NORWALK, Conn. – Susan Haynie, a Republican Board of Education member running for re-election, has taken on plenty of challenges in her four years on the board, including chairing the Negotiations and Personnel Committee. Now, she says she wants to help Superintendent Manny Rivera realize his vision for the school system and help implement the Common Core Standards.
Haynie took some time to answer a set of questions posed to all BOE candidates by NancyOnNorwalk.com:
NoN: Why are you running for the BOE? What are your qualifications?
SH: I am running for the BOE in the hopes of finishing the job I set out to do. Norwalk schools are diamonds in the rough, but for most of my 17 years in this district, it seemed they lacked inspired leadership. With a strong and visionary Superintendent like Dr. Rivera, fully supported by the Board of Education, city leadership and Norwalk ACTS, I believe our students, staff and schools can be models of best practice for the nation.
I have been a member of the BOE for four years. During that fpur years, I have been the chairwoman of the BOE Negotiations Committee, a member of the BOE Curriculum Committee, and, this year, a participating member of the transition team for the Norwalk ACTS, STRIVE network. Prior to joining the BOE, I was the Norwalk PTO Council (PTOC) president and PTOC vice president, and I was also the director of NorwalkSEEKS, a non-profit focused on special education and reading disabilities, information and advocacy. Prior to having school-age children, I owned and managed two restaurants.
NoN: What are your plans if you get elected? What do you think needs to be addressed? Priorities?
SH: If I get re-elected, I plan on supporting the superintendent’s strategic plan and vision for the district. There is a lot of work to be done. A big priority is to continue preparing for the Common Core: providing high-quality, ongoing staff professional development, completing technology equipment/infrastructure improvements, piloting the CCSS (SBAC) assessments and deciding on a PK-5 Language Arts Curriculum aligned with CCSS. Another priority is early literacy, PreK-5, in terms of significantly increasing the number of students at goal or above. Increasing the availability of, scope of and ease of access to timely and full information regarding our district and our schools is a priority.
Continuing contract negotiations that are fair but firm, student focused and respectful to taxpayers is a priority.
NoN: A lot of people think the professional staff salaries are too high. Do you concur? If so, what can be done about that?
SH: The question simplifies a very complex issue. I support very aggressive salaries for top-flight talent. I support highly competitive salaries for strong, proven teachers and administrators. I believe some of our professional staff, even those very highly paid, are often underpaid given the quality of their work and the difficulty of their replacement. A great educator is a wonder to behold. However, under the current design, great talent and strong, proven work isn’t rewarded any more or less than average or lackluster work. Salaries are aligned contractually with “steps” and time, blanket increases. This adds a high level of security for adults but has questionable benefits for students and taxpayers. Barring a change of design by union leadership, SEED, the new teacher and administrator evaluation model, and great, embedded professional development where needed will help. The NFT salary and benefit re-opener as determined by the arbitration panel will help. Vigilant hiring processes in Human Resources will help.
NoN: Jack Chiramonte said recently that he would be in favor of armed guards in the schools. What is your opinion on this topic?
SH: Both the City of Norwalk and Norwalk Public schools are doing a fine job of addressing the issue of security in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. A coordinated and strategic review of all 19 schools is almost completed and is being jointly conducted by the Norwalk Police Department, Fire Department and Superintendent in conjunction with school Safety Committees. There are now six armed police resource officers assigned to the schools.
NoN: Do you support the transition to the Common Core State Standards?
SH: Yes, I do support the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS have been developed for English Language Arts and math as well as science in grades kindergarten through 12. The CCSS define what content and skills should be learned in a particular subject, at a particular grade, but the CCSS is not curriculum, it does not define how a subject should be taught. The CCSS is rigorous in its expectations of preparing students for the real world, for today’s world; the CCSS will allow for collaboration between the 45 member states in teaching and learning, textbooks and best practices. The CCSS assessments will provide both formative (frequent, progress monitoring) and summative (end of year measure of learning) results. Like the CMT and CAPT before them, the CCSS assessments will be comparable across districts throughout Connecticut, but, unlike the CMT and CAPT, the CCSS assessments will also be comparable across all CCSS adopting states. The assessments will give educators, parents and students accurate information about whether the student is on track to graduate from high school ready for college or the work force.
NoN: Are you in favor of education reform? What are your reasons and your opinions?
SH: Yes. Again, this is a simple question with a complex answer. Let me illustrate.
Fairfield County is made up of 24 towns. In Norwalk, during the 2010/11 school year, the average administrator’s salary was sixth at $151,542/year. The average teacher’s salary was fifth at $80,660/year. The average employee benefits cost (for all staff) was second at $3,115/per pupil. But, the average expenditures for instructional supplies per pupil were 23rd at $134/pupil. The average expenditures for instructional/media supplies per pupil were dead last, 24th.
During the 2010/11 school year, 39.6 percent of our 10th-graders were “at goal” or above in reading —that means that only 300 10th-graders out of 760 reached reading “goal” on the CAPT. This is not just about socioeconomics or ethnicity, as the breakdown is as follows: Asians 57.9 percent; Black/African American 15.8 percent; Hispanic 30.2 percent; white 60.9 percent; full price 50.5 percent; free & reduced lunch 19.3 percent.
I have little doubt that if public school students and parents, as well as community and taxpayers, had advocates as effective and targeted as did the unions who represents the adult staff, this disparity would disappear and the achievement gap would become a sliver.
NoN: Is anyone in your family a teacher? Work for the schools?
SH: No
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