Voters in the Racine Unified School District will head to the polls on Feb. 19 to narrow down the field of candidates running for three seats on the School Board.
The top six vote-getters in the primary election will earn a trip to the April 2 general election.
The candidates are:
- Cecilia Anguiano, 2818 Loraine Ave., a lifelong Racine resident.
- Laura Betker, 2320 Gilson St., a lifelong Racine resident with no children in the district.
- Tifene Brown, 5420 Athens Ave., who has lived at her current address for 18 months. Her two oldest daughters graduated from William Horlick High School, and she has another daughter who is a student at Gifford Elementary School.
- Randall Bryce, 1718 Wind Dale Dr., who has lived in the district for seven years and has a child at North Park Elementary School.
- Incumbent board member Christopher Eperjesy, 830 Waters Edge Rd., who is a 10-year resident of the district and has a stepdaughter who attends Prairie School.
- Kristie Formolo, a 19-year Mount Pleasant resident whose two teenage children have attended various schools throughout the community.
- Michael Frontier, 1127 Lake Ave., a former alderman and 28-year resident whose three children have attended several private and public schools.
- Incumbent board member Julie McKenna, 724 Crab Tree Lane, who has lived in the district 22 years and has one child who attended several district schools, including Washington Park High School.
- Roger Pfost, 3114 Caledonia St., a retiree and the school liaison for theRacine County Taxpayers Association. He has seven children who attended various district schools.
- Robert Wittke Jr., 11 Sandalwood Ct., a lifelong Racine area residents whose four children all went through RUSD.
Each day this week, Patch will profile the candidates and where they stand on the key issues facing the school district. All information is based on the candidates' responses to Patch's election questionnaire.
Related Coverage
- Meet the RUSD School Board candidates
In order for our school district to succeed it needs increased support from all community groups such as churches, synagogues, Latino and African American based communities and family owned businesses that know the diversity of challenges that face every student. If the district isn’t accessible for a variety of reasons the community can’t understand the constraints of the district and will view its choices negatively or lack an interest in it. In turn, having a community that is apathetic towards its school system or views it negatively is detrimental to everyone. We will continue to lose families to alternative forms of education and through the voucher program if the community doesn’t feel like it is a part of its future generation’s education.
We need to evolve by looking into what programs work at top public school districts. For example, having a retreat with administrators and teachers from the number one public school system of Maryland and from the diverse public school system of New York that can show progressive strategies not yet used in Racine.
Betker
Educational achievement for all students is the biggest issue facing the district. The district should expand successful programs that work such as Fine Arts, Red Apple and IB programs.
Brown I believe one of biggest issues facing the district is the effect of ACT 10. Teachers don’t teach because they make a huge wage, but because they enjoy their profession. If we were to switch to a merit based pay system then we possible risk losing teaching professionals to other states. This will ultimately affect students as well as our community.
I suggest that if there is a merit base pay system it is based on student’s assessed ability at the beginning of the year and their progress made at the end of the year. If a teacher has a student that enters into kindergarten not knowing his or her alphabets from A to Z, but is able to get that student to learn them as well as basic reading concepts (sounding out letters) then that teacher has made an improvement with that student. If the teacher is able to get them further then that is great, but the reality is all students do not enter their grade level on the same level as their classmates.
Bryce The biggest issue is funding. We need to be sure that every penny is spent responsibly.
Eperjesy Poverty. This isn't only the biggest issue facing our district; it is the biggest issue facing our entire community. Over 60% of the students in the district qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school board, administrators and teachers alone cannot solve the problem of poverty and the effects it has on education. In order to make real progress, the board of education needs to work with parents, community leaders, public officials, employers and concerned citizens to make real, lasting progress. As a school board member, I will continue to work to engage as many people as possible to work with us to find solutions to the effects of poverty on our community and the district. Some of my specific suggestions are in response to the question concerning addressing the district's racial achievement gap below.
Formolo I think one of the biggest issues facing Racine Unified is that so many people have lost faith in our district. Our taxes go up, but we are not seeing enough positive change happening within the majority of our schools. People are leaving the district!
In 2008/2009 RUSD lost 526 students through Open Enrollment.
In 2011/2012 RUSD lost 1053 students through Open Enrollment.
