And Then There Were Six

I attended last night's board meeting to witness to adoption of the 2008-2009 budget. The adoption of the budget by 5-0 with Directors Sargent and Williams absent was no surprise, as the board has been working on the budget for some time. The student representative, Olin Stickler, voted yes, unofficially, as well.

The meeting was not well attended by the public. I suppose for all intents and purposes it was rather boring, but nonetheless, I was surprised that there were a handful of spectators aside from myself.

One of the most notable things about the meeting last night was that it was Dan Ryan's last as the Director for Zone 4. There were a great deal of heartfelt words and goodbyes and whatnot. It was touching. Ryan will be moving on to the Portland Schools Foundation and leaving his place on the board. According to comments made, they are hoping to have a replacement soon.

As with other situations like this, I am reserving judgement. Ryan seems to have focus on the children of Portland, which is always a good thing. Perhaps this connection with PSF will be good for our schools.

Someone close to me said something the other day, it was "those with the money have the control." It is a simple and obvious statement, and it is true. I am trying to keep those words in mind. At the same time, I hope that good things come of this change, and I wish Dan Ryan well in his new position.

There is a special board meeting coming up soon, and I will post more on that when the time comes.

Getting Closer

Well, we are getting much closer to campaign time. It is exciting, but also nerve-racking.

I plan to begin slowly (but surely) in July, trying to get the word out. Around that time, and until the election in May, I will be begging and gratefully accepting assistance of any kind!

Once summer hits, I will be able to devote a great deal of time to the campaign. I cannot believe that the time is nearly here. Time does go quickly, as it always has.

As this school year winds down, I find myself infused with a greater sense of urgency. Time does go by quickly, and as such, we must be focused on effecting change within the district so that our students have equal opportunities to succeed.

I haven't written for a while, so I wanted to give a quick update on what to expect.

Again, thanks to everyone for their words of wisdom and encouragement.

Update

It has been quite some time since I last published a blog.

I want to give everyone a quick update.


Of course, I am still running for the seat in zone 6. Don't worry! I am very busy, but my candidacy will not change.

Many things have been happening at my school lately, and as a classroom teacher, my students are my first priority. As such, I have had very little time for posting here. I have been able to keep up-to-date with PPS issues, but not able to post on them.

Ideally, I should be able to post about once I week beginning in January.

Even though I am unable to frequently post, please don't hesitate to email me. If there is something you want me to be aware of, please let me know. It is still early, but I always want input, ideas, and feedback.

I plan to begin the campaign with gusto this summer. Having a full-time physical presence in Portland will make that much easier.

I will keep everyone posted on what the campaign is up to and what support we need when the time comes.

Thank you for your support and interest!

New PPS Superintendent

Carole Smith is the new superintendent for Portland Public Schools.

Like many others I've spoken to, I am cautious and optimistic. I have to ask myself: is it better to be optimistic or cynical? And I am not sure of the answer.

Smith is a local hire, with longtime connections to the district. That is a big plus. It seems logical that someone from Portland with experience in Portland may care more about the good of the schools in Portland, and not just her resume.

On the other hand, she is a former underling of Vicki Phillips. I don't think I am alone in my overall negative assessment of Phillips' time as superintendent. After working so closely with Phillips, is it likely that Smith will keep the damage coming? I hope not.

For now, I am choosing to remain positive about the new superintendent. I hope that I don't end up eating my words.

Thanks to those of you who have emailed your advice, thoughts, and concerns to me. Please keep it coming! I really believe that "my" positions should not be solely mine, they should be based those of the community and PPS stakeholders.

Lisa

Jefferson's Woes

Lately on the blogsphere there has been quite a bit of talk about Cynthia Harris, the principal at Jefferson, and the way that Jefferson is being "dealt with" by the district.

My thoughts on the subject are plentiful, but the bottom line is: parents have a right to be involved in their child's education. That is not to say that parents should be in charge of an entire school, as I am sure that most parents have other things to do.

The message Cynthia Harris is sending is that parents have no business asking questions about what is happening at their child's school. Which is, of course, ridiculous.

Of course, most people are focusing on the racial issues brought up by this incident. They are definitely important. After all, "black kids are different" is an absurd thing to say.

I think that the issue that necessitates focus is parental involvement. If parents are welcomed at their child's school, it increases the sense of community. A sense of community is one of the most important things in a classroom and a school.

The Campaign is on!

I wasn't aware (until Thomas kindly pointed out), that there are plenty of people concerned with the May 2009 school board race already. I am so excited to interact with these people! I love the enthusiasm I read in blogs and comments.

It is inspiring me to believe even stronger that we can make a difference.

May 2009 is far away, but I feel like the campaign has essentially started.

More things will be posted on my website (http://www.lisarichardson.org/) about me and my ideas for school board.

I ask that you be patient with me. What I say is not written in stone. I am not asking for people to vote for ME, rather the idea that we can all have a voice. I want to work for and with the community of Zone 6, and if they want something different than I think is best, I am humble enough to rethink a position. When I say community, I mean community, not the folks with the deepest pockets. Though, I won't deny that supporters with deep pockets can be great also, but I certainly won't sell a position.

Please share your thoughts, comments, and ideas about what you see posted on the site when it arrives. There is a lot of wisdom out there, and with cooperation, we can make this race important to a lot of people, and help pave the way for significant change and achievement within the district.

I cannot say enough how excited I am.

Thank you!

Votes

Ian and I did some research today. We were trying to calculate various numbers and figure out how many votes I might need.

We looked at PPS school board election history for 2003, 2005, and 2007. The data from 2003 was a "fluke". There was so much going on in the district, that there was a really large turnout.

The winning board member has to have the most votes, not a certain percentage.

We ran some numbers and figured that I will need about 40,000 or so votes to feel secure in winning. 40,000. That's the number of votes I will need.

Anybody know a few thousand people to start me off?

I think it will be incredibly challenging, but trying to talk to over 40,000 people personally over about 10 months will be really fun. Let's hope I can figure out how to convince them to invest their vote in me with sheer passion and determination. Oh, and a proven track record of success that can be easily converted to an environment like a school board.

Good luck to me.