Two Schools Of Thought Joanne Mccann And Don Barlow Give Voters Clear-Cut Alternatives In School District 81 Race

Both Don Barlow and Joanne McCann are experienced educators.

Both have advanced degrees. Both taught. They even ran schools - McCann as principal for a Catholic school, Barlow as administrator for alternative programs.

But they emerged from the world of education with philosophies as incompatible as dropouts and diplomas.

One of them will take those ideas closer to Spokane classrooms by winning the District 81 school board seat that president Nancy Fike leaves next month. Voters will decide Nov. 4.

Barlow sings the praises of education reform. McCann bashes it at every turn.

McCann says too many education dollars go to bureaucracy. Barlow says it isn’t so.

Both candidates wince at how poorly fourth-graders scored on new state tests. But while McCann thinks the tests themselves are bad, Barlow is more forgiving.

“It may not be perfect,” he said, “but at least it’s a beginning.”

Both are knocking on doors, shaking hands, trying hard to convince voters they know what’s best for students.

Neither of them talks much about private schools, though both have sent their own children to them, for at least part of their schooling.

Barlow’s flyers boast a photo of him with his smiling daughter, a Lewis and Clark High School graduate.

He reminds people he’s put three children through Spokane schools.

McCann coaches her giggling grandchildren in door-to-door campaigning: “Just say, ‘Will you vote for my grandmother?”’

When a man mowing grass said, “Oh, you’re McCann,” granddaughter Carrie, 10, chimed in. “She was on the radio!”

McCann, 63, decided she finally had time to serve on the school board after retiring last spring. She’d been supervising student teachers for Gonzaga University.

She’s never run for public office, but McCann isn’t new to politics. She has traveled to Olympia again and again, testifying on education issues for the Washington Parents Coalition for Academic Excellence, a conservative group she helped form.

Mayoral candidate John Talbott, who’s also a coalition member, said he’s thrilled McCann decided to run.

“I argued and argued and persuaded and persuaded for her to run,” he said, then grinned.

“I’m not sure how much persuading it really took.”

Another supporter, Sen. Harold Hochstatter, a Moses Lake Republican, said he admires the way McCann fights against the state’s education reform plan.

“She’s an independent voice, one widely separated by philosophies that the taxpayers can say isn’t taking the cues from anybody, like the union, the school board directors association,” Hochstatter said.

“She’s a very, very independent, value-oriented person.”

Not everyone admires that independent streak. Many of McCann’s views run contrary to the education establishment.

Even if she hadn’t retired from Gonzaga last spring, the dean of education says her contract wouldn’t have been renewed.

McCann was a good supervisor, Corrine McGuigan said, but her views on education clashed with those of the university.

McGuigan said she won’t vote for McCann, who she worries will take education a step backwards.

“Joanne’s running on a platform that we need to get back to the basics,” the dean said. “If we got back to the basics in terms of highway development, we wouldn’t be driving to Seattle on the streets we have.”

Barlow, 59, has long had an interest in politics. He’s run a couple of campaigns in the past, both unsuccessful. Once he ran for school board, another time for the Spokane City Council. He also lost a bid for freeholder.

“I’d rather run for school board, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of running for city council somewhere down the road,” he said.

The school board would be ideal for someone with his background, Barlow said. He’s worked with educators in both Washington and Idaho, where he spent a year as the state director of Indian education.

Barlow’s most recent work in Spokane public education ended in 1991, when he was principal at Crosswalk, a school for homeless children.

“He really cared about kids,” said Ed Gaffney, his former boss. “He loved kids. He was an extremely fine advocate of Indian youngsters.”

Barlow helped relocate the school after a fire, Gaffney said. “I remember him putting in a lot of extra hours helping to recover furniture and books.”

Marilee Roloff, who also worked with Barlow, described him as someone who understood the needs of high-risk students and a great liaison between alternative programs and the district.

He left the program a few years after his wife died from cancer, and he began feeling burned out.

“I just didn’t feel good,” said Barlow. “I felt maybe the job was getting to be too much.”

Since then, Barlow has worked as a mental health therapist, specializing in grief counseling. He said his years in counseling helped him polish an invaluable skill for a school board member: listening.

He’s especially interested in helping decide on a new policy that could result in holding back students who don’t meet specific standards.

“I know how I’d feel if they said my child couldn’t go on to the next level,” Barlow said.

“I don’t think you can set one standard for all kids. All kids are different.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: A FEW TIDBITS OF INFORMATION ON CANDIDATES Need to know a little more about the candidates for Spokane School District 81’s board? Here is a briefing on the issues, and a bit about their outside interests. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Q: Is the state’s new fourth-grade assessment test a good measure of what a child should know? Barlow: Yes. The standards are new, the test material has not been covered, and it will set high performance as we adjust our teaching methods and curriculum. McCann: Not yet. Although I have some concerns about the writing and reading assessments, the math needs the most improvement. Q: Should the district make it tougher for students to advance to the next grade without mastering specific skills? Barlow: Yes. The district should tighten requirements for grade advancement and graduation to enable students to compete academically in higher education, business and modern technology. McCann: Yes, especially in the elementary grades. Not only do students who are passed on year after year get further behind, but they also develop bad habits and attitudes. Q: At what grades should they be asked to prove that mastery? Barlow: Fourth, eighth and 10th grades. McCann: Depends on the subjects and curriculum. In reading, writing and math, some components must be mastered every year. Q: Do you support the state’s education reform plan? Barlow: Yes. The world is changing and we have to adjust our educational system to meet the demands of the technological society. McCann: No. Legislators in Olympia have mandated what all public school districts must do. This takes local control completely out of the picture. Q: Should high school students be required to read certain books that long have been required reading, such as To Kill A Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn, which some black students say are offensive? Barlow: No. Both are literary classics and I believe they should be optional but not necessarily because of content. Students need to know about the past. McCann: Probably they should, but it should be up to the teacher. Those books not only teach about the ignorance of the past in this country but what happens when people of character stand by friendship and their beliefs. Q: What’s the most important issue for Spokane schools? Barlow: Education reform, which holds students and schools accountable for results focusing on student assessment, essential learning requirements, parent involvement and diversity. McCann: An increasing number of students are slipping through the cracks academically. Favorite music: Barlow: Disco of the 1970s. McCann: Classical and semi-classical. Pets: Barlow: Siamese cat, mixed-breed dog, daughter’s pet rat. McCann: Two dogs - a mixed-breed and a sheltie-heeler. Favorite class in high school: Barlow: History. McCann: English and history. Least favorite class in high school: Barlow: Typing. McCann: Typing. (Wish we’d had computers.) Favorite books: Barlow: Fortunate Son and the Bible. McCann: A Christmas Carol and Heidi. Riskiest thing done in past year: Barlow: Easter Seal Bachelor Auction. McCann: Running for school board.