School board picks

Today’s election endorsements focus on school board positions. The districts featured below are only two of many that are conducting elections on Nov. 6. We encourage readers in other districts to consult the Voters’ Pamphlet that came in the mail or the online version at wei.secstate.wa.gov/WEI/Spokane/ Voters+Guide+2007+General +Election.htm.

Spokane School Board, Position 1: Candidate Sue Chapin attended Spokane public schools and became a committed volunteer when her two daughters entered the system; her youngest will graduate from Ferris High School in 2009. Chapin was appointed to the board last January to fill a vacncy.

Chapin is a registered nurse who works as the infection control coordinator for Sacred Heart Medical Center, a job that requires attention to detail. She says she brings that self-described “nitpicking” tendency to the school board, too.

Chapin’s opponent, Kitara McClure, a motivational speaker who focuses on outreach to young people, seems fearless when it comes to challenging power and systems that support that power. When her children attended school in Davenport, she was vocal about the alleged discrimination she perceived against minority students. But the 29-year-old lacks the right mix of experience – for now – to take on the school board duties.

Chapin gets our endorsement because she has the experience, energy and commitment to become a solid board member, and the potential to focus her nitpickiness on budget issues, the search for a new superintendent and other major challenges facing the district.

But we’re hoping Chapin will take an example from her opponent and be less timid when it comes to challenging the status quo. The school district – to which she has devoted nearly two decades of volunteer time – deserves no less.

Spokane School Board, Position 2: Robert Douthitt emerges as clearly the stronger candidate. His opponent, David Keller, has provided so little information to voters that his qualifications are unstated and he appears unlikely to serve with an adequate level of engagement.

Douthitt brings a thoughtful, methodical and lawyerly perspective to the board, no surprise because he’s an attorney. He names three school priorities: pressing the Legislature for increased funding, persuading voters to eliminate the supermajority vote on school levies, and hiring a superintendent.

With a background in tax law and business, he’s likely to bring valuable insight to those issues. On the question of openness in government, Douthitt asks for more time to study the issue. His willingness to explore it more is encouraging, but his initial response indicates a worrisome reluctance to share information with the public.

Douthitt, as well as all school board members, should strive to both strengthen this district’s accountability and provide our community an important conduit for the truth.

Spokane School Board, Position 3: Vying for Position 3, which is a two-year term, are board President Christie Querna and substitute teacher Norbert Leute Jr. Querna has a considerable edge in experience and knowledge. She has been on the board 12 years and was planning to retire, but Superintendent Brian Benzel announced he was leaving for a position at Whitworth College. Given the relative inexperience of other board members, Querna felt duty-bound to stay and help select the new superintendent.

Leute says his interest in the position began when he ran into communication difficulties with the district in an issue involving his son. He stresses the district’s lack of commitment to special education students, but did not seem to know how to address the funding issue that must be solved to supply increased help. In fact, he confessed to being perplexed about how schools are funded in general and how money is allocated.

Querna has a solid grasp of those issues, though her cautious answers to public records questions seem to signal that the public can expect the same protective philosophy that has guided the district for years on issues of transparency.

Nonetheless, Querna is the clear choice in this race.

Central Valley School Board, District 4: Incumbent board member Lynn Trantow and her challenger, Keith Clark, both bring the valuable perspective of an involved parent to their race.

Trantow, who was appointed to fill a board vacancy in 2002, was a longtime volunteer in her children’s schools. In time she was tapped to serve on CV district committees, gaining experience in the district’s policies and procedures.

Clark is the father of seven, four of whom attend CV schools with a preschooler still in the pipeline. He’s also a member of the district’s Community Linkages Study Committee.

Trantow, who ran unopposed four years ago, has an advantage over Clark because of her five years’ experience in the job. Clark would have more learning to do.

More than that, Trantow has been an unusually inquisitive and energetic board member, taking courses in leadership and boardsmanship, and attending education-related seminars. She even sits in on some of the professional in-service programs teachers attend.

Clark praises CV as a great district with dedicated teachers. He thinks several accountability measures could be stronger, however. He also has concerns about a math curriculum that has gone too far in eliminating certain traditional methods, such as teaching youngsters to memorize multiplication tables.

Trantow concurs that a good math program needs to use a variety of proven tools. We believe her pragmatic approach is needed, and her energy and experience make her the stronger candidate.