Charleston School Board: Lecque, Kandrac, Engelman, Fraser, Stewart
The Charleston County School District faces continued challenges in academic achievement, budget constraints and school choice. Although trustees have residential requirements to run for district seats, they are elected at large and each should be expected to have a district-wide view of public education.
The two incumbents for North Area seats aren't running for re-election. The voters should select Mattese Lecque and Elizabeth Kandrac to replace them.
Ms. Lecque is a college instructor who retired as a physician's assistant from the federal Bureau of Prisons. The Charleston native and Burke High School graduate also retired as a major in the Air Force Reserves.
Her experience working with inmates repeatedly made clear the link between an inadequate education and criminal activity. Education puts youngsters on the right path of productive citizenship, she says. To that end, she supports more technical education and vocational training.
In her view, charter schools provide an important way to involve parents in public education. Ms. Lecque says she also would support vouchers to provide the opportunity for "equitable education" to students in failing schools. She doesn't see new school taxes as an option in the current economic situation.
Ms. Lecque's impressive resume is bolstered by her service as an instructor in a federal law enforcement academy and as a substitute teacher in public schools. She would bring a wealth of relevant experience to the school board.
Elizabeth Kandrac has a great deal of experience in public education, too, as a career teacher in low-income schools. She also was a successful plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Charleston County School District.
Ms. Kandrac's 14 years as a public school teacher ended with her departure from Brentwood Middle School after being harassed and intimidated by students. With former school board trustee Larry Kobrovsky as her lawyer, Ms. Kandrac successfully sued the district for failing to heed her complaints that she worked in a racially hostile environment.
The former English teacher clearly recognizes the importance of maintaining discipline in the classroom, and the necessity of capable and committed administrators who will support a climate in which academic instruction can be carried out.
Ms. Kandrac says she believes Superintendent Nancy McGinley is committed to "the best interests of the kids and the community" but says the district can do more to involve and inform the public.
She is opposed to closed-door sessions, except when narrowly allowed by law. Ms. Kandrac, who has a master's degree in education, supports school choice for the greater parental involvement it creates.
One key need is more remedial reading in elementary schools, she says. Ms. Kandrac believes the district has enough money to expand remedial reading without having to raise taxes.
David Engelman has been a fiscal conservative and a supporter of budget accountability during his term on the school board. The voters should re-elect him to the West Ashley seat he represents.
Mr. Engelman, an employee of high-tech SPAWAR, has proposed that the district post all of its non-salary expenses on line — including grants, contract payments, electricity bills and association dues — to provide public scrutiny.
He believes the district has plenty of money to educate students but would like to see a shift of resources to ensure better reading skills in the first grade. "It all starts with the ability to read."
He is a strong supporter of school choice and charter schools. Some charter schools may not ultimately make the grade, but the public should be able to count on the board's support for public school "experiments."
Furthermore, the board should make available vacant school buildings, as with the new Math & Science charter school. "The taxpayers have already bought the building," he says.
Chris Fraser, a former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's Education Foundation, knows how important public education is for economic development and a community's quality of life. Mr. Fraser, a real estate broker, also has served as chairman of the State Public Housing Authority.
He wants to concentrate resources in the elementary grades as part of a systematic effort to improve academics over the long term. He supports Superintendent McGinley's plan to consolidate schools, as warranted, to provide savings.
Mr. Fraser believes the district needs a better plan to get persistently disruptive students out of the classroom so that other students won't be distracted.
The board doesn't need to meddle in the day-to-day operation of the schools, but should provide the district with "vision and a plan" for improvement, he says. If the district can do a better job of graduating students with proven job skills, the community and the local economy will be the better for it, he says.
District 20 Constituent Board vice chairman Marvin Stewart should be elected to fill the downtown seat for the school board. A frequent critic of the "big" board, his main concerns include the lack of improvement in test scores and the district's high dropout rate.
A supporter of the successful effort to create the Math & Science charter school, Mr. Stewart says charters provide a needed alternative for parents and students who aren't willing to endure failing schools.
He cites discipline as a major problem in public schools and calls for the district to look at new ways to get troublemakers out of the classroom. He supports the expansion of vocational programs, particularly in high schools with a history of academic problems.
A former public school teacher, Mr. Stewart is currently the manager of the Mount Pleasant village branch of the Charleston County Public Library.
"We cannot continue to do business as usual," he says. "I am not a candidate who will prescribe the same solutions."
Mr. Stewart will work for academic improvements, better student discipline and more accountability for schools and those who administer them.
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