At-large candidate: Dan Barkley (incumbent)

By Dan Barkley

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Last year's preschool debate in the Legislature was never about ending preschool but rather about how to fund it. Should the state pay the total cost for everyone (universal preschool) or should those with the ability pay part or all of the cost for their child to attend preschool?

There is not an unlimited amount of funds for public education. The reality is that preschool funding also comes from the limited pool of money available for public education. The more money put into preschool, the more money diverted from somewhere else.

It is not unreasonable for those able to pay for their child's preschool to continue to do so. My wife and I made the decision to pay for our three kids' preschool programs as have thousands of other parents.

I also believe that if parents are directly paying the bill, they stay much more involved. Nothing is more important in a child's education than the active participation of their parents/guardians. Anything that we can do to increase this will quickly and cost-effectively improve our kids' education.

This past winter, I was at a meeting with area legislators who estimated it would cost the state around $1 million to set up and administer an “ability to pay” preschool program. Cost savings to the state of an such a system versus a universal system was given as around $36 million. To spend $1 million to save $36 million seemed like a no-brainer to me.

From the Iowa Education Summit, I would like to see a plan to reform our education system from “seat time” to “knowledge based.” The seat-time system that we have used for years has our kids sit in a class for so many minutes a day, spend the same time on the unit/concept and then move on together. Not all kids learn at the same pace or in the same way. Much of this work is also memorization.

With the tremendous growth in the amount of information and knowledge in today's world, we can't come close to memorizing everything we will need to know some day. Thinking skills and knowing how to find information are now necessary skills.

With the help of technology, we should be able to develop a system to teach all these skills and to allow students to advance as they master each concept. Those who take longer are not pushed forward with a gap in their education.

The summit and President Obama's education plan both push the controversial concept of making at least part of educators' pay be linked to student performance. Several systems have been suggested and tried around the country. Every school district/community knows who their excellent teachers are. Therefore, there must be a way to quantify the requirements for some type of merit-pay system.

The current pay schedule based on years of experience and education doesn't seem to have any direct connection to student achievement.

Completion of Vernon Middle School is an issue in our district. First we must get through this school year using the temporary facilities for certain areas until the rest of the building and gym renovation are completed. I'm sure that many challenges are in store for VMS staff this year.

Then, next year when construction is completed, fifth-graders will be moved in, making VMS a grades 5-8 building, which means we'll need to realign our three elementary buildings.

