Incumbents Best Choice For Schools - Endorsement - Editorial Marin IJ 10/5/2006

Incumbents best choice for schools
Editorial
Marin IJ
10/5/2006


INCUMBENTS OFTEN ask for more time to finish what they have started. Sometimes, they are right.

George Stratigos, Shirley Thornton and Whitney Hoyt, the three members of the Sausalito Marin City School board who want four more years, are making progress and deserve more time.

They have embarked on a long-term restructuring of the troubled school district that appears to be producing results. Test scores, shockingly low for decades, are on the rise. A new administration, including a superintendent, is in place. In 2004, district voters approved a $15.9 million bond measure to build new facilities.

The school district has a long way to go. Test scores still trail much of Marin, despite average per-student spending of $22,000, by far the highest in the county. Enrollment has eroded to 283 students, with half of those attending a charter school, Willow Creek Academy. Young families often move out of Sausalito when their children approach school age because of the district's reputation and past.

There is much work to do.

The three incumbents face two challengers: Mark Trotter and Peter Romanowski.

- Stratigos, 45, is a Sausalito resident. He joined the board after a 1998 recall.

- Thornton, 67, is a Marin City resident and college professor. She also joined the board after being a leader of the recall movement.

- Hoyt, 45, is a Marin City resident. The former Mill Valley Middle School principal was elected to the board two years ago.

- Trotter, 53, is a Sausalito resident. He is a member of the Willow Creek Academy school board and a former member of the Sausalito Marin City School board; he was appointed by the board to fill a vacancy and lost to Hoyt.

- Romanowski, 56, is a Sausalito resident. The frequent candidate has run unsuccessfully for the Assembly, College of Marin board and this school board.

Trotter's primary issue is that the Willow Creek charter school is not getting a fair share of district resources, especially considering half the district's students attend the school. He says the school gets about 17 percent of the district's budget of $5.2 million.

The incumbents disagree. They say the board wants the charter school to succeed and has provided far more funding to the charter school than is required.

Trotter says he wants a fair and open budget process. He says he would bring 25 years of experience in business analysis to the board. He says he is the only candidate in this race with children in district schools. He has a child in kindergarten at Willow Creek.

Trotter makes some good points, especially about the need to devote more resources to the charter school, given its size and growth, and the need to keep parents from moving or sending their children to schools out of the district.

His focus on the charter school, and his animosity for the district's other two schools, especially MLK Academy, the middle school, makes this an easy choice.

Thornton, Stratigos and Hoyt say they are working hard to put the district on solid academic footing, which includes making sure middle school students are prepared when they move onto Tamalpais High. The district is working with the Tam High district to make sure students are prepared, both academically (especially in math and science) and socially for the transition. The goal is to prevent so many district kids from dropping out of Tam High.

"This should have happened 50 years ago," Thornton said.

Stratigos, who grew up in Sausalito but attended schools outside the district, says "success must be institutionalized" to reverse the failure that has plagued the district for decades.

All the candidates agree that what's most important is providing all children in the district with a quality education.

Shirley Thornton, George Stratigos and Whitney Hoyt have demonstrated they are making progress in the Sausalito Marin City School District. That is why the IJ recommends they be re-elected on Nov. 7.