ExtraCredit: More Comments about Modesto City Schools Board Race

It was nice to see some good post-election analysis much like Leslie's take on District 4.

I was surprised that Vander Veen got as many votes as he did - and not surprised that he would consider running again in two years - just like his stepdad Dave Lopez did once, twice... five times before he finally got elected for City Council? Nonetheless, Vander Veen sounds like a nice guy who stayed positive. He got into the race early with a parade showing at the Fourth of July parade in downtown Modesto. People might have dismissed him back then, but if he runs a better campaign in two years, he'll have a good shot. He may want to reconsider the "youth for youth" slogan. That made me bypass his name on the ballot.

It's not a shocker that Belinda Rolicheck couldn't be reached for comment. Too bad her campaign manager couldn't speak up. That will go down as a pure shocker. While I don't know Belinda personally, her campaign mailer did nothing to make me vote for her. It seemed so packaged and inauthentic depicting a school board trustee "hard at work" on the issues that mattered. 

The $21,000 figure from Standard reinforced the idea that it's more about the candidate than the issues necessarily - similar to the council elections. It also shows the MTA can spend all they want on a candidate, but it won't necessarily yield the results they're looking for. Take what Barney Hale says with a grain of salt - trust him as far as you can throw him. His quote about wanting an open discussion of the issues is as laughable as it is bologna. 

Stay positive and keep listening to the issues Vander Veen, you will have a bright future.  Dave Lopez was the little engine that could and he has actually turned out to be a breath of fresh air- one that actually listens to his constiuents prior to deciding.

Thanks for the reporting Ms. Hatfield.

Based on your remarks about Ms. Rolicheck it seems apparent that you did not take the time to read Ms. Rolicheck's excellent, intelligent and well thought out blog on the issues facing the district in the next four years.

http://www.rolicheckforschoolboard09.wordpress.com

 If you had, I believe you would have a most different opinion of her qualifications.  Did you attend any of the forums the candidates presented at?  Again, if you had, you would have found Ms. Rolicheck's articulation of her ideas for the future of MCS and her analysis of past issues sound and worthy of consideration.  As far as her campaign mailer,  I (and many many others) actually found it creative and refreshing to see Ms. Rolicheck and Mr. Collins teaming up in the spirit of cooperation rather than competition.  Did any of the other candidates flyers inspire you?  They all seemed about the same to me--stock photos of kids, nice photos of families, quotes and endorsements from the who's who in Modesto.  Her campaign flyer did depict her hard at work on issues that mattered--because that's exactly what she has been doing for the last four years as a trustee.  Its too bad you don't know Belinda personally, because if you did you would not have posted such insulting and ill-informed remarks in your blog.

I think you all make good points about MTA and Vander Veen.

Belinda did call me back Wednesday for the follow-up story, but it was after hours and after my deadline.  She had been in work meetings all day and not near her phones.

Lauratarlo -- I read all of Belinda's blog posts.  It's obvious to most people who observe her at board meetings or who've talked to her about the district that she's a thoughtful trustee.  I never said she wasn't and I'm not sure which insulting and ill-informed remarks you're talking about (the blog or people commenting below the blog items).  But thanks for reading and keeping the discussion going.

Michelle

You stated that MTA Executive Director Barney Hale said he wasn't going to release the results of a survey MTA conducted of voters in September which focused on education issues and school board races across the county. Did Mr. Hale state his reasoning for not releasing the results of his survey? 

Secondly, your post said Mr. Hale reported: "respondents weren't concerned about test scores as much as they were about vocational education and job training, according to the poll"...  If that were the case, one would think that Mr. Hale would be eager to release the poll (if in fact that is what the poll showed).  Most of the parents of students covered by Modesto schools feel that the outcome of testing (the end result being the "test scores") are very important to them and the future of their students.  Could it be possible that the survey in actuality did not reflect what he stated and that voc and job training were not as high on parents’ minds as the test scores are?  If in fact vocational and job training were as he stated, the information from the survey might be beneficial to the local school boards so they could best utilize resources and staffing.  I'd be interested in knowing some basics about his survey: 

  1. What questions were asked (how the questions were presented)? 

  2.  What locations were the surveys taken (geographical locations)?

  3.  What were the educational levels/occupations of the parents who responded to the survey (as a side note... no one I have talked with received a survey, nor did they know anything about a survey being conducted)? 

  4.  Who paid for the survey (certainly not the school district and hopefully it was not taken out of contract negotiation funds that the teachers’ dues go into)?

If you have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Hale again soon, would you again ask him for a copy of the survey so that the residence (or at least the teachers) of the area MTA represents can know generally who took the survey (it might help those schools focus on vocational and job training versus teaching so that students can pass the State and Federal mandates to graduate).

I feel that Sue Zwahlen, Cindy Marks, Nancy Cline and Ruben Villalobos all will work hard to insure Modesto City School's students do well and succeed.  Hopefully with having four people on the Board who feel it is important to have honest and open communications with parents, school district staff, teachers (and I'm sure students) we all should be seeing a more transparent Modesto City School Board (and for that matter - Superintendent) for the foreseeable future.  Now, if Mr. Hale will join in and step up to the plate and try harder to work with this Board, success within the Modesto City School District will be improved for all concerned. 

Thanks for the questions.  My understanding from talking to Barney is that MTA did not pay for the survey, that it was funded by the California Teachers Association and included surveys of other county school district issues and voters.  Both CTA and MTA will be using the results of the survey for future election campaigns, Hale told me when I asked for a copy.

Michelle

With MTA having to lower the Union dues it charges the teachers and staff, (CTA isn't doing that) due to cut backs etc...  I'm surprised that MTA would spend money on a local survey.  If Barney can't release the survey because CTA funded the survey using the money local teachers pay into their California Teachers Association dues (those teachers really do get soaked from top to bottom don't they?  The NEA, the CTA, the MTA....  how many Union dues to they have to pay just to be given the opportunity to teach our kids? - I know...  more than they get back in benefits)... then could the Sacramento Bee ask the CTA in Sacramento to give them a copy of the survey (and the Sacramento Bee could share that information with you)? 

I'm kind of interested in what the survey was all about.... being that we taxpayers pay the teachers salary and they pay Union dues with the salary we pay them so indirectly the taxpayer funded the survey.....   I still can't believe that "respondents weren't concerned about test scores" especially considering everything in the schools today seems to revolve around test scores and Federal and State standards.  Teachers are required to teach more and more to the test (that's how results are measured) and yet the MTA and CTA survey said: "respondents weren't concerned about test scores"?  That just seems odd!