School Board Candidate Questionnaire

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this questionnaire. The results will be posted on the website Great Leaders Great Schools www.greatleadersgreatschool.com. We will be scoring the results based on AFPs philosophy. We will also be posting the results for Colorado Citizens to help them make informed decisions about school board candidates in November 2013. Please send completed surveys to th Leslie White at lwhite@afphq.org by AUGUST 15 , 2013. Should you have any questions at all, please call Leslie White at (720) 400 3966.

Instructions for Questions 1 to 18 Please rank the degree to which you agree with the following statements on a scale of 1 to 5. Print or type your response for each question. Please provide one response per question. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

State of Schools 1. The districts reform efforts at present are not on pace to meet the needs of all students. 2. The district is moving in the right direction with the districts current leadership.

3. Too many students are not graduating with the skills they need to be successful.

Student Performance

4. In determining teacher employment student achievement (growth test scores, college and career preparation) should play a significant factor (roughly 50%)

5. In determining teacher pay, student achievement (growth test scores, college and career preparation) should play a significant factor (roughly 50%). 6. Teacher pay should be based primarily upon years of experience and educational attainment.

7. The district needs more focus on measuring effectiveness of programs and spreading best practices.

8. The district results should be compared to results from districts around the world to assure our students can compete in the global market.

Instructions for Questions 1 to 18 Please rank the degree to which you agree with the following statements on a scale of 1 to 5. Print or type your response for each question. Please provide one response per question. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

School Choice

9. Turnaround interventions for struggling schools as well as the creation/ establishment of charters and other new schools are BOTH important strategies to improving student success.

10. Charter schools should receive bond and mill levy funding equal to other public schools (including funding for facilities). 11. The district should welcome and assist high-quality charter schools which include allowing high-quality charters to operate in one of the districts recently closed facilities, or to co-locate in one of its underutilized facilities even if it means nearby schools might lose enrollment. 12. The district should support high-quality public schools in every neighborhood, regardless of whether the school is managed by the district or is a public charter school. School Finance

13. The district must have more funding to improve academic achievement.

14. The district must find a way for funds to go directly to schools. 15. The districts finance system needs to be redesigned so that 70% or more of funding follows students to their public school or program of choice. 16. Funding for schools should be weighted to particular needs such as poverty. 17. Spending should be more transparent and have return on investment measures so that we all have a clearer understanding of where taxpayer money is spent and what brings the biggest return on public education investments. 18. Negotiations with the associations (unions) should be held in the open

Please rank what you believe are the most important areas of concentration for the district to raise student achievement. Please print / type number beside each statement. 19. Rate in order of importance, with one being the highest; two, the second highest, etc. Quality curriculum A school board that speaks with one voice Meeting high standards Quality teachers Quality principals District support for principals and teachers Effective literacy and math programs Effective ELL programs Community involvement District ensuring schools are accountable for performance

Please rank what you believe are the most important priorities for K-12 education in this district. Please print / type number beside each statement. 20. Rate in order of importance, with one being the highest; two, the second highest, etc. Redesign teacher evaluation and pay to retain the most effective teachers Increase K-12 funding Provide better support for teachers Expand number of new high-performing district and charter schools Increase the level of accountability and intervention for low-performing schools Increase on-line education options and other learning technology Revise collective bargaining agreements so that principals have more authority to hire and fire Ensure that the high school degree is aligned with college readiness Reward and hold educators responsible for student results Reduce class size Reform/ revise pension system so that it is sustainable into the future

21. What do you believe is the most important role a school board member should play in ensuring all students in the district receive the education they need and deserve? Please print or type in your response.

22. If you have children who do or did attend schools in the district please list those schools. Please print or type your response.

24. Do you support the nearly one billion dollar tax increase on the ballot this year? Why or why not? Please print or type your response.

We welcome any comments or questions you have about this survey: