cut of the $317 million a judge determined the state owes its school districts.

Even though court challenges remain and it’s uncertain if or how much TUSD will receive, both said the district needs to have a plan in place that will benefit students and teachers.

“People don’t plan to fail. But they do end up failing to plan,” Campos-Fleenor said in the entry way at district headquarters.

And when that happens, Hicks said the money winds up being squandered and nothing gets fixed.

So what’s the plan?

Since it’s unknown how much TUSD might receive, the duo’s draft contained three scenarios that covered projected amounts ranging from $4 million to $14 million.

Among the proposals:

• Reduce classroom sizes. Each plan calls for capping kindergarten class sizes at 18 pupils, from the current 24. Plans would decrease other elementary grades as well if the money is there.
• Implement kinder camps for “at risk” kids.
• Allow principals to spend money as they see fit for their teachers’ professional development, textbooks and materials.
• Expand Advanced Placement classes.

• Restore stipends to attract math, science and special-education teachers.

Hicks said the plan emphasizes teacher support and training because they’ve been neglected over the years.