By:LARRY MAIER
School funding, increasing academic standards and high-school graduation requirements, and high-stakes testing top the list of issues and concerns that will be addressed by four candidates as they campaign for two seats up for grabs during this year's Baldwin School Board elections.
Incumbent and current board vice-president James Scannell, seeking his second three-year term; Robert Paskoff, who ran unsuccessfully last year, and two first-time candidates, Mary Clark and Linda Degen, will have an opportunity to make a case for their candidacy when they face off 8 p.m. Monday, April 30 in a PTA Candidate's Forum at the District Office.
Voting will take place Tuesday, May 15 at the Baldwin Senior High School, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
State aid an issue
Last year, because of talk about aid for class-size reduction and full-day kindergarten, Baldwin residents became acutely aware of inequities between their district and surrounding districts in the amount of education dollars received from New York State.
This is really the time to politic, advocate and lobby for a funding formula that would be fairer to the Baldwin schools. We're not a high income district like [state officials] think we are, said Paskoff, who has been extremely vocal over the past year in encouraging the school board to get the community involved in lobbying for changes in the state-aid formula.
Scannell said districts that rely heavily on state aid, like Baldwin, are hurt by the aid formula not only because it is unfair, but also because the state doesn't properly use the formula.
Part of the problem is that the state doesn't let the formula run so there are millions of dollars we don't get, said Scannell. If the aid formula were calculated completely and not capped by the state, Baldwin would receive far more money that it does, he said.
Both Scannell and Paskoff said they would like the board to encourage the community to make state aid an issue in state elections as well as lobby to get specific legislation passed that would portray district economics more accurately.
Clark and Degen also said they are concerned about funding.
Clark said she is encouraged by the board's involvement with a program called REFIT (Reform Educational Fiscal Inequities Today) and is also in favor of more organized lobbying of state legislators.
Clark would also like to see closer inspection of the way current aid dollars are being used to help the district. Maybe there's another way we can apply the money to help the students meet the standards better than they have been, Clark said.
Degen said that, although seeking additional state aid is important, it need not limit the district's ability to put sound educational programs in place.
We are getting more aid, said Degen, referring to money obtained from the state to start the full-day K program. Baldwin has consistently passed the budget. If the community is not upset about the budget and not up in arms about it, then I don't think that needs to be the major concern.
Test scores and assessments
I definitely think we could stand some improvement on our test scores, Clark said.
Clark believes there are additional measures the district can take to both improve scores and hold onto such enrichment opportunities as music and art, programs that many feel will be reduced as school districts place increasing emphasis on fourth- and eighth-grade testing.
We should offer more remedial programs and extra help classes, said Clark. We could also extend the school day. There are things we could do that wouldn't tax the budget too much.
Paskoff characterized the new state standards and assessment tests as a growth process
