Official Candidates

I’m thrilled to see that Marty Jewel has opposition. He does not stand a chance in Springhill or Woodland Heights. His voting record this term has been in complete opposition to the spirit and wishes of these neighborhoods. He voted to allow the S&K Mart to sell single 40′s after 10pm and he voted in support of the heavily opposed Crosland Manchester on the James in Springhill. He has also been very vocal in his opposition to the Patrick Henry Charter School, aligning himself squarely with King Salim Kilfani. It is clear that Marty Jewel has a personal agenda he is trying to advance….and I’ll stop short of saying what that agenda is but you can fill in the blanks. When you compare his record to Kathy Graziano’s, it is clear Marty does not sit on City Council as a labor of love.

We know that Carr voted yes to the Charter.

I bet Jonathan Mallard is for the charter and I’ve heard some good things about him.

Heard today that John Lloyd also is in favor of the PHI.

1) I would like to know from the SB candidates what would be the first specific thing they would want to fix or change in the RPS system?

2) What made them want to run for School Board?

Thank you Jonathan Mallard. I’ll have some follow up questions in the future and by the way, it was a pleasure meeting you at Plant Zero yesterday.

Gray,

Let me answer your second question first with this excerpt from my statement of candidacy:

“I am running for the School Board because I am deeply committed to public education. I believe that we, the citizens of Richmond, are obligated to provide a first-class education to all of our children. Although we have made considerable progress in the quality of our schools over the past few years, the job is not done. I can provide the leadership to continue the journey.

“Until now, I had no plans to run for public office. I just wanted to live close to my grandchildren and enjoy my retirement. However, a few years ago I became involved with Richmond Public Schools as a volunteer in the Micah Initiative. Soon after that, I started serving on the Citizen’s Advisory Group for Communities in Schools at Westover Hills Elementary School. Although both of these “jobs” give me great satisfaction, I am often frustrated that I can only help a few kids at a time.

“I am the fortunate recipient of a quality public education. Had not the generations of my grandparents and parents made the commitment to provide high quality public schools for me to attend, I am sure that I would have never achieved what I have achieved in life. Now that I am a grandfather, it is time for me to start paying forward.”

As to your first question, if I am elected, the first thing I will do is spend a lot of time listening. Although I have spent a great deal of time over the past years learning about RPS and public education in general, there is so much more for me to learn. I also want to listen to the voters of the fourth district. I can best represent their interests by understanding their concerns and needs.

As to specifics, first I will concentrate on eliminating wasteful and improper spending by RPS. We must instill throughout RPS from the top down the attitude that it is the taxpayer’s money we are spending and that we are accountable for its use. We must also make sure that each expenditure is justified before it is made.

As I have recommended before, we must adopt some form of zero-based budgeting for RPS. This would require every office and operation within RPS to justify its continued funding at least every two years. If the office or operation cannot demonstrate to the school board that it is contributing significantly to the education of our children, the board should refuse to continue funding it.

We must also address this recommendation in last November’s Crupi Report,
“The Richmond public school system should audit every position by position to determine if the cost benefit of the services provided is worth the expense and whether reorganization could contribute to greater efficiencies. The focus should always be about bringing the best educational services to its students.”

Recently, I asked school board Vice Chair Linda Dawson whether or not RPS had made progress in implementing the Crupi report recommendations. She indicated that the board had chosen to first pursue other audits recommended by Dr. Crupi. However, the next audit will address the staffing concerns of the report. In Ms. Dawson’s words,
“The upcoming audit is a staffing audit, both administration and schools. We need to know if we have the right people in the right positions doing the right things. That is coming from outside and a RFP is already out.”

The staffing audit will serve similar purposes to my zero-based budgeting proposal. There is a widely-shared belief in the Richmond area that RPS is top-heavy, having far too many administrative positions. If that perception is true, both zero-based budgeting and the position by position audit recommended by Dr. Crupi will show us what administrative positions, if any, need to be eliminated.

Second, I will propose funding in the RPS fiscal year 2009-10 budget for four International Baccalaureate primary year programs to be established at two elementary schools south and two elementary schools north of the river. I described the IB Primary Years Program in my blog in May. http://jamesrivermaven.blogspot.com/2008/05/lets-talk-ib.html These IB primary years programs will provide more challenging and interdisciplinary educations to over fifteen hundred of our elementary school students.

Third (this is still tentative); I will propose the creation of an ombudsman function for Richmond Public Schools. As I envision it, the ombudsman would be a place for parents to bring complaints concerning how their children have been treated if they are unable to get satisfaction at the school principal level. The file entitled “RPS Horror Stories” on my desk top is filled with instances in which parents have complained that their child was not receiving proper treatment in our public schools. Many of those stories have ended sadly with the child’s needs going unsatisfied. An ombudsman function would assure that every parent’s concerns with how their child is being treated in RPS will be considered by someone with direct access to the Superintendent of Schools.

Fourth—I am still working on fourth.

RPS has an ombudsman called Safety and Security. Parent’s concerns do reach human resources and/or the Superintendent and nothing much is done –these departments hope that parents will give up and go away or they will pad reports against the families. All agencies within RPS protect the system first.

