Municipal League of King County Questionnaire:
Cheryl Chow, Candidate for Seattle School Board, District 7
1. Why are you running for this office? (See Note.) One page or less
I am running for school board because it’s a natural extension of my lifelong passion for working with kids and helping them be successful in school and out of school. Having spent one career in schools all over the city, I know what our students and families face on a daily basis, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged and those who are ethnic minorities. I know the effects of extreme poverty, my own mother having left school to work fulltime to help support nine siblings. And I know the opportunities and options a sound public education can provide. That’s why I became a teacher. It was a teacher who slipped extra food and sometimes clothing to my mother and aunts and uncles when they were children. It was a teacher who tried to keep them all in school. And it was a teacher who got some of them thinking about college, despite a lack of means to do so. I wanted to make a difference like that. But it wasn’t enough stay inside the classroom. I became a principal to create more options for kids via programs and activities outside the school day. And I volunteered my time, over 30 years worth, coaching youth basketball for Seattle Parks Department and working with the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, all the while mentoring and guiding youngsters into their futures. I am ready for the next step.
Our school district faces the triple challenges of declining enrollment, closing the achievement gap and attaining financial solvency. I am the only candidate for this position who is uniquely qualified. I will bring to the board 25 years of experience as an educator, from being on the front lines as a K-12 teacher, then vice-principal, principal, district administrator, and finally, state
assistant superintendent. In addition, I have many years of administrative experience with personnel and finances, having managed budgets from six figures to multi-millions as a former Seattle City Council member and as current director of programs and services for Girl Scouts Totem Council.
These experiences give me the advantage of direct knowledge about how budget decisions impact what happens in the classroom and its effects on students, teachers, families and communities. My administrative background lends me another skill: that of problem solver and creative thinker. As principal of Garfield High School, I fully maximized teaching hours to create two needed, additional positions: one for an art teacher and one for a reading instructor, to name one example.
In conclusion, I believe my background as a K-12 teacher, principal and district and statewide administrator, combined with my accomplishments on the city council, qualify me as the best candidate for Seattle School Board, Position 7.
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2. Most important personal characteristics or traits as related to School Board Member.
Aside from my devotion to helping kids, my most important personal characteristics are tenacity, ability to build consensus, and pragmatic optimism. My entire adult life has centered on helping kids and families. This ethic has formed my career in education, my time on the city council, my current work for Girl Scouts and my 30+ years of community service. School board members must not lose sight of the fact that its mission is to ensure the academic success of all children. This requires passion for working with children, a commitment to the enormous responsibility that comes with being a steward of public resources and a willingness to make difficult decisions based on sound policy rather than politics. Even though this is an elected position, we cannot conduct politics as usual--our children’s future is at stake. Therefore board members must carry an unwavering resolve to do what’s best for our kids and families. This job is about building community and consensus. A board member must be able to work with all people in our community, building bridges and forming partnerships. My career has been devoted to these principles, and I would bring them with me to the board.
3. Describe one to three accomplishments or contributions of which you are most proud, as applied to school board member.
I am most proud of the following accomplishments: As a newly elected city council member, I collaborated with the mayor to craft the first city’s Family and Education Levy. I was able to use my first hand experience as an educator to help the staff understand different program components that would assist teachers and principals. I supported and lobbied for budget to include after school middle school sports and clubs activities and expanded health centers into every high school. I also crafted a levy for five new community centers to serve kids and families: Delridge, Meadowbrook, Bitterlake, Garfield and Rainier. These full-service community centers offer programming to keep active youngsters positively engaged after school and on the weekends, train interested senior citizens in the uses of technology, sometimes in their native languages, and serve as centers of recreational and family activities for all.
A second accomplishment of which I am proud is stabilizing schools in crisis as a district special assignments administrator for the school district. I stepped in as interim principal at McGilvra Elementary when its principal had to suddenly go on medical leave. While there, I worked with parents to start new programs for students. At Garfield, I took over a school in chaos after the forced resignation of its principal for misconduct. While there, I balanced the budget while increasing support to at risk students and hiring additional staff to teach art and reading. I effected these changes without any budgetary additions, using only careful scrutiny of the budget and creative solutions.
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3. (Continued)
I am also proud of my current accomplishments as director of customized programs for Girl Scouts Totem Council. One program I have instituted is “Girl Scouting in the School Day”. I created and implemented the program at Thurgood Marshall to serve their girls K-5. I worked with the principal and teachers to identify which EALR/subject areas they wanted our program to support or enhance what they were doing in the classroom activities. Most of the girls involved come from low income families and would never have had the opportunity to participate in Girl Scout activities and camping. This fall we will expand the program into First Place Homeless School, Transitional School and African American Academy.
4. Current and past activities in the community to school related to school board skill.
In the community I have been a tireless volunteer for over 30 years as a youth basketball coach, drill team instructor and youth mentor. I’ve worked closely with parents and families to ensure that these activities are run smoothly and are of benefit to the kids. One of the lessons I’ve learned is that in order for community programs to continue, there must be sustained parent involvement with the organizations and that adequate fund-raising is conducted to meet expenses. Likewise, in order for the school board to be successful, it must find ways for parents and communities to be involved with schools, and it must pay attention to the budget. Just as families must live within their means, school districts must also operate within budget. But sometimes outside help is needed. As the coaches representative and former principal I’ve had to facilitate and mediate meetings between unhappy parents and coaches or between parents and teachers when disagreements or conflicts arisen.
This is a skill that is needed on the school board as well because there may be competing interest groups agendas that are polar opposites yet both are intended to be “in the best interests of kids.” Furthermore, these grass-roots activities lend me the perspective of what kids, families and communities want and need in the way of education and recreation for young people. I have experienced as a principal and community volunteer that a child’s personal growth and success is determined by how the classroom and the community support the child and the family. Kids flourish when there are positive adult role models connected in their lives and families welcome the support in helping guide their children to positive experiences and opportunities.
One of the things I did to bring communities and schools together to support kids is the Dollars for Scholars program. This scholarship program matched dollar for dollar, any funds raised by the parents and community folks. The community group that raised the funds also selects the scholarship recipients and presents the scholarships at a community celebration. It is this type of community-school partnership that the school board must increase in order for students to thrive and communities to rally around.
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5. Duties of the office which are most important and why?
The duties of a school board member are to work with other board members to set policy, particularly as to how it relates to the districts academic goals. The board must also work with families and communities openly and transparently, gathering parent, guardian and stakeholder input prior to establishing the facts and rendering a decision. That is the only way to ensure a true democratic process with regard to decision making. There must also be willingness to undergo self-examination and review by outside entities to assure accountability and to make course corrections on the way to achieving academic success for all.