The Problem: Lack of Information

Election season is upon us, and I feel that I cannot turn around without hearing or seeing an advertisement for some election or another. However, I’ve noticed a coverage deficit for one particular set of offices – school board elections. School board elections typically receive less media coverage than other races. This leads to a public that is less informed on the positions of candidates and less able to make an educated distinction between them. I believe this is detrimental to the overall quality of education in our community particularly since the board’s decisions directly impact our daily lives more than almost any other elected official.

The Solution

Bluff City Education’s goal this election cycle is to give candidates an online platform to share their views on the most important education policies impacting our community. To achieve this, I solicited 13 of the 14 school board candidates for whom contact information could be found (Anthony Lockhart for District 3 was not able to be contacted) and invited them to share their positions on some of the most important education policies in our community through a ten question survey. The questions for this survey can be found at the end of this post. Because I want to give them complete freedom to express their views, I’ve chosen not to make any endorsements or write any additional position pieces on any of the candidates before the elections. I will let my readers judge them by their own words.

Who Participated?

Of the thirteen school board candidates, four candidates chose to make their views transparent: Chris Caldwell (D1), Theodore King Jr. (D3), David Winston (5) and Damon Morris (D9). Each of these board members has submitted or contacted me with an intention to submit their positions. While I will not be making any endorsements as a result of these surveys, I do believe this voluntary transparency speaks to these candidates strong commitment to public service and their willingness to prioritize kids over politics. For this reason I applaud each of them For those school board candidates who chose not to submit their positions, I will leave the opportunity on the table. If you would like to take advantage of this chance to speak directly to the public, you can still send us your positions anytime between now and election day and I will fulfill my promise to publish them in their entirety.

Posting Schedule

For those that returned, their unedited responses will be visible on the following days:

Chris Caldwell, District 1 – Wednesday, July 9^th

Theodore King, Jr., District 3 – Friday, July 11^th

David Winston, District 5 – Monday, July 14^th

Damon Morris, District 9 – Tuesday, July 15^th

Additional, chalkbeat TN has also posted their own policy survey that catches some candidates that did not return my survey. I encourage you to check out their survey results here.

Check back on the appropriate dates to learn more about each candidate and their vision for our district! Questions that were put to the candidates:

1. Reason for running: Tell our readers why you are running for school board.
2. Vision: Shelby County Education has undergone dramatic changes in the past three years. Describe your vision for the future of our school district going forward and the role you believe educators and community members should play in achieving this vision.
3. Teacher Evaluations pt. 1: Rate the current system of teacher and principal evaluations here in Shelby County, and describe what if any changes would you make to this system. Please explain why you would or would not change the existing system.
4. Teacher Evaluations pt. 2: Explain whether you believe that the district should use teacher and principal evaluation scores in compensation, hiring and firing decisions. If you believe that they should not, describe how the system should best be utilized to improve education overall in Shelby County.
5. School Closures: School closures have become a hot button issue in our community. Explain under what conditions and for what reasons, if any, schools should be closed in our district and any alternatives you would pursue other than school closings if you do not believe they represent good policy.
6. Teacher Recruitment: Shelby County brings in hundreds of new teachers every year from alternative certification programs (Memphis Teaching Fellows, TFA, and Memphis Teacher Residency). Explain whether or not you believe we should continue partnering with these programs for the purpose of teacher recruitment.
7. School Choice: Describe your thoughts on the current state of school choice in Shelby County (charter schools, vouchers, the ASD). To what extent should school choice play a role in Shelby County education and how would you take action as a school board member to support on your position?
8. Teacher Compensation: The State just passed regulations giving districts more freedom in teacher compensation structures this past fall. Describe your knowledge of the existing teacher compensation system in Shelby County and identify any changes, if any, that you believe would improve it.
9. Personal Policy Priorities pt. 1: What education policy issue is most important to you personally and how will you work to advance this issue as a school board member? Please use this section to highlight any policies that you believe were left out in any prior questions.
10. Personal Policy Priorities pt. 2: Describe your personal leadership style. How will this allow you to be a productive school board member in addressing the issues you highlighted in questions 8 and 9?