By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – For children from every background to graduate with the same amount of high-level skills that will help them compete in the global marketplace, improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs and reducing the achievement gap are imperative, candidates for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education said at a forum last week.
At the forum, hosted by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, CHCCS PTA and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Partners for the Advancement of Gifted Education, candidates answered questions submitted by the public.
Six out of the eight candidates attended the forum, with candidates Brian Bower and Raymond Conrad absent.
There is one two-year seat open on the board, which incumbent Chair Jamezetta Bedford is running for unopposed. Four four-year seats are also up for grabs this November.
Bedford said the board needs to look at best practices, such as those used in Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools, in order to help reduce the achievement gap effectively, and focus on literacy rates.
“I found out during the superintendent search that we don’t just have a minority achievement gap, but we have a global achievement gap,†Bedford said. “To make our children more globally competitive is to look at the dual-language program,†she added in support of the program.
Candidate Kris Castellano said she too is seeing success with the district’s dual-language program giving students who typically underperform the skills to succeed.
“The Carrboro Elementary dual-language program is showing early but good results for African-American and Hispanic students,†Castellano said.
Castellano also said the district needs to be committed to giving teachers the opportunity for professional development to put new best practices to use in the classroom.
When asked about the achievement gap, candidate James Barrett said the biggest problem is low expectations held by society about the success of minority students.
“I don’t believe we should be blaming what happens at home,†he said. “I believe we have the kids for a period of time in our schools and we need to focus that time on helping them grow and letting them know they can succeed.â€
Incumbent Vice Chair Mia Burroughs said that in order to reduce the achievement gap, she would like to see the district pick one or two things to focus on, such as improving instruction and literacy, and make sure that the schools are doing them really well.
“An important thing that everybody should know and remember is that every child who comes to us on the first day of kindergarten comes excited and nervous, but not everyone comes with the same skill set,†Burroughs said.
Incumbent Annetta Streater also said improving literacy, both reading and writing, is important to help reduce the achievement gap because literacy skills are imperative to success in other academic areas.
“Teachers should reduce the urge to consider factors outside the classroom as a predictor of child’s success,†Streater said. She hopes that by committing more local funding to training teachers in best practices, they will be more prepared for educating students who are underperforming.
Incumbent Mike Kelley discussed the planned elementary school 11, which the board hopes will be built by 2014, and making it a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) magnet school.
However Kelley said the board should also look at improving the world language programs at all district schools.
“You have to be able to communicate globally,†Kelley said. “And this doesn’t happen by putting everyone into a STEM program.â€
The candidates will face off again in an online forum on Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. at orangepolitics.org.