Welcome to our online chat with Lawrence school board candidate Rich Minder.The chat took place on Tuesday, March 25, at 4:00 PM and is now closed, but you can read the full transcript on this page.

Moderator: Welcome to today’s chat with school board candidate Rich Minder, which is now underway. Feel free to submit your questions.

patron: Do you approve of the current’s board’s attempt to finance what should be regular maintenaince with a loan ( the bond issue)? I understand that 18 million dollars in this bond issue is actually maintenance.

Rich Minder: No. I understand that part of our problems with facilities is just this kind of use of maintenance funds in past years. I think before we use maintenance dollars for capital expansion we should establish a clear link between our educational needs and the facilities that will be needed to meet these needs. I would not classify maintenance in the same category of expenditure as ongoing maintenance and anticipated improvements that have no connection to educational programming.

Thanks for participating in the chat.

Riverside Parent: What are your feelings on the inequity amoung the schools.

How is it all schools marked for closure have been neglected for many years then they use inequity as a reason to close us?

Rich Minder: I harbor strong feelings about the equitable distribution of resources across the district. I think we need to look at issues of equity across two dimensions. First, there are questions of ongoing educational resources. I believe a central question to ask ourselves should be this: Are we allocating resources in a way that assures that all children will reach their potential? We must be clear what kind of resources we are talking about when we speak of ongoing educational resources. I think these must include such hard to define elements as leadership. What does a principal bring to a school? Does this principal understand the challenges faced by the children, families and the neighborhood? What skills and sensibilities does s/he bring to the particular school community? Does District-level leadership support the unique approaches that have proven effective in teaching these particular students and supporting the parental involvement? These are all important sub-questions that relate the equitable distribution of educational leadership at the school level. My understanding of Riverside is that the principal brought great leadership but received insufficient support from District leadership. I am concerned that the same pattern is repeating itself in the case of East Heights.

The second dimension of resources, which I believe to be considerably less important in terms of children’s learning and success has to do with facilities. I do not mean to say that facilities are not important in terms of the equitable distribution of resources. But certainly most would agree that good teachers with good leadership can teach well and effectively in just about any environment.

Geoffrey: Hi, Rich. I just wanted to know what your position was on teachers’ salaries. Obviously, because there are budget concerns, wouldn’t teachers be subject to find jobs in other cities that pay more? I know that other districts are still having shortfalls, but they are taking care of their teachers, because they know and understand that without teachers you don’t have education. I guess my biggest question is, we can’t compete with other districts. What is your response to this? Thanks, Rich.

¢ 6News video: Minder, Ortiz share views in online chats

Rich Minder: The labor economics of public education is no doubt a complex issue and perplexing subject. It appears that salaries, at least at the entry level, in Lawrence (and probably other districts as well) are so low that competition from districts with expanding enrollment places these expanding districts at an advantage. When recruitment, retention and motivation are as highly sensitive to salary levels as they are in the case of those entry levels, we face a real problem as long as enrollment continues to remain stagnant or in decline. I suspect that once a teacher reaches higher levels of salary, such that basic survival is less of a problem (and probably the teachers at these senior positions have moved past the more vulnerable young family stage of life) retention and motivation will include other less monetary factors. I guess I should get to my position: I am for higher salaries for entry level teachers. I am in favor of expanding the use of other ways of increasing teacher job satisfaction. Teacher involvement in determining the specific instructional approaches in the classroom and in the management of the school are examples of other job satisfaction enhancing practices. The good news is Lawrence is a wonderful place to start and raise a family, even at a teacher’s salary. I am told by teachers new to the district that USD 497 is a good district in which to teach.

Richard: Hello, Mr. Minder – Please allow me to share a grave concern that I have. I’m assuming that this bond issue will be passed, as many Lawrenceians are in favor or it. This will create a huge problem with classroom overcrowding. I don’t want my children, packed 35 or 40 in a classroom. Odds are that is NOT a good student to teacher ratio, and the quality of education is, at best, mediocre, if not downright awful. Please address this issue.

Rich Minder: Yes, this is a problem. I do not share your assumption that the bond issue will pass. In any case, pass or fail, we will be left with the as of yet unmet educational needs of our community’s economically disadvantaged students.

barbara: Rich,

Please give your assessment of the plans for the new alternative high school.

Rich Minder: I go back to an earlier discussion in this chat regarding equity. I think we need to begin any discussion of plans with questions relating to education. I have heard that the [new] expansion of the LAHS does relate to an educational plan. I am also aware that many in and out of the business community know that we need to develop a vocational technical education program. I have seen no such plan. I heard no one inside or outside the district produce for the community’s review a vocational technical education plan. I can see how a reasonable person would expect that facilities for vocational technical education(s) differ from more academic learning.

I must conclude that LAHS is really not about vocational technical education. This begs the question: What constitutes an “Alternative Education”? By this do we mean remedial education? What are the main inputs needed to supply remedial education? To what extent does a building contribute to the effective delivery of remedial instruction?

Do we need to ask such of such an alternative to address such issues as the depletion or denial of a child’s developmental assets before reaching high school? If these earlier issues are the origin of the cause for a need for an alternative education, what can we do to supply these missing developmental assets before they cause the need for an alternative education? At what age would we best intervene to assure that the child has the resources necessary to develop to his or her full potential in terms of social, emotional and cognitive development?

I am concerned that the cost per student at LAHS, just in terms of ongoing educational resources does not pass the cost benefit test of efficiency that is currently applied to East Heights, New York, Cordley and Centennial.

Moderator: We’ll take this one last question.

Deborah: Hello, Mr. Minder.

I realize you may not have the ability to say one way or the other, but in this morning’s LJW online, Mr. Morgan indicates that regardless of how the bond goes, both East Heights and Centennial may still be closed.

My question is this: can such a decision be made before the new board convenes?

Rich Minder: I think the question is a good one. I can’t say for sure. I would ask another question: If signficant public sentiment is expressed in the election, both in terms of the bond, as well as Board selection, any prudent and ethical leader would review any decisions in light of which way the wind in blowing.