Tracee Miller Response to SLPS Candidate Survey (via Susan Turk)

Link to main article and other candidate responses here. Tracee Miller April 2019 School Board Candidates Questionnaire Please supply a brief autobiography including relevant employment and academic degrees   I come from a very middle-of-the-road town and schools in Indiana, but from a family of teachers who inspired a love of learning at a young age. In the same way that some children fantasize about a dream home or car, she regularly spent afternoons imagining the perfect school. It wasn’t until I met my husband and visited his elite prep that I realized that my dream was a reality only for folks who could afford it. The distance between his academic experience and my own was vast, but the distance between mine and those of my SLPS students is infinite. I’ve lived in St. Louis since graduating from Mizzou, and have worked in St. Louis Public Schools as a middle school math teacher, and then as a contractor coaching teachers and managing academic intervention programs. I now work at Khan Academy where their mission is to provide a free world-class education to everyone everywhere. I have undergraduate degrees in English and Secondary Education, an MEd, and am currently a PhD student in Education Policy at UMSL. The SLPS is currently governed by an appointed Special Administrative Board, whose current term ends June, 30 2019. The elected board has limited responsibilities. While possible, it is not guaranteed the elected board will return to power during the term for which you are running because the state board of education may extend the SAB for as many terms as they wish. Why, then, are you running? If you believe the elected board will return to power, please explain why. I believe that the elected board will return to power because the community will demand it. The Special Administrative Board does not represent the community in the same way as the Elected Board, and the Elected Board is committed to the community values of transparency, accountability, and accessibility. I am running for this position because I believe in the ability of the Elected Board to improve in its current decision-making capacity, to come back into power, and to make decisions that reflect the diverse community that we serve. What is your understanding of the role of a school board member and what do you want to accomplish as a board member? The candidate did not supply a response to this question. Are you the parent or grandparent of children who currently attend or recently graduated from the SLPS? Did you attend and/or graduate from the SLPS? Have you ever worked for the SLPS or are you related to a current or former employee? Are you now or have you in the past served as a board member? If you are not an SLPS parent, graduate, former employee or relation of one, or board member, do you have any other connection to the SLPS? I am the godmother of a student who is a senior in SLPS, thought I did not attend school in the district myself. I worked as a 6-8 teacher and contractor in grades 2-12 in schools across the district. I have no served as a board member, but I have experienced the impact of board decisions from a wide variety of angles and look forward to addressing them so that others have an easier path than my godson has had as a student, and easier than I had in my multiple roles with the district. What are your thoughts about the Special Administrative Board which currently governs the district? I understand the necessity, under Missouri law, to appoint this board, and respect their vote to return power to the Elected Board. I have not seen transparent decision-making or foundation change while this board has been in power, and I look forward to the possibility of change with the transition. What is your understanding of the impact of charter schools on the SLPS? Should more charter schools open in the city? There is no one-size-fits-all opinion of charter schools, and I believe that our focus should be on provide high-quality education to all students in the city. The SAB is currently developing a not for profit corporation called the Consortium Partnership Network which will be governed by its own appointed board and whose purpose will be to govern the lowest performing schools. Meramec and Ashland elementary schools have been assigned to the CPN for the 2019-2020 school year. The CPN will be empowered to contract with private not-for-profit companies to manage these schools. If returned to governance, the elected school board will have an as yet undefined oversight role regarding the CPN but no direct oversight of the schools they are assigned. What are your thoughts on this? The teachers, families, community, and school staff know their students best and this may provide an opportunity for low-performing schools to address the needs of their students in more appropriate ways than the current cookie-cutter decisions passed down by the district. That said, all schools should be held to the high standards and measures of accountability. Do you have any ideas to improve public confidence in SLPS and improve enrollment? Ensuring that schools have the financial ability to invest in their students in ways that align with the student and community values will, in turn, empower them to more effectively involve the community in its operations and culture. For example, giving principals the power to hire their own staff will ensure cohesion among the adults in a school, will build a culture of understanding and excellence, and will improve confidence in the school’s ability to serve its children. As families feel connected to their schools and feel confident that their children are valued and receiving high-quality education, enrollment will improve. The Missouri legislature usually considers bills that would expand school choice