Seattle School Director Pos. 5

Stephan Blanford

Overview
Issues

Persona

Stephan Blanford: Youth services veteran with doctorate in educational leadership.

LaCrese Green: Longtime tutor of students from Ethiopia.
Big idea

Stephan Blanford: Insist that the school board carefully monitor district efforts to eliminate the gap in achievement among students of different ethnic groups.

LaCrese Green: Give students one textbook for each subject. Teach the material in those books. Then test students on it.
Residence

Stephan Blanford: Central area

LaCrese Green: First Hill
Stump speech quote

Stephan Blanford: I tend to be the candidate who wants to look at research and evidence when we make decisions.

LaCrese Green: The current school board won't let anybody have a voice.
Conventional wisdom

Stephan Blanford: Shoo-in with no stiff competition.

LaCrese Green: Long shot after earning just 12 percent of the primary vote.
Baggage

Stephan Blanford: Can someone be overqualified for the school board?

LaCrese Green: When former School Board President Cheryl Chow was dying of cancer, Green wrote her and urged her to ask forgiveness from God for being gay, so Chow could go to heaven.
Family

Stephan Blanford: Married to Janet Blanford, a school district employee; one daughter at Beacon Hill International School.

LaCrese Green: Single, no children.

Compare:
Testing
Where new money should go first
Role of the school board
Short-term solution to overcrowding

Testing

Stephan Blanford: Believes in state and district testing as a tool to compare Seattle with other districts in this state and across the nation. Hasn’t decided whether current amount of testing is too much. Agrees that MAP exams aren’t right for Seattle schools.

LaCrese Green: Wants all tests to be based on material in textbooks, which she believes should be the basis of instruction in all subjects. Wants students to be able to see which questions they answer incorrectly, which they can’t do with the MAP and state tests.

Where new money should go first

Stephan Blanford: Give to schools where there is the most need to shrink the achievement gap, and make sure they use it in ways that research shows makes a difference.

LaCrese Green: Textbooks, then special team to help schools with large achievement gaps

Role of the school board

Stephan Blanford: Cites research that says there is a high correlation between good school-board operations and student achievement. Says that means the board should stick to policy, avoid micromanagement, and hold the superintendent accountable for results. Also sees board as a conduit for information to/from the community, and the people responsible for ensuring public money is well spent.

LaCrese Green: To listen to the community. Would like to see board let citizens present problems at one school board meeting, then have board address/vote on those issues the next.

Short-term solution to overcrowding

Stephan Blanford: Use portables as stopgap – not ideal, but necessary.

LaCrese Green: Move NOVA program into Garfield High, use the nearby Horace Mann building as a place where students who have been suspended or expelled can continue their education. Reopen T.T. Minor building in the Central Area as an elementary school.