Unified Board Candidates Answer Questions from the Community

A group of about 30 residents attended the Racine PTA's Racine Unified candidates forum Tuesday at Starbuck Middle School.

Answering only questions submitted by the audience, each of the six candidates had the opportunity to make their positions known and to give residents a look at what they think the district needs.

Running for three available seats on the Board of Education are Robert Wittke, Roger Pfost, incumbent Julie McKenna, Mike Frontier, Kristie Formolo and incumbent Chris Eperjesy.

Voters will head to the polls on April 2 to cast a ballot for three of the six candidates.

The format Tuesday was simple; the question was read and each candidate had a minute to answer. Here are some highlights from the evening:

Are you familiar with the IB program and do you support expanding it?

McKenna: Yes, very familiar and I support expanding it because it's exciting that our students compete on the global stage. It's a tough program, but it allows kids to test out of some college credits, which is good. 

Frontier: Anything that challenges students and decreases college costs while avoiding the senior slide is a win-win for the community.

Formolo: IB is exciting because it opens more doors. It's not easy for these students to balance their classes with work and sports, but it helps them and makes our district better.

Wittke: IB needs to expand, but we need remember that not one size fits all. IB requires commitment from the student, the parents and the teacher for success, but we do need to replicate it.

Pfost: IB is a limited program with a limited number of students and with Racine rating lower than its peer districts, IB needs more support. But I caution about too much because not every student is going to college.

Is there any possibility of the voucher program here being revised or halted because Racine Unified didn't get a say and other communities are getting a say?

Formolo: This is a touchy subject because I don't see that it's the Board of Education's job to try and have a hand in this. What we need to do is make Racine a district that brings families here.

Eperjesy: Poverty is the number one issue eroding our schools and vouchers are number two. Even Republicans are taking issue with implementing the program by providing funding for private schools without the same responsibilities. It's not a fair contest, it's not helping Racine Unified, and I hope it's eventually taken away.

Wittke: Vouchers do hurt our funding, but it's hard to tell someone who wants to use vouchers in the way they were intended not to. I think we offer a good education as well as good alternatives.

Pfost: The Board of Education can't effect that change, but I think vouchers are a source of competition. Racine has an alternative to vouchers in the REAL school, which has a waiting list because the parent-teacher involvement makes the difference. They don't have dropouts.

McKenna: If public money goes to a private school, then that school becomes public and they should be held to the same standards. Robin Vos brought vouchers here without talking with us first. I think the Board of Education needs to have relationships with our state representatives.

Frontier: Competition is a great motivator. I look at Gifford, where the leaders there decided to create a school with no transfers, and it works. We need to remember that without vouchers, our taxes would have gone up .05 percent and with vouchers, our taxes went up three percent. We have to create outstanding schools so we can put this in Robin Vos' backyard where it can die.

What was Act 10's effect on the community and can we trust things to stay as they are?

Wittke: Education changes and we can't expect things to stay the same. We have to work as teams with mutual respect for collaboration. The handbook being done for staff is really for the benefit of 21,000 kids.

Pfost: The handbook is an evolution. I don't believe in tenure over performance and think we should include more of that. I can't see much changing even if the Board of Education changes.

McKenna: Biggest thing we lost because of Act 10 is collaboration because union contracts allow for it. Now, we don't have those tools so we need to use the handbook as a collaborative tool or we'll risk being like Kenosha.

Frontier: Morale here is not strong, teachers haven't had a raise in four years and government workers have really taken the hits over the last two years. The health department here is being forced to take six furlough days next year; this is how we help kids in poverty? The key to our future is collaboration.

Formolo: Really good teachers don't need a union contract because they know how to handle their classrooms. There is a district in Kenosha County that is number one in the state and they don't have unions. Why does it work there? Because they all work as a team, and we have this in Racine and should support our teachers in the same way.

Eperjesy: Unified should be held up as an example of how to do it. I've heard collaboration over and over so between union leaders, teachers and administrators, they got the job done. There are nine board members who recognize how important educators are and we should hold up Racine because there was a solution here when they knew Act 10 was coming.

What are your goals for the new superintendent over the next three years?

Pfost: I want her to get Racine out of last place in its peer group. We have to evaluate the district's needs to better prioritize our assets. We also need a report system for faster progress results, and I think four times a year would be good.

McKenna: The most important thing for me is that I'm happy with North Star and it's really starting to pay off so I don't want her to come in and try to change things. We're on the right track so I want her to work with staff to do better and align our resources.

Frontier: The most critical is student motivation. Park High School's automotive program is acclaimed but only six students are enrolled. Students need to know about programs and we need to build more partnerships with Gateway. In middle school we need to start building career awareness and make Youth Options available so students can get skills and really see the connection.

Formolo: Number one is communication because we lack this in our district. We have programs, but kids don't know about them. Our schools' websites need to be top-of-the-line because that's what people use to search when they're thinking about coming here. We need to account for good behavior and we need to have succession planning because we have qualified, talented people who should move up the ladder to superintendent.

Eperjesy: I want her to stay the course with tweaks and modifications along the way. I agree; we have the internal talent for consideration.

Wittke: Performance to raise the image of the district; accountability from the top to the bottom; innovation and the willingness to try new things. I welcome the fresh perspective because she can challenge some of the ways we do things and add value with her experiences.

What's your feeling about magnet schools in Racine Unified and should there be more at more grade levels?

Frontier: The key is to make all our schools great. The reason magnet and charter schools are so appealing is because the population is different. It's a challenge to make schools work, but we can do it with collaboration with businesses and doing more things like mentoring in third grade. We have to minimize cuts to poverty programs and we have to have the courage to advocate for our kids or they'll swim in the soup our legislators create.

Formolo: Expanding magnet ideas is key. We need to give principals and teachers more control over their schools and then hold them accountable. We're losing students in open enrollment, and that hurts, but expanding these ideas will help.

Eperjesy: We should expand magnet and charter to all grades but not make all schools magnet schools. I also struggle with the sibling preference because that could open up spaces for other students to get the same opportunities. The more choices we have, the more opportunities we have. These planning grants will help.

Wittke: All four of my children attended magnet and charter schools, and I will fight to expand where it makes sense. We have to do what's right for the student base. At Walden there is no sibling preference and their enrollment is set at a certain number so it's an opportunity. I wish every school was like that so I support expanding where it makes sense.

Pfost: I'm impressed with the REAL School and don't know why it hasn't expanded. The Board has been remiss is not expanding programs that can be supported at other schools. The Board seems to have no interest and administration has no control, but I would like to see it.

McKenna: Racine is big enough to offer choices for students. Magnet and charter schools are not accessible to all students, and they can be sent back to their home school, but our schools can give magnet and charter schools a run for their money.