Category: Political Viewpoints
The Articles of Confederation and Education
The original Constitution of the United States called the Articles of Confederation created a loose confederation of 13 independent countries. Without getting into the various strengths and weaknesses of this original government, suffice it to say that many saw a need for a new constitution. That new constitution was ratified on Sept. 17, 1787 and except for amendments still governs our nation today. Probably the greatest success of the Articles were the laws setting up the settlement and eventual statehood of new territories. These land ordinances dealt with important social issues such as Slavery, and the rights of Native Americans. These land ordinances also created a vision and funding of public education into perpetuity. This quote from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 expresses that view: “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” In the Land Ordinance of 1785 Lot/Section 16 of every Township was specifically set asside for the maintenance of public education. A Township is 6 square miles. A Section is 1/36 of a Township or one square mile. There are 640 Acres of land in a Section. This designation of land for the sole purpose of education is a significant indicator of the value the founding fathers put on educaiton.
Article 10 of the Utah Constituion clearly defines the governance and funding of education in Utah. Section 7 of Article 10 specifically defines how the federal educational land grants, first established in the 1780s, would be administered under the Utah Constitution. I value greatly the wisdom and vision of those who have served our state so well over the last 124 years.
Read More...Posted on 13 Jun 2020, 11:49 - Category: Political Viewpoints
Local Control
As a State School Board candidate the slogan of local control is extremely popular and often used. And for the record I am absolutely for local control. I believe that issues of governance and administration of schools are best accomplished at the level closest to the people.
Studies suggest that when a community has a connection to the neighborhood school, and a sense of pride in the school exists within the community, that teachers are more effective and student learning improves.
The autonomy created by local control is important to building bridges between the school and the community. These connections will result in the civic pride and economic support that is vital to a community based school system..
As a member of the State School Board I would focus on the feedback from local elected school boards specifically and in general all stakeholders. For example, I would absolutely never take a stance intended to bypass the elected members of the local Davis and Weber School District school boards of education. My job as a member of the school board would be to advocate to the legislature on behalf of increased funding (WPU - Weighted Pupil Unit). This would then allow school boards to meet the goals of their strategic plan.
In addition to local control being better for teaching and learning, local control also means trusting in the leadership and vision of local school board members because they are closest to the people.
Therefore, I commit to connecting with education stakeholders, such as the local Weber and Davis school district boards of education.
A vote for me, is a vote for true local control of Education!
Read More...Posted on 01 Jun 2020, 24:19 - Category: Political Viewpoints
Testing
Do Utah schools spend too much time testing? Are there other methods of evaluation that might work better?
As a classroom teacher I assess everything, especially myself. It keeps me sharp and always improving. I also assess student learning in every class, every day. I need to know as a teacher if my students are making connections with the curriculum. Building connections with students and the subject being learned is of absolute importance. I strive diligently to assist my students in being proficient in the Utah Core Standards.
There are two types of assessment, one is formative which is the type of assessment described above. It happens every day and is often informal in nature. For example, after teaching 1st period U.S. History, I ask myself what I could have done better. I am not above receiving feedback from fellow teachers, students, administrators, etc. on how I can improve as a teacher. Modeling appropriate ways to both give and receive feedback is an important skill for everyone. Whenever I have a student teacher I have them observe my teaching and invite their honest and critical observations. By allowing this. it gives me the capital to be critical and help them grow. I follow the model; I teach, we teach, and then you teach.
The second type of assessment which I believe this question is focused on is summative assessments. I believe that these assessments have come under great scrutiny politically because of a school grading system that focused too much attention on proficiency and not enough focus on growth. There was also political fallout over the adoption of the Common Core and its linkage to SAGE. Improvement has taken place in regards to these assessments. During the 2018-2019 testing there were glitches that caused some distrust over the reliability of the results, but there have been several very positive developments. The new assessments focus on student growth equally with student proficiency. They also have measures of equity recognizing growth for high risk student groups and minorities. The public also has shown greater trust in these new assessments with a lower number of parents opting out their students, possibly because of their alignment with Utah Core Standards.
My main criticism of the current Utah summative assessments is that they are not being used as effectively to guide instruction. Teachers need the data in hand, broken down by skills, so that they have the ability to improve student classroom instruction.
Read More...Posted on 29 May 2020, 22:58 - Category: Political Viewpoints
Qualifications
How do your background and skills prepare you to become a member of the State Board of Education?
There are three main areas that have prepared me to become a member of the State Board of Education.
Teacher- I have spent 29 years in the classroom, at both the junior high and high school level. This has given me a rich educational background, but even more importantly the desire to improve my craft has kept me energized and willing to grow and change.
AAPAC- Over the past 2 years I have also had the opportunity to impact the broader educational community by serving on AAPAC at the Utah State Board of Education. AAPAC is an acronym for Assessment and Accountability Policy Advisory Committee. AAPAC is an advisory body that provides recommendations to the State Board regarding the various state assessments. I will address this topic more thoroughly more in a later question.
Community- I have had the opportunity to serve on the South Ogden City Council. This has provided me an opportunity to grow in my ability to seek feedback from stakeholders and be an effective consensus builder. Most importantly, I have developed my skill as a bridge builder between opposing viewpoints by learning to listen to and build connections with people.
Posted on 29 May 2020, 22:51 - Category: Political Viewpoints
How I would serve on the State School Board
Committed to Republican Roots & Values
Whenever I visit Boston, I take the opportunity to “stand in opposition”
Brent Strate – Utah State Board of Education, District 4
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
— Theodore Roosevelt
I will:
connect, engage, and build trust with all education stakeholders in the drive to consistently improve student outcomes and learning opportunities.
respect, promote, and advocate for the profession of teaching.
champion our home grown Utah Core Standards as the basis of quality instruction.
promote the WPU (Weighted Pupil Unit) as the fundamental pillar of education funding in Utah.
support school district strategic plans through local control of funding and curriculum.
strive to maintain humility and an attitude of service.
study the issues thoroughly and balance the opinions of many.
be polite and respectful of those who have opinions that vary from my own.
respect the taxpayers' dollars.
Finally, if elected, I will retire from teaching at the end of the 2020-2021 school year so that I may fully meet the time commitment associated with serving on the State School Board.
Read More...Posted on 29 May 2020, 16:29 - Category: Political Viewpoints
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