SCHOOL BOARD VACANCY SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE
Candidate’s Name: __________Douglas Southgate_______________________________
Contact Address: ____________455
Contact Telephone Number: ___614-292-2432 (office):
614-431-9455_______________
Contact Email Address: _______southgate.1@osu.edu ______________________
Please answer all questions and send a completed questionnaire by January
16 via email to:
1. Please state your
professional or volunteer activities with K-12 education, either in the
Worthington School District, another school district or in a private school.
While my two children attended
Most of my volunteer activities these days take place at
2. What personal traits, skills, or experiences
would you bring to the position that you feel would make you an effective board
member?
I
have worked for more than 25 years as an economist, teaching the subject at
In
addition, many years of university teaching and involvement with college and
post-graduate admissions provide me with insights into what makes for a
superior education at the primary and secondary levels.
3. What do you think is the most pressing issue
in the Worthington Schools?
Although
the academic quality of our schools compares favorably with what one finds in
many neighboring districts, there is much room for improvement – in mathematics
and foreign languages, for example. The
primary challenge
4. If it were necessary to make substantial cuts
in the expenditures of the district, what areas would you cut first, and what areas
would you seek to preserve?
The
fundamental principle that would guide my choices about spending would be to
maintain and strengthen academic quality.
I would be very reluctant to weaken AP and foreign-language offerings,
for example. To avoid doing so, I would
eliminate administrative positions and athletic teams, although I realize that
spending on individual positions and teams is small relative to the district’s
total budget. Depending on enrollment
projections, I would also favor closing school buildings for the sake of
keeping excellent academic programs intact.
5.
If it were possible to add new programs to the district, what programs would you
seek to add?
It
is disturbing that fewer foreign languages are taught in
Taking
advantage of partnerships available at
I
would also like to see offerings in mathematics strengthened, in particular by
teaching subjects such as algebra in the lower grades.
6. What do you see as the impact of “No
Child Left Behind” on the Worthington Schools? What about the
My
primary worry about NCLB is that many
I
generally support the
7. If selected, what do you see as your role in
influencing state education laws and policies that affect the Worthington
Schools?
Many
of the decisions made by local school districts are constrained or otherwise
influenced by state-level laws and policies.
Curricular guidelines are an example.
Board members need to make legislators and other state officials aware
of how current laws and policies do not really serve the overall goal of
academic excellence. They should also
provide input as reforms are proposed and considered.
A
case in point has to do with the academic preparation of teachers. As a rule, the high-school instructors my
children, their friends, and I respect the most are those who have taken
advanced coursework in their respective disciplines. However, quite a few teachers do not pursue
this sort of continuing education, but instead opt to take classes in schools
and colleges of education – for the sake of improving where they stand on the
salary scale, in all likelihood. Would
state laws and regulations permit our district to provide special incentives to
faculty members pursuing in-depth knowledge of the material they teach? This is a matter worth pursuing.
8. What do you see as the roles and
responsibilities of a school board member?
At
any level, educational leadership involves working with key stakeholders to
define a vision of academic excellence and to identify and implement the
measures needed to realize this vision.
These tasks require team-building and communications skills, not to
mention knowledge of the educational challenges facing our community and
nation. In the face of globalization and
stunningly rapid technological change, these challenges boil down to providing
today’s students (and tomorrow’s professionals and citizens) with a superior
education, in terms of analytical capacity, a facility with languages (our own
and those of other people), and a keen appreciation of history (again, our own
and others’). As we succeed in doing all
this, more families with high aspirations for their children will choose to
settle in our community, which will enhance the demand for academic excellence.
9. What evidence do you believe shows the
Worthington Schools are adequately, or inadequately, preparing students for
their lives after graduation?
While
generally encouraging, the anecdotal evidence is a little mixed. Many former
It
is difficult to move beyond anecdotal evidence of this sort. Part of the problem is that grade inflation,
which is severe not just in Worthington but in many other districts, renders
GPAs meaningless for a large number of students, which obviously makes it hard
for their parents and them to judge their academic progress. I do not have any specific proposals for
dealing with grade inflation. After all,
it is a widespread phenomenon in colleges and universities, including