Saturday, September 03, 2005
Monrovia School Link ~ Number 137 ~ September 3, 2005
I met with school board candidate Chris Rich the other day at a coffee shop. Nice guy. For some reason he reminds me of a surfer. Do you surf, Chris? Whatever. Anyway, my interview with him is below. Also, below that is a letter. One more candidate interview to go, and I should have that shortly. Also, I sure hope someone organizes a candidates forum. At the last election I thought that was extremely valuable.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
Chris Rich grew up in South Carolina and moved out here with his parents. He went to high school in Brea, then moved to Texas with his family and worked on a business degree at the University of Houston. He didn't finish, but joined an electrical wholesale company, which he ended up owning. He eventually sold it to do what he really loves - sound engineering - but his wife still runs the company's Los Angeles office.
Rich has been freelancing since 1992, originally for the music industry, but that has fallen off since musicians can now do their own audio engineering on a laptop. So now he does a lot of work for television. For example, he has worked on Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
He and his wife (his high school sweetheart) have a daughter in fifth grade at Mayflower school, and he is the president of the school site council.
He said he decided to run for the school board because "I don't want to sit around ten years from now and see that public education has not inproved and know I didn't do anything about it."
He has three main objectives for the schools: 1) safety, 2) better test scores (though he adds that test scores aren't everything), and 3) more parental involvement.
To make the schools safer, he said he'd work with the community - particularly the police department - who know how to address safety issues.
To improve test scores, he said he'd work to make class sizes smaller.
That, I pointed out, would cost money. Where's he going to get the money?
He said he'd link up with teachers unions to fight to get the state legislature to give schools more money, and give them more latitude in how to spend it. Rich said he has heard the state allocates $10,000 per student but we get only $5,000 to $6,000. Where, he wants to know, is the rest going? In addition, he said, he wants to know if the district is being run efficiently. "I think we're pretty lean," he said, "but we should check on that."
He said he'd also work with local business people to raise money for the schools. "The district doesn't know how to generate money," he said. "Local businesses do know how."
Which raises a question for me. Does Rich have connections in the local business community he could draw upon?
No, he said, he does not, but he's willing to learn.
Okay, so how would he increase parental involvement?
Rich said he would study other school districts that have been successful, such as San Marino, which he said has very strong PTAs and school site councils. Also, he said, he has heard of a school somewhere near Glendora that has a 98 percent parental involvement with its PTA.
I find this 98 percent really hard to believe and Rich isn't sure about it himself, but - as he points out - it's worth investigating. Indeed it is.
I ask if he has enough time to devote to his board duties.
He said being a freelancer gives him some flexibility, and he has decided that he will say no to work when it would interfere with board duties.
Rich mentions that one hot-button issue confronting the board is whether parents should be notified if their children are taken from school for medical reasons. (As you may recall, the Attorney General thinks parents should not be notified, and as you may also recall, I've gone ballistic about his idiotic opinion.)
Rich agrees, though he doesn't say "idiotic."
"I'm responsible for my child and I want to know where she is. If I drop her off at school I want here there. If she goes elsewhere, I want to know about it."
Also, he mentions the district's bus service. While it has been funded for an additional year, he believes the board needs to start thinking right now about following years. Lots of parents, he said, need that service. But, he said, it is frustrating because he has heard from people at the district office that under state law the district does not have the option to outsource bus service even if it finds it is more economical to do so. He said that is a law he'd work to get the legislature to change.
Okay. Last question, Rich. As you've seen, being a board member can sometimes be a really thankless job. Are you prepared to be flayed?
It's similar to being a sound engineer, he said. Sometimes you just don't get it right and you get criticized. You have to be like a duck, he said, and let it roll off your back.
And then he remembered that getting in trouble for what you believe kind of runs in his family. "I had an an ancestor who was in a good fight," he said. That ancestor was American Revolutionary War martyr Nathan Hale, who was executed by the British for spying and who famously said on the gallows, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Okay, my thoughts.
Chris Rich seems like a very friendly, relaxed, pat-you-on-the-shoulder kind of guy. I think he'd probably get along easily with everybody on the board. He has a child in the district schools and has been involved at the school level. He hit the right note for me about parental notification, and I liked his idea of looking around at other school districts to see what they're doing to get parents involved. Also, being self-employed, I suspect he'd have enough time to do the job. He was also quite up front about the things he doesn't know: "I'm a regular, down-to-earth guy. If I don't know something I'll research it and find the answer." My main concern is that I'd have preferred to have gotten more hard data from him. He could, for example, have made a few phone calls to discover for himself what, exactly, San Marino and other districts are doing to get parents involved. It's his theme, after all, so he should have some detail. But... there's still time for research before the election.
LETTER: BUSES ~ I must say, and I may be one of few, but when I saw the many school board replays of parents - through interpreters - asking for buses because they didn't know how they would get their kids to school, one of my first thoughts was that they are the parents, and that it is their job to get their kids to school (as it has been mine to get mine to school) and not up to someone else - so we take money from other school materials, or lose nurses. I don't know - not top on my agenda, but when I had my children, I knew they were my responsibility - and it was my job to see that they got what they needed - and to get to where they needed to go - not someone elses! - Janis Johnson
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
I met with school board candidate Chris Rich the other day at a coffee shop. Nice guy. For some reason he reminds me of a surfer. Do you surf, Chris? Whatever. Anyway, my interview with him is below. Also, below that is a letter. One more candidate interview to go, and I should have that shortly. Also, I sure hope someone organizes a candidates forum. At the last election I thought that was extremely valuable.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
Chris Rich grew up in South Carolina and moved out here with his parents. He went to high school in Brea, then moved to Texas with his family and worked on a business degree at the University of Houston. He didn't finish, but joined an electrical wholesale company, which he ended up owning. He eventually sold it to do what he really loves - sound engineering - but his wife still runs the company's Los Angeles office.
