Hamilton, Powers seek Cd'A Zone 2 trustee seat

COEUR d'ALENE - Tom Hamilton and Stephanie Powers are vying for the Zone 2 seat in Tuesday's school board election in the Coeur d'Alene School District.

Brandon Austin, whose name is on the ballot, told The Press he has withdrawn from the race.

Powers, the incumbent, was appointed in June to the Zone 2 seat formerly held by Vern Newby. She is completing the final year of Newby's term following his retirement from the board.

Hamilton is general manager of Empire Aerospace. The company, located in Hayden, is the maintenance division of express-freight shipper Empire Airlines. Hamilton has held the position since 2005. He oversees the division's 120 employees, business contract development and execution, and a multi-million dollar budget. Hamilton graduated from the Airframe and Powerplant School at Spokane Community College. He spent 12 years working in aircraft maintenance in Alaska, and was director of maintenance for an air ambulance provider before being hired by Empire Airlines.

He grew up in Spokane, and has lived in the Coeur d'Alene area since 2004. He has daughters enrolled in schools in the Coeur d'Alene district.

"I don't necessarily think we're doing everything right, but I've kept my kids in the schools because I do believe that we have a lot of people that really are doing the best they can do," Hamilton said. "I just think there are opportunities to do better."

Powers is director of regional support services for Pita Pit USA in Coeur d'Alene, a position she has held since 2008. Prior to that, Powers owned an organizational development consulting business with clients that included Kootenai Medical Center, J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, the University of Idaho-Coeur d'Alene, Concerned Businesses of North Idaho, and kindergarten- to-12th-grade school districts throughout the Northwest.

She has two daughters who both graduated from the Coeur d'Alene School District.

"I've been in the community for more than 20 years, and worked with many organizations as a volunteer," Powers said. "All of my emphasis has been with kids. I just think kids are so important. They are the future."

Powers has served as a volunteer for the EXCEL Foundation, CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates for children), Kroc Center's capital campaign, Citizen Council for the Arts and the PTAs of Hayden Meadows Elementary, Canfield Middle and Coeur d'Alene High schools.

Decision to run

Being in business, and in the private sector, Powers said she realizes "how important a school district is to the economic stability and vitality of the area."

On a personal level, her understanding is deepened, she said, because her husband is in the building business.

Tough economic realities have forced school districts to slash their budgets, which is a great responsibility for board members, she said.

"The budget is huge. We need people on the school board who understand how the public school system works," Powers said.

Working as a consultant, Powers said she coached 15 school districts in Idaho, working to develop high-performing school systems.

"I had access to the best reform efforts," she said. "It's about creating processes. They have to be sustainable. That goes for curriculum, instruction, teacher evaluations."

Hamilton said he's seeking election to the school board because he's frustrated.

"I'm frustrated as a parent. I'm frustrated as a taxpayer. I'm frustrated as a businessman who would like to hire more graduates than I'm able to," Hamilton said. "I don't think we're preparing them for post-secondary, and I don't think we're preparing them for entering the workforce, if that's what they choose to do."

He would like to see more detail in the school budget, more transparency in all school district decisions including curriculum, discipline policies and financial practices.

"I don't believe that you get to, as a parent, just blame the administration for everything," Hamilton said. "I think that you should go in and take a look, inform yourself, and make your comments based on that. That said, I don't believe our administration is real interested in what parents have to say, having attended the school board meetings."

School books: Who should choose, parents or educators?

"I think it has to be both, and this goes back to transparency again," Hamilton said.

Parents don't have the background and experience required to make decisions about how well curriculum materials will work for students in the classrooms, he said.

"That's what we look to our educators to decide. On the other hand, the educators don't have the right to dictate moral values to parents either," Hamilton said. "Let's let our educators propose what the curriculum ought to be. Let's makes sure we're being transparent enough with our parents that they understand what their kids are being taught."

He said he would "object on a moral value to some of the things that are taught in our classrooms."

"But it's not my right as a parent to dictate that for somebody else's children," Hamilton said. "I think we need to be transparent about curriculum and reading material choices, with a functional opt-out plan that's not punitive if a student or parent objects on moral principles."

Powers said the decision about which books are used in the classroom should be made by parents, teachers and community members.

"I think it has to be together," Powers said.

There is a policy in place that allows parents to opt out of having their child read objectionable materials, she said.

A policy amendment being considered by the district would exempt advanced learning courses which "may contain more complex subject matter" - International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement and Honors - from the opt-out policy.

"If we make a decision to exclude a novel that is required by these courses, we are putting those kids at a disadvantage," Powers said.

To IB, or not to IB?