An exit survey needs to be created and should have been done 3 years ago. Not only that, but in 2011/2012 RUSD only gained 24 students through Open Enrollment. Compare that number to Paris Elementary in Kenosha County. In 2012/2013 Paris had 265 students and 95 of them were Open Enrollment students. Their revenue from Open Enrollment was $515,600.00 while Racine Unified lost over 5 million dollars! What is the Racine Unified School District doing wrong and how can it be fixed? These are two very important questions that have to be addressed if we want to keep families in this district. Frontier Vouchers pose a great challenge to the district. The district elementary schools are viewed as very strong by famiies. However, middle schools are less attractively perceived.
We cannot afford to lose students. We must create exciting, engaging learning environments, that counter this tendency.
Additionally, older facilities (average age 77 years) and the need for updated technology call for intervention beyond the district's budget. McKenna The biggest issue facing the district our system of education is the changing needs and expectations of our global society... for the future in technology, careers, communication....Racine Unified needs to be competive on a local and global level to prepare our students to succced. Students must succeed.
Pfost The District has rated last or close to it in its peer group for teachers salaries for the last 15 years. I will do my best to recognize the good teachers and reward them in their pay scales.
Wittke Performance. I believe it is the common thread that links every challenge the District faces. Student flight, fiscal stress, and substandard image can all be traced to the inability to trend achievement levels upward over a sustained period. This is going to be further complicated by the Federal and State mandates that will be required by the waiver granted to the No Child Left Behind law. I wish I had the magic formula to resolve all our challenges once elected but I don’t. I will bring the personal attributes I described above to work within the parameters of the Board and make contributions to its policy making, fiscal management, and governance which focus on improving the performance of all our students.
Ugh.....they are clueless. Hopefully the new superintendent will start axing bad teachers. Please start with the 4th grade teachers at Schulte and the rest of the stupid teachers out there who think they have medical degrees and suggest to every parent their kids have ADD. The kids don't have ADD they just don't want to be in the loud classrooms that the teachers have no control of. They don't focus on you because you are not interesting and fail to motivate them. So bottom line is if you want to be better....THAN DO BETTER!!!!!
The teachers we have dealt with have been great, and easy to contact. Although I acknowledge it is a big district, and others experience different things. Someone mentioned how bad our high schools are. I know Case has an IB program and the other two have Advanced Placement classed. There are opportunities along with the disruptive kids and negative influences. I do not want radical changes that jeopardize the successes our children experiences. We need to isolate the problem children and work with them: positively or negatively. All these candidates will be in for a humbling experience when they get on the board. So will the new superintendent. There are no bumper sticker solutions.
Regardless of trends, various studies or forecasts we have to spend the money wisely. Are you not skeptical of 40 million dollars in utility efficiency upgrades? I also think the new central office was maybe an over-expenditure (although I hear the old one was a wreck). I also remember one super leaving under odd terms a while back after spending money questionably too. The money needs to be watched closely. We need good teachers, clean and safe buildings and decent facilities for computers and such
As far as bumper sticker solutions, we may actually be closer than you think. There are a lot of good things happening in the district. Westbridge almost eliminated the achievement gap, we have 9 blue ribbon campuses, Case under its current leadership has gone from the worst to the best of our comprehensive high schools. You have the REAL School and Walden flourishing and poised to expand their highly soughtafter programs. Its not all bad, and one could say it is more good than bad. I'm hopeful that the new super does what she says and replicates these successful programs. I hope that those that stand in the way are terminated. For once, in the past 15 years, you have a Board President that gets it. That understands the community and listens to the constituents. A few new good Board members can really get this thing going.
I'm a proud Walden alumni. I loved the family environment of that school. Some kids were the opposite and exited Walden to go to a bigger public school where they did well. This is the beauty of RUSD. Families have options on what works best for the student. The issue is that these options are greatly limited. Should we expand these programs? Absolutely. The proof is in the waiting lists of Walden and the REAL school.
It seems that people were flipping out about funding the last two years: talking school closures, complaining about worker contracts, etc... I thought they eliminated positions at central office too. I also remember a lot of controversy over health care benefits. They changed them, but some some said due to budget shortages they needed to cut more. I was not under the impression the district had more money now. 15th Comparative Analysis: I have no idea what that is. Can anyone see it, and who puts it together?