Rich has been freelancing since 1992, originally for the music industry, but that has fallen off since musicians can now do their own audio engineering on a laptop. So now he does a lot of work for television. For example, he has worked on Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
He and his wife (his high school sweetheart) have a daughter in fifth grade at Mayflower school, and he is the president of the school site council.
He said he decided to run for the school board because "I don't want to sit around ten years from now and see that public education has not inproved and know I didn't do anything about it."
He has three main objectives for the schools: 1) safety, 2) better test scores (though he adds that test scores aren't everything), and 3) more parental involvement.
To make the schools safer, he said he'd work with the community - particularly the police department - who know how to address safety issues.
To improve test scores, he said he'd work to make class sizes smaller.
That, I pointed out, would cost money. Where's he going to get the money?
He said he'd link up with teachers unions to fight to get the state legislature to give schools more money, and give them more latitude in how to spend it. Rich said he has heard the state allocates $10,000 per student but we get only $5,000 to $6,000. Where, he wants to know, is the rest going? In addition, he said, he wants to know if the district is being run efficiently. "I think we're pretty lean," he said, "but we should check on that."
He said he'd also work with local business people to raise money for the schools. "The district doesn't know how to generate money," he said. "Local businesses do know how."
Which raises a question for me. Does Rich have connections in the local business community he could draw upon?
No, he said, he does not, but he's willing to learn.
Okay, so how would he increase parental involvement?
Rich said he would study other school districts that have been successful, such as San Marino, which he said has very strong PTAs and school site councils. Also, he said, he has heard of a school somewhere near Glendora that has a 98 percent parental involvement with its PTA.
I find this 98 percent really hard to believe and Rich isn't sure about it himself, but - as he points out - it's worth investigating. Indeed it is.
I ask if he has enough time to devote to his board duties.
He said being a freelancer gives him some flexibility, and he has decided that he will say no to work when it would interfere with board duties.
Rich mentions that one hot-button issue confronting the board is whether parents should be notified if their children are taken from school for medical reasons. (As you may recall, the Attorney General thinks parents should not be notified, and as you may also recall, I've gone ballistic about his idiotic opinion.)
Rich agrees, though he doesn't say "idiotic."
"I'm responsible for my child and I want to know where she is. If I drop her off at school I want here there. If she goes elsewhere, I want to know about it."
Also, he mentions the district's bus service. While it has been funded for an additional year, he believes the board needs to start thinking right now about following years. Lots of parents, he said, need that service. But, he said, it is frustrating because he has heard from people at the district office that under state law the district does not have the option to outsource bus service even if it finds it is more economical to do so. He said that is a law he'd work to get the legislature to change.
Okay. Last question, Rich. As you've seen, being a board member can sometimes be a really thankless job. Are you prepared to be flayed?
It's similar to being a sound engineer, he said. Sometimes you just don't get it right and you get criticized. You have to be like a duck, he said, and let it roll off your back.
And then he remembered that getting in trouble for what you believe kind of runs in his family. "I had an an ancestor who was in a good fight," he said. That ancestor was American Revolutionary War martyr Nathan Hale, who was executed by the British for spying and who famously said on the gallows, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Okay, my thoughts.
Chris Rich seems like a very friendly, relaxed, pat-you-on-the-shoulder kind of guy. I think he'd probably get along easily with everybody on the board. He has a child in the district schools and has been involved at the school level. He hit the right note for me about parental notification, and I liked his idea of looking around at other school districts to see what they're doing to get parents involved. Also, being self-employed, I suspect he'd have enough time to do the job. He was also quite up front about the things he doesn't know: "I'm a regular, down-to-earth guy. If I don't know something I'll research it and find the answer." My main concern is that I'd have preferred to have gotten more hard data from him. He could, for example, have made a few phone calls to discover for himself what, exactly, San Marino and other districts are doing to get parents involved. It's his theme, after all, so he should have some detail. But... there's still time for research before the election.
LETTER: BUSES ~ I must say, and I may be one of few, but when I saw the many school board replays of parents - through interpreters - asking for buses because they didn't know how they would get their kids to school, one of my first thoughts was that they are the parents, and that it is their job to get their kids to school (as it has been mine to get mine to school) and not up to someone else - so we take money from other school materials, or lose nurses. I don't know - not top on my agenda, but when I had my children, I knew they were my responsibility - and it was my job to see that they got what they needed - and to get to where they needed to go - not someone elses! - Janis Johnson
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
Comments:
I sincerely hope that all candidates understand the importance of communicating with parents. Decisions such as changes in leadership at schools should be communicated to the parents by the school board. Information regarding any signiciant change(s) due to take place in any school, should come first from the school board to the parents, and never first from a student to a parent.
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