This is why we need a non profit agency outside and very separate from RPS to advocate for the families and inform them of their rights. This agency would also have a lawyer on board. Many cities already have such agencies. Across the nation, school culture has become too corrupt to police itself.

I have found politics and the media very interesting in this upcoming election. Even though I have met with numerous people and organizations concerning my intention to run as a WRITE-IN candidate for the 9th District School Board seat, no one will seem to mention my name in the media or in their publications. My name is Garry Callis!!! That’s Garry C-A-L-L-I-S. Everywhere I look, Mrs. Wilson is running unopposed. Well, I’m here to tell you… that is not true! Garry Callis is running in this election. Though I appreciate the work that Mrs. Wilson has done over her past 2 terms, it’s time for a change in leadership, vision and direction.
I have worked as an advocate for the children in the City of Richmond for over 10 years. I have served as a PTA president, sat in on various school board committees, member of George Wythe’s CAG, Chm. of Safety, Health, and Security, RCCPTA, Elkhardt Middle SPMT, and I have operated a small, inner-city grass roots program that teaches children manners, respect and responsible decision making that has helped over 700 youth in this city. I was awarded the Title I Outstanding Parent Award two straight years as well as being named the Father of the Month in the Key Awareness newspaper (June 2008). Working with administrators, teachers, parents and community leaders, I have a firm grasp on what is ailing our children and their families in our great city. As great as we are, we have abandoned a number of our inner city youth to the streets, armed them and eventually we will either incarcerate or bury many them.
In today’s economy… the system can either spend money to educate our children or make money when it incarcerates them. With a cookie cutter curriculum that does not teach our children how to do anything… we are setting them up to fail. Sure, most students will learn how to read, write, and apply the principles of arithmetic, but what can they do to make money? Our children will need the skills necessary to open small businesses, in our community, that will become the back bone of employment in a failing economy. Too many of our young boys stand on street corners, with their pants saggin’, complaining that they can’t find a job. My question is… what have we taught them to do? There is an influx of people moving into this area with tools, shoes and skills willing to work for a little of nothing. How can our kids compete against that with no formal training at all? We also need to start building new schools.
When Art Burton initially approached the RCCPTA’s, a while back, with the idea of “Build Schools Now”, I was one of the first members of the Council to embrace his vision. However, even then, I knew that a revamped curriculum was needed first. New schools, with a viable curriculum, will provide our children with cutting edge technology and 21st century experiences that will allow them to compete for jobs locally and globally. It will also attract new businesses and manufacturers that will hire our children when they graduate as well as provide additional job opportunities to other Richmonders. Unemployment decreases, crime decreases property values increase. Everyone wins with a viable school system.
We need leadership that will keep our “GOOD TEACHERS” and attract more by raising teacher’s salaries and provide them with more support. Our teachers spend far too much of their our money to educate our kids. Our teachers also need more support from the administration and parents when dealing with issues of conduct in the classroom.
Teachers are frustrated with the I.E.P format and other alternative educational programs. When our inclusion instructors spend the majority of their time getting their VGLA binders together, who is helping “Johnny” meet his I.E.P requirements. While VGLA’s help schools meet SOL accreditation (more money… more money), meeting students I.E.P requirements don’t.We are leaving ourselves wide open to a class action law suit if parents were informed and knew what was going on chasing the all mighty dollar.
I’m in the schools everyday and I see what happens to our students that have been on the VGLA track. Too many fail the 9th grade the first time through. Many end up at CCP and the others just fall through the cracks and eventually drop out. We must fix this problem. We need leadership that will protect our children.
I realize that the answer to our crime problem, those perpetrated by young people, is not to lock up as many of our young boys as possible,but rather educate them with job and life skills so that they may become successful, productive components in our society. Because we do nothing,more of our young people are fed into the ravenous jaws of the streets and the penal system. Who has addressed these issues to your satisfaction? That is why I am running for the 9th District School Board seat.
In the past, people would write-in names like Scooby Doo, Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck when there is not a candidate that speaks their language or fails to voice their interest or concerns. Well, there are a lot of people in the 9th that feel that way. Garry Callis is the name that they will WRITE-IN and not a fictitious one. Again, I appreciate what Mrs. Wilson has done. However, Reid Elementary, Green Elementary and Elkhardt Middle still do not have side walks. A little girl was hit last year on Whitehead Rd.. The “Safe Routes to Schools” committee had the funds to prevent this problem. Where was she? When the gun came into Elkhardt… where was she? I was fighting for those funds in that committee and I was there when the gun came into the building. I WILL protect my children in the 9th and in the City of Richmond. No more of my children will be locked up or killed because we fail to educate them properly. No more of my kids will drop out because we just pass them through. I will insure that every student will receive a quality education regardless of their address or zip code. I will work to empower our parents so that they will ultimately understand that these are their children…not the school boards or the mayors. I will provide initiatives that will make parents feel comfortable inside our schools to encourage their participation. We must be willing to work together for the common good of our city and our children.
Once more, my name is GARRY CALLIS and I am the WRITE-IN candidate for the 9th District School Board seat. Don’t be afraid to call my name. My children and their parents aren’t. I will work to save our children and protect our future.