District 4 School Committee candidate Lori Gramlich (top) is challenging incumbent Teri McRae. (photos/courtesy Gramlich, Portland Public Schools)
Voters’ Guide: School Committee District 4
By Chris Busby
The District 4 School Committee campaign pits incumbent Teri McRae against challenger Lori Gramlich. As detailed in an earlier article on this race, the two candidates come from very different political backgrounds: Gramlich from Democratic Party politics and activism; McRae, a Republican who’s made her mark as a fiscal conservative and budget watchdog.
The candidates’ answers to our Voters’ Questions are below. District 4 includes the off-peninsula neighborhoods on either side of Washington Avenue.
It’s worth noting that the question of whether the school budget process should be guided by a budget figure determined by the previous year’s budget, adjusted for inflation and enrollment, was decided by the board while Voters’ Guide interviews were being conducted. The vote was 7-to-2 in favor of this new approach, which its proponents hope will make each spring’s budget battles less confusing and contentious. Opponents worried that setting such a figure could amount to capping the school budget (even though this figure would not be a spending cap) without giving due consideration to new spending needs that could come up mid-year.
McRae not only supported this measure, she largely crafted it, and the Finance Committee she chairs introduced it.
Does the military have too much access to students?
Lori Gramlich: “Schools are public institutions, and as a public institution, no one has authority or the right to say who can come in and who can’t. We need to make sure college recruiters are getting as much access to students as the military…. The military is trying to recruit kids, but I don’t think they’re giving them an accurate picture of the real ramifications of joining. Maybe we have to have people like Maine Veterans for Peace coming in to give the other side, or [Veterans Administration hospital] patients, amputees.”
Teri McRae: “I think they’re entitled to access the same as the colleges are.”
Is teachers’ pay (including benefits) too low, too high, or just right and fair?
Gramlich: “In general, educators are not paid what they deserve.”
McRae: “Do I think they’re underpaid? No.” Says teachers’ have a particularly generous health insurance benefit package.
Should the words “under God” be in the Pledge of Allegiance?
Gramlich: “It would be perfectly fine with me if it went back to what it was [before ‘under God’ was added in the 1950s].”
McRae: “I don’t know.”
Should the school budget be tied to inflation and enrollment?
Gramlich: “There’s something to be said about getting the superintendent a number he or she can work from, [but] I don’t think the budget should be tied solely and singularly to inflation and enrollment. We need to look at the needs of the students [and have] a strategic plan to make budget decisions.”
McRae: Yes.
Should “intelligent design” be taught in science classes?
Gramlich: No. “I don’t think it should be taught in school at all.”
McRae: “Not in science. I don’t care if you teach it in another class where it fits [with the curriculum].”
Is there enough emphasis placed on abstinence in sex education courses?
Gramlich: “I guess I’d want to have some clarity around what the current curriculum is…. Certainly abstinence is the first choice, but [students] also need to be given other information they need to make informed decisions and healthy choices.”
McRae: “I don’t know.”
Are art and music education suffering from a lack of funding?
Gramlich: “Yes. I think [art and music education are] critical, and make for a well rounded education.”
McRae: “Not that I have been made aware.”
Should corporate advertising be allowed in any form in schools or athletic fields?
Gramlich: Undecided. “I think it’s a quandary that schools are in.”
McRae: “Sure, but not alcohol or tobacco [ads].”
What’s the single most effective way to improve education?
Gramlich: Having a strategic plan [at the school board level] and engaging the entire community in school issues – whether people have kids in the system or not.
McRae: “I think it’s to go back to an attitude of really focusing on what’s best for the kids in terms of curriculum, setting the bar high, going back to some of the old practices, really caring about how [students] do, less on the style of [teaching]. [Also] getting rid of principals who think an A for effort is the same as an A for knowledge.”