While working as a consultant with the Albertson Foundation, a nonprofit that supports education in Idaho, Powers said, "They were exposed to programs in competitive school districts back East that had large numbers of graduates going to Ivy League schools."

The International Baccalaureate Diploma advanced learning high school course of study was one of those programs, she said.

"Sustainability was a key issue. You have to look at it every year, evaluate it like all programs. Is it still bringing us the results we intended it to?" Powers said.

Regarding criticism that the IB program has not yielded many graduates with full IB diplomas, Powers said it's important to remember that 2008 was the first year graduates could have achieved the diplomas.

"The numbers are increasing, and that's a good thing because it means a student is choosing a rigorous, multi-disciplinary curriculum," she said.

Powers was on the committee at Hayden Meadows Elementary when that school was working toward achieving the status it has today as an IB Primary Years Program school. She said she was a "proponent" for bringing PYP to Hayden Meadows.

"One thing we discussed is that we will not keep a program just to keep a program," Powers said.

The school district began offering the two-year IB Diploma program at Coeur d'Alene High School and Lake City High School in 2006, and discontinued offering Advanced Placement courses at both schools. The district decided in 2009 to begin offering the IB program at LCHS only, and reinstitute the AP program at CHS.

Powers said moving the IB Diploma program to one school was a wise move.

Hamilton said he doesn't think the district can afford to maintain two advanced-learning options for high school students.

"In times of declining funding, you have to look at the best program," he said.

AP programs have a proven track record of success, Hamilton said. The AP courses are recognized for credit by more colleges and universities than IB courses, he said.

"Only about 20 IB diplomas have been awarded," Hamilton said. "Even if you leave the politics out of it, it doesn't make sense, on an academic and performance basis."

He said he knows people are "for or against the IB program for political reasons."

"I have concerns about some of the politics, but my primary objection to it is its lack of academic value," Hamilton said.

New education reform legislation

Hamilton said he appreciates and supports the goal of the legislation, although he has some concerns about the cost to maintain mobile technology equipment provided to high school students.

"It's to create a 21st century classroom, to give our kids access to relevant up-to-date curriculum which we can't do now because we're not buying new textbooks anymore," Hamilton said. "If you look at it in that context, it makes a lot of sense. I still have some concerns about how it gets paid for, but I've read the bill and it doesn't say we get rid of teachers to put computers in classrooms. It doesn't say that anywhere in there."

Hamilton considers himself "a pro-teacher guy, but I'm a pro-great-teacher guy."

He said he understands that teachers are likely feeling nervous but thinks it's important for everyone to understand that collective bargaining agreements restrict school boards from rewarding good teachers and dealing with problem teachers.

"You can have two classrooms side-by-side, one teacher who's doing everything in the world to provide the best benefit for their students, the other one is just doing what it takes to get by, punching a clock every day, and you've got to treat them the same," Hamilton said. "That doesn't provide a benefit to our students, it certainly doesn't provide a benefit to the teachers."

The Luna plan places the decisions about teacher compensation with local school boards, he said. It's a large responsibility, but one Hamilton welcomes.

"As a community shouldn't we have that local control, using our values, how we want our teachers to be treated, how we want them to be retained, and what we want the quality of a teacher in the classroom to be?" Hamilton said. "That decision should be made at a local level, and now we get to. I just want to make sure the right people are making those decisions."

Powers said the Luna plan "isn't all bad." She said it has some good points that could take education in Idaho "to the next level." She said she believes in transparency - parents having access to all information, and she does not oppose holding teacher contract negotiations in public.

She looks at the changes as an opportunity to bring people together.

"There are a lot of local components. We can dig our heels in or we can work together to make it work," Powers said.

She is concerned, because in her view, the plan includes "a lot of unfunded mandates."

There are aspects of the plan that are already in place in Coeur d'Alene, she said, with parents, teachers and administrators all working on various committees.

"That's a positive when you're going through change, as long as you stay focused on kids and the community," Powers said. Standardized achievement tests measure content, but not a child's experiences, she said.

"Pay for performance has the potential to measure those classroom experiences, but we have to make sure it's done fairly," she said.

She's not sure what the learning objectives are for the online course requirements for high school students, but said, "students need to be able to access education via technology, sign up, take a course, interact, and do research.""What we see is that we want them to have technology," Powers said.

Elected school district trustees serve four-year terms. The elections are non-partisan, and take place during odd-numbered years. School trustees serve as volunteers, receiving no compensation for their time.

District 271's Zone 2 encompasses the area north of Dalton Avenue, east of Highway 95 to Honeysuckle, then west to Reed Avenue and north to the district boundary.

Zone maps are available for viewing on the Coeur d'Alene School District's website, www.cdaschools.org.