Website: www.DavidTatman.com

No survey response from candidate.

Website: VotePamTJohnson.com

Ranked Choice:

I support programs that replace traditional and/or remedial courses with advanced and/or college level courses in our district.
Disagree

I believe that the racial demographics of the school districts should equitably represent the population of Baton Rouge.
Agree

I support the creation of a separate school district for St. George.
Disagree

Family poverty levels affect student test scores, therefore we need a system that takes overall school poverty level into account in order to give a more accurate measure of student performance.
Agree

The school district should have the authority to mandate vaccines for children in public schools.
Agree

The school district should provide curriculum that is sensitive to race, gender, and culture.
Agree

Recess time should be required in both elementary AND middle schools.
Agree

Short Answer:

What is your relationship with the public school system? (Did you attend, did/are your children/grandchildren attend(ing)). Have you attended school board meetings in the past? How would your presence improve the board?
Yes, I attended public schools, my children attended public schools, my grand child is attending schools. I have attended boards meeting in the past. I am not supportive of the disdain for some the public and likewise the disrespect that is shown to board members. If elected I would return Robert Rules of Order for the conducting of meetings. I would also return standing committees to the Board. When standings committees are returned public participation and information can be more readily received. I would also engage the community by having meeting to get input on items in reference to the adoption of proposed policies.

Do you support the creation of more charter schools in Baton Rouge? What criteria would you use to determine whether to approve them? What solution would you propose to address the growing budget deficits as charters receive more dedicated funds from the general budget?
No, I do not support the creation of charter school for the purpose of displacing traditional Public Schools. However, if there is a specific education need in our community, that cannot be addressed adequately by the Local Education Authority and a charter application is submitted to meet that need adequately; yes I will vote for that charter. I believe failing charters should not be be allowed to operate. Why condemn children attending charters and receive a worst fate than attending a failing LEA school. Let’s return the money from charters back to the LEA to provide Equity to those school that the funds for students were taken away from from to create a charter.

What role does a school board member play in addressing the local challenges concerning teacher retention and hiring? How will you address the district’s teacher shortage?
It is the role of the Board to employ a superintendent that will recruit, interview, and recommend employment of school system staff. The board must approve an adequate salary scale, fund that scale, and empower the superintendent to attract and retain teachers for our school system.

The Industrial Tax Exemption Program gives exemption of property tax to industry. What is your criteria for approving or denying ITEP exemptions for the school board portion of the tax?
I do not believe industry should be exempted from the payment of School Board tax.

Would you like to clarify any of your ranked choice responses?
I believe, we must close the opportunity, and learning gap that creates a discrepancy in achievement and academic outcomes between lower income, children of color, non English Speaking Children and children with special needs. EQUITY! We know what the barriers are to closing the learning gap, let’s remove them. We must continue proving high achieving students every opportunity to continue to advance.
We are losing teachers to neighboring districts and state with a higher pay scale. WE must increase the teacher’s pay scale to exceed or equal southern average. We must provide ongoing cost of living and performance increases to our teacher.
My goal for the District is to have high preforming teachers in every school. Teachers who are underperforming should be mentored by more experienced teachers or through a retired teaches mentorship program.
The board should re-employing an adequate student support staff to address the increasing emotional and mental health needs of students.

Website: PatrickMartin.com

Ranked Choice:

I support programs that replace traditional and/or remedial courses with advanced and/or college level courses in our district.
Disagree

I believe that the racial demographics of the school districts should equitably represent the population of Baton Rouge.
Strongly Agree

I support the creation of a separate school district for St. George.
Neutral

Family poverty levels affect student test scores, therefore we need a system that takes overall school poverty level into account in order to give a more accurate measure of student performance.
Strongly Disagree

The school district should have the authority to mandate vaccines for children in public schools.
Neutral

The school district should provide curriculum that is sensitive to race, gender, and culture.
Agree

Recess time should be required in both elementary AND middle schools.
Strongly Agree

Short Answer:

What is your relationship with the public school system? (Did you attend, did/are your children/grandchildren attend(ing)). Have you attended school board meetings in the past? How would your presence improve the board?
I attended Baton Rouge public schools from Grades 5-9, when we moved away. My daughter is in 4th grade at BASIS, a public charter school. My son graduated from Catholic High.
I have attended several school board meetings in the past.
I have significant leadership and public service experience building large, diverse teams to be united toward achieving a common goal. I will bring these skills to the board to help unite our board and our community to bring dramatic reform to better educate our children.

Do you support the creation of more charter schools in Baton Rouge? What criteria would you use to determine whether to approve them? What solution would you propose to address the growing budget deficits as charters receive more dedicated funds from the general budget?
I am a strong supporter of charter schools. As long as so many public schools are failing, I don’t think we should turn away any organization which may be able to educate children better than the traditional public schools are doing. I don’t believe that charter schools are a significant cause of any “budget deficits.” I would further note that, as a public entity, the school system cannot have “budget deficits.” It cannot borrow money to cover basic operating expenses. If traditional public schools are short of funds for necessary things, it is either because the school system has not properly prioritized funding or because taxpayers have not been convinced of the need for more funding, and thus have not voted for additional taxes.

What role does a school board member play in addressing the local challenges concerning teacher retention and hiring? How will you address the district’s teacher shortage?
Recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers is perhaps the biggest challenge facing our school system today. As with most things, the board’s role is not to solve the problem, but to ensure that the superintendent solves the problem, while providing any support and policy changes the superintendent may need.
The school board is largely powerless to increase teacher pay. There is only so much money available in the budget. It is for the legislature to provide additional funds through the MFP formula, or for local voters to support tax increases that can be used for teacher pay.
But survey after survey shows that teacher dissatisfaction is due to a combination of low pay and poor working conditions. While the board can’t solve pay, it can and should take steps to improve working conditions. Teachers should be treated like the professionals they are. They should be held accountable for doing their job of educating our children, but without micromanaging them.

The Industrial Tax Exemption Program gives exemption of property tax to industry. What is your criteria for approving or denying ITEP exemptions for the school board portion of the tax?
The law currently requires school boards to individually evaluate each request for an ITEP exemption. I would do that. In general, the idea behind ITEP exemptions is to encourage corporate activities that will result in more jobs and, ultimately, greater property values. Wholesale removal of ITEP exemptions would run the risk of deterring expansion by large industrial plants and other businesses in Baton Rouge. These risks and benefits must be carefully considered prior to making any individual ITEP decision.

Would you like to clarify any of your ranked choice responses?
Regarding #4, of course family poverty has a significant influence on student academic achievement. But that just means that our educational system needs to devote more resources and do a better job to help those students get the first-class education they deserve. Grading schools on a curve based on their student demographics would give too many schools a pass from doing their job… providing a quality education to all students, regardless of family economic conditions.