Candidate Profiles - Vote on April 5

Here's a review of all the school board candidates on the April 5 ballot.

We've attended three candidate forums, and SNEA held candidate interviews on February 26. Thanks to the following SNEA members for participating in the recommendation process by serving on the interview committee: Shannon Benne (Watkins), Sara Polk (Portland), Jane Sellars (Central), Rebecca Jamieson (Hickory Hills), Sarah Schofield (Sequiota), Kittilu Maxson (Wilder) and Vicky Scott (Cowden/Holland). This group gave up an entire Saturday in order to ask some tough questions, participate in lively discussion, and listen intently to each candidate before casting a vote for recommendations. It was a great representative group of teachers.

One of our own school board members said it best: "We hold elections to find out what people want." And we're about to find out who the voters want to begin a three-year stint as a part of the seven-member governing body that guides our public schools. Thanks to all the candidates who participated in all the forums for caring enough to get involved.

Dr. Denise Fredrick

Denise Fredrick gained our candidate recommendation based on her vast and varied background in education and her understanding of the daily work that teachers and students produce. Denise was an outstanding Science teacher for many years at Kickapoo, was awarded Teacher of Year in that capacity, and later served as Science Curriculum Coordinator, Title I Director and worked in the Assessment and Accountability office until her retirement in 2009. She earned her doctorate soon after retirement and is now the coordinator for Secondary Education at Missouri State University.

It became clear during the interview process that Denise has never lost touch with the classroom, where she spent most of her career in education. She has worked with virtually every principal and hundreds of teachers in the district, which gives her far more insight regarding how our district operates than any other candidate. During one forum, she was asked to declare her views on education. She summed it up nicely by saying, "the real work is happening in the buildings and in the classrooms" while recognizing that "a dedicated and caring staff" is our district's biggest strength. Recommending Denise was easy. She's a dedicated student advocate, a confirmed teacher advocate, and SNEA is working hard to help her get elected.

Mark Heffington

Mark was an unknown commodity when he arrived at our offices for the candidate interview. He operates a local business and had been very active in the schools his son had attended. We had all read his questionnaire and were impressed with his openness and honesty, but the panel questioned him further on what might set him apart from the others. Members of the panel were impressed with his enthusiasm and powers of observation. Mark had attended several school board meetings prior to the election campaign, and he registered his concern that the board had a propensity for unanimous votes with few questions asked. He noted that only a couple of board members seemed to probe district recommendations or vote against a given proposal - and that votes were frequently taken quickly without much discussion. He expressed his belief that there was nothing wrong with a divided board vote, that it was a sign of good health for a school board to have open discussion. At the end of the day, the votes of the panel were cast, and Mark Heffington was given our full recommendation.

Dr. Tom Prater

Dr. Prater is the only incumbent, but this is actually his first election campaign for the school board. He was appointed to the board three years ago with no election because the number of candidates matched the number of vacant seats. He now serves as the board Vice President. Prater was new to the board when collective bargaining was a hot topic, and he deferred to the majority in all matters regarding that topic. Over the course of his three year tenure, he has never cast a "no" vote and has been among the majority on several budget votes that adversely affected teacher compensation. There is no question that Dr. Prater is a dedicated board member who cares deeply about his community. He is perhaps the most well versed of all the candidates regarding education legislation and has expressed his deep concern over the effects of poverty in our district. Our panel felt that Dr. Prater is a strong advocate for public education, but his voting record reveals a lack of independence on the board and a tacit maintenance of the status quo in district/teacher relations.

Carl Herd

Carl Herd has cast himself as the "watchdog" candidate. He is part of the group that successfully gathered petitions for a state audit of our district. While an audit of any organization is likely to reveal some misspent funds, it is unfortunate the Herd's group proceeded with the audit even after learning that an audit of our district would take place anyway, as part of a rotation. Rather than wait for that rotation, his group insisted that the audit proceed - a decision that cost our district $180,000. Mr. Herd believes that "the community is crying out for more accountability" from our district, particularly with the budget. He believes that Springfield is "a rich school district with a great tax base" and that waste and mismanagement is the main cause of budget concerns.

