Candidates for State Superintendent, Part 1

All six 2008 candidates for State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) were invited to a public forum at the Marysville YMCA, Saturday, July 19, 2008. Of the public attending, I appeared to be half or less the age of everyone present, who was not a child of someone else there. I felt self-conscious, but was too determined to be informed. Two candidates, John Blair and David Blomstrom, did not reply to the invitation and were not present. The remaining candidates: Randy Dorn, Enid Duncan, Donald Hansler, and incumbent Terry Bergeson were present. I tried to take thorough, objective notes. I will post them as I get them transcribed.
Randy Dorn has served seven years in the State House of Representatives. During part or all of that time, he was the Legislative Member assigned to House Education. He was also there when the House did the Education Reform Bill. He has been a high school principal and is certified to be a superintendent. He recalls one mistake he supported while in the House. Looking back, he sees how foolish it was to require fourth graders to take a two-week test. It took him only a few hours to take the SAT for college. School should be about Hope, Opportunity and Opening Doors, not closing them. We need to look at all opportunities for kids: Military, Technical or University.
Enid Dorn helped the dyslexia pilot program bill. She first came to the US on scholarship. Enid emphasizes brain differences. We think in different ways. She is not about testing.
Donald Hansler is a retired science teacher. He has been involved, off and on since 1951, in scientific research. He has worked with forty different principals. He has spent fourteen years volunteering. He gave out (free) a book, Purls of Wisdom, as well as a hand-out explaining his views. His e-mail address is DonHansler1@aol.com, and he encourages people to e-mail him for his position papers on 18 different topics in education. His book shares his life opinions. He doesn’t believe teaching abstinence in schools is effective at changing teenage behavior, does propose that condoms should be available cheaply in every public restroom in America, the maximum sentence should be five years (ending in either freedom or death) and 92 other ideas.
Terry Bergeson is the incumbent. She has held this position for the last twelve years. She has a Doctorate of Education, and is a former teacher. For the last five years, Washington State has been first in SAT scores (of states where 50% or more of students take the SAT).

What strategies would you promote to incourage and support students who are minorities?
Randy Dorn: recognize differences. Have parents involved in all the grades. We need to get rid of road blocks. We need to eliminate the English essays in the Math section of the WASL (although, of course, essays could remain in the English section). We need to follow the guidelines of the National Math Advisory Panel (NMAP)! We’re way off.