by expanding charter schools, using vouchers, education savings accounts or tuition tax credits making it possible for students to attend private schools using public money or depriving the state of general revenue so parents could use their own money for private tuition without suffering tax penalties. The Trump administration promotes school choice and may re-allocate Title I funding away from providing low income children with extra resources to master reading and math toward expanding school choice options. School board members will be faced with an uphill battle in a struggle to attract and retain students to our school district. How will you respond to these challenging developments? Part of this is answered in the above question about improving trust and enrollment. We must work to enact policy that improves the quality of SLPS, and actively advocating for money for public schools and students and against measures that take away high-quality options for students in public schools.   What are your thoughts on the following legislation being considered by the Missouri legislature this year? HB130 Sponsor: Carter This bill specifies that the State Board of Education shall terminate the St. Louis City transitional school district if the district is classified as provisionally or fully accredited. Terminating the transitional school district shall return governance to the elected board of the school district. Since the SLPS is fully accredited this bill would have the effect of immediately returning the elected board to governance. HB629 Sponsor: Quade Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, this bill requires specified charter school applications that are approved by the State Board of Education (SBE) to not become effective until approved by the voters of the district in which the charter school is located. The bill requires that the charter approval be submitted to the voters of the district at the next municipal election or, if the next annual school election is more than 60 days away, at a special election. A majority vote is required for approval of the charter school application. I support the termination of the transitional state that SLPS is currently in, in accordance with Missouri law. The candidate did not answer about HB629 What are your thoughts on SLPS magnet schools? Having taught at a magnet school, I found that many do not in fact emphasis their purported area of focus. However, many of our magnet schools have higher academic outcomes than other schools. Unfortunately, the application process for charter schools can be complicated, and the quality of education all SLPS buildings should be excellent. I believe that families and students should have options that fit with their values and desires for their children’s future, but the path to those options should be more readily available to everyone. What are your thoughts on neighborhood schools? Many neighborhood schools have a negative reputation in the city; however, this is the result of policies that require one-size-fits-all policies that do not take differences between neighborhoods and students into account, as well as policies giving little choice to school staff (particularly principals and teachers) who know their students best. I believe that the path to high-quality neighborhood schools is within close reach. What ideas do you have to help students learn? All students learn differently, and have different curricular, instructional, and extracurricular needs. Our schools should be empowered to invest in what their students need, whether this is more support staff, higher-quality curriculum and resources, professional development (particularly on culturally relevant pedagogy and other topics that impact relationships and not only instructional strategies), and a focus on evaluation measures that support teacher growth so that they can, in turn, help their students thrive. If you ask me about what ideas I have to help students learn in different and specific contexts, I can, in most cases, give you an extensive description.  What do you think about the MAP tests and standardized tests in general? There is too much at stake with standardized tests, from funding to people’s jobs to student futures. In addition, these tests have been shows be biased against marginalized populations. While I believe it is important to measure academic growth and performance, I strongly believe that MAP scores are not a holistic representations of student ability or growth, and that these tests in general create an environment in schools that prevents joy in learning rather than fostering it. Approximately 70% of SLPS high school graduates who enroll in college must take remedial courses. What policies would you promote to lower this statistic? There are policies in place that encourage social promotion, as well as policies about how teachers must allocate grades and make determinations about passing students. I would encourage policy that promotes in-school tutoring for students, more support staff to ensure that students’ holistic needs are being met, courses designed specifically to prepare students for transitioning to college that include work study opportunities, and more investment in teachers and schools so that the improvement in overall quality of education in SLPS will impact this statistic. In the past the elected school board has been criticized as dysfunctional. Local media have unfairly perpetuated this impression. How would your election to the board help to dispel this inaccurate perception. As a member of the board, I would ensure transparency and accountability to the public. I am skilled at communicating and considering the perspectives of those who don’t agree with me, and would ensure that the board establishes goals, norms, outcomes, and retrospectives to meet our community’s expectations.