News Herald Election Questionnaire September 21, 2011 Office sought: School Board, West Geauga Local School

District Political Party: Non-partisan election Name: Ben Kotowski Age: 55 Home Address: 15240 Dale Road, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 Length of residence in that community: Just over ten years Campaign web site: BKforWG.org Occupation: Art director/graphic designer Employer: Kotowski Design Marital status: Married for 22 years Name of spouse: Julia R. Kotowski Name and age of any children: Tim, 17, and Anna, 14 Political experience: No elected office Non-elected experience: Currently serve on the Russell Township Zoning Commission, trustee of the Hemlock Hills Homeowners Association, volunteered for seven years as a Kindergarten Skills tutor, past PTO committee member, Trustee of the Cleveland Restoration Society and chair of Friends of the Capitol Theater, and numerous other volunteer activities. Education: North Olmsted Schools, North Olmsted, OH, graduated 1974 Kent State University, Kent, OH, BS Degree, 1981 Should you be elected, what are three specific areas youd like to change, address, improve or further research, and how specifically would you go about it? 1.) One example of a simple change, which would help the schools relationship with the community, would be to promote greater transparent in the way the board operates. If you have ever been to a board meeting you will have noticed that much of what is happening is often incomprehensible to the audience because

they do not have the information packets that the board members have. Why not a student projecting the information on a wall or screen, and posting the information on the school web site before hand? Afterward, the superintendent could post a short synopsis for the community-approved by the board via emailof what transpired at the meeting. 2.) The schools budget, at least for the next two years, may be stable, although the new state budgeting process just announced, and HB 136, which would siphon money from public schools, inject a good deal of uncertainty. Unfortunately, even the best-case scenario, a stable budget, means cuts. That is one reason that I am running for West Geauga School Boardthose cuts must be done with the utmost care and with two primary goals in mind to preserve a high quality education for our students and also, to maintain as far as possible, our ability to attract the best teachers we can because they are the foundation of any quality educational system. This means choosing the best people over the best technology, and then demanding the best from them. 3.) One long-term item I feel we could work toward, at little added cost, is pushing the teaching of foreign languages down into the elementary grades, and giving every child the ability to speak a second language. Studies show not only that children learn languages better and faster at an earlier age, but that learning one foreign language helps to make it easier to learn another, and research shows that it also helps with decision-making and other cognitive skills. Here's simplified outline of how it would work: as attrition creates openings in the elementary schools, teachers who can instruct regular elementary classes and also teach a language would be hired. Teachers would then be transferred if necessary so that the first hires would teach in fifth grade, then, when both elementary schools had fifth grade dual-instruction teachers, the process would add fourth grade teachers, until language instruction starts at first grade. These teachers would teach a foreign language to their class for half an hour each day, then in turn instruct each of the other two classes at their grade level. Would this approach succeed? A similar system teaches all students English and other languages in Europe and much of Asia. The main impediment in West Geauga is that such a program would take precious time away from teaching to the state tests, achievement on which is the benchmark by which schools are measured in the public mind. Foreign language proficiency is not measured on the state tests. Would the community accept better-educated students in exchange for (possibly) slightly lower state test scores? I think the effort to inform and persuade the community would be worth the effort. Whether for past accomplishments of future goals, why should voters elect you?

I have both a track record of commitment to community, from service as an Eagle Scout and leader to today, serving on the Russell Township Zoning Commission, where members balance arcane legal doctrine with public policy goals, that means voters can count on me to represent them on the West Geauga School Board. They can also rely on me to work with the board to implement my goals of greater transparency, maintaining a highly qualified staff under intense budget pressure, and finding low-cost, innovative ways to turn out well educated students prepared for a changing world.