Responses for The Daily Page
January 30, 2006
Arlene Silveira
Candidate for Madison School
Board, Seat 1
516-8981
Beyond the nucleus of academic requirements and mandated services, what programs are essential to the district’s success and should be protected from budget cuts?
The success of the Madison
Metropolitan School District depends on the success of all its 24,000+
students. Engagement in school is
critical to this success. The National
Center for School Engagement states that positive engagement in a school
positively affects attendance, achievement, and attachment. A key aspect to
positive engagement is a student's finding an activity that he or she enjoys,
and that contributes to a sense of belonging.
A student can find this belonging to the school through music, sports,
auto mechanics, and dozens of other courses and extracurriculars. The motivations
are different for each student, and I don't want to cut any program. Children need to learn about themselves and
explore their potential. In order to do
so, they need choices. The MMSD has cut
almost $46M since 1993 to keep budgets under the State mandated revenue
caps. Now we are feeling the cuts in
the classroom and in the reduction of services. We must internally look at our
budget process to ensure we are making good decisions. The State system for
funding public education is broken. The entire community suffers. School options for children will decline
until we reform the state system of funding K-12 education. I will build grassroots support to force
change at the state level. We must
support public education and our children.
As a student, what was your worst experience in school? As an adult, what lessons do you draw from it?
My worst experience in school
as a student was in college. I took a
class in Fortran computer language. For
me personally, this was a disaster. I
had a lot of trouble grasping the concepts of this program. I was struggling. My attempts to get help from the professor did not pay off
because he only had a single approach to teaching and this approach was not
something I understood. It was very
frustrating and made me feel like a failure.
I did eventually find a person who spent time helping me understand the
program. I passed the course. I don’t remember Fortran but I do remember
the lessons I learned from this experience.
Good communication in all we do is essential. It is important to understand people’s “needs” when we
communicate. We have to be open to
different communication strategies and look for ways to ensure our message is
being understood. This is important is
all aspects of life and is a lesson I will follow in the election process and
beyond.
What was the last book you
gave as a gift to a family member or friend?
The last book I gave as a
gift was Stones In the Road: Photographs of Peru by Nubar Alexanian. This was a gift for two friends who were
getting married. In lieu of traditional
wedding gifts, we were asked to bring a favorite book which would become part
of a new library in their home. The book was to have special meaning. This book
was my choice because my daughter was adopted from Peru. To me, Peru represents love, hope and a
wonderful future. I thought this
message was very appropriate as a wedding gift and the start of a life
together.