During a school Open House this year, Mr. Herd took it upon himself to visit classrooms at a particular school, which in itself would be understandable for a prospective school board candidate. However, he chose to do so under the guise of being a grandparent of a student at the school. It's not clear why he misrepresented himself to several teachers in that way, but it is perhaps a characteristic behavior for someone who is constantly seeking to uncover secrets and conspiracies. Mr. Herd was the only candidate who brought a spouse to the interview session, which would have been fine had she not entered the room accusing the group of having already made their recommendations and then attempt to read interviewer notes during the session. In spite of all that, Mr. Herd is a retired teacher and is genuinely concerned about our school district, and he has every right to express his concerns and run as a candidate. In the end, our panel did not view him as a viable choice.

Don Carriker

Don Carriker did not respond to the SNEA questionnaire nor did he attend the interview session. He told the News-Leader that he opposed collective bargaining and did not seek the SNEA recommendation. Mr. Carriker does seek to portray himself as the lone conservative candidate and seems to be attempting to inject some partisan politics into the campaign as the only candidate to declare party affiliation. Mr. Carriker is currently employed by Liberty Bank and is involved with mortgage loans. He taught for two years in the Fordland district several years ago and quit the profession in order to raise the standard of living for his family. During one candidate forum, he expressed his belief that parents should be surveyed twice a year about teacher and school effectiveness and that teachers should visit the homes of their students.

Carriker believes that his business experience will help him "sift through the budget" for future cuts. He also stated that principals are away from their schools too much and should be available "in case the lawnmower catches on fire." During the League of Women Voters forum, Carriker defended his opposition to teacher tenure by asking the audience to raise their hands if they had ever had a bad teacher. This type of simplistic posturing characterized many of his answers - and was perhaps a bit disingenuous coming from someone who works in the mortgage loan industry. While Carriker may possess a sincere desire to serve on the school board, we see no evidence that he seeks a broader understanding of complex issues facing public education.

Vote April 5!

SNEA is proud to recommend two strong candidates in Tuesday's election. Denise Fredrick and Mark Heffington would come to the board with unique perspectives regarding our public schools, and both have demonstrated a willingness to ask the difficult questions and to promote innovation moving forward. Our panel was convinced that Denise and Mark will be strong advocates for children and teachers while serving on the board. We hope that all SPS teachers and their friends and neighbors will respond with a strong showing at the polls next week.

The Non-Issue of Teacher Tenure

The Non-Issue of Teacher Tenure (response to comment on News-Leader blog)

Tenure is most assuredly not a system that was created to ensure that the weakest teachers are guaranteed lifetime employment. Tenure was created to ensure academic freedom and to protect teachers from capricious firings. If a school district can’t figure out how to get rid of a weak teacher during their first five years of probationary employment, they have nowhere to affix blame but to their own flawed system of teacher evaluation.

There has been no clamoring to get rid of tenure by the Missouri School Board Association nor from the Missouri Association of School Administrators – the people who supervise teachers and are accountable for the performance of local school districts. They know that teachers with tenure maintain the academic integrity to teach all the students and assign fair and accurate grades based strictly on student performance – not based on threats to their job because a particular student is a star athlete or the son/daughter of a school board member - or a state legislator, for that matter. They also know that good teachers become great teachers with years of experience and support.

Tenure is simply not an issue in our district, nor is it a major issue anywhere in the state. It has been trumped up by certain legislators who make a living carrying the water for larger political interests in our state - that happen to fund their campaigns rather handsomely. They have become very creative in their attempts to undermine state and local governments and local control of school districts. They fabricate issues regarding public schools because they seek to privatize them, plain and simple.

It would be great if our state legislature would actually try to tackle real issues rather than continue to fabricate them out of thin air for political advantage.