It is easy to run off to Union Grove (I do not condemn those who do), but we are staying put unless things deteriorate.
Which candidates are the PTA, REA and Voces de la Frontera endorsing? Other than some of the comments this article is uninformative. My son is a success story coming out of RUSD. But it was not a result of a excellent or cooperative educational system. It was a 13 year battle with teachers and administrators avoiding me and the issues I raised. I was lucky to have personal contact with school board members like Bernice Olson and John Haumersen.
Brian posted a link to the '15th Comparative Analysis' above--third post from the top.
Julie McKenna- I spent three years on the board with her and I believe she has served 6 terms. Probably not in favor of Act 10, and will probably wind up with the REA endorsement. Chris Eperjesy- Appointed to the board in November. Is the CFO of Twin Disc. Not sure where he stands on Act 10, but doesn't seem beholden to any group. Cecilia Anguiano- Was or is a member of Voces de la Frontera. I believe signed the petition to recall Walker and Wanggaard. Laura Betker- Was a petition circulator and signed at least Wanggaard petition, but I believe the Walker petition and it was her papers that had the duplicate signatures that led to an investigation in Racine. Does not support Act 10, very active in the Kenosha teachers union and will most likely get the support of REA. Randy Bryce- Against Act 10, signed both petitions and will most likely get the REA endorsement. Kristie Formolo- Very active with the PTA, supports Act 10. Mike Frontier- Educator, administrator and mentor. I believe he will get the support of Voces de la Frontera. Tifene Brown- Not sure where she stands on anything. Roger Pfost- 3rd time running, Supports Act 10. Wittke- Supports Act 10
Sorry your experience at Schulte wasn't good. Schulte used to be known as a "Hidden Gem" when Donna Sens was there. They had some amazing teachers and I know some of them are still out there.
Act 10 brought us the largest decrease in educational funding in Wisconsin's history. Regardless of your stance on Act 10, it can't be claimed that the budget places high value on education. I do value public education. I am opposed to taking what little money we have left, and, offering it out as vouchers to schools that are not held accountable to the same standards as those being dissected. Most of those requesting vouchers already have their children enrolled in schools outside of RUSD.
I'd much rather see you publicly refute the proof you're saying isn't true. After all, you're running to represent me as a parent over my child's education.
You said: "We cannot afford to lose students. We must create exciting, engaging learning environments, that counter this tendency." That sounds great, except you opened with a line of "vouchers pose a challenge." Are you against parental school choice? If so, do you believe the best way to avoid losing students is to penalize parents and forbid the lower and middle classes from being able to choose their child's education? Just looking for clarification.
You want 10 candidates' response to a dozen questions? That would take forever to acquire, probably not be successful and take hours to read. This is a fantastic way of finding out positions on singular questions, one at a time, and direct conversation.
I think saying taxpayers aren't getting value for their money is one aspect, but non-taxpaying parents might be more acute and say "my kids aren't learning." Another may say "my son's best teacher is an exception, not a common rule." We need to document these things, but the district doesn't want to. I'm voting for Wittke, Formolo and Epperjesy.
You're continuing the same, proven-false mantra about losing funding. Yet, Dey has linked to an article, the JT and Journal Sentinel has refuted your statements and simple observations on tax bills will prove that you are in the least, misguided and misinformed. But, since i know you read quite a bit, I tend to think you're intentionally ignoring the evidence that proves you wrong. One cannot look at a positive bank account and claim its in the red.
Your answer for the general election will be very helpful. Thank you again.
I would be caustious of this so-called group because it it is the same group with yet another name, it is actually Jeff Neubauer, former Democratic State Chair and legislator. He also owns Kranz, Inc, which is the sole supplier of cleaning goods to RUSD. Others that have worked with these so-called groups have been former Board President Bill Schalk and former Board member David Isaacson. Both were key to abdicating the legallly defined work of the board and giving it to then Supt. Tom Hicks. Schalk was instrumental in leading a board that was riddled with division, ineffective performance and the hiring of PBCG. Ask yourself this; Why do you only hear of these groups at election time? Where are there meetings? Who can I talk to about their agenda? And last, what information of value are these fliers producing? They are generic in nature because they never actually talk to all the candidates. The latest flier claims that two candidates will bring the community together. And the others won't? Don't buy into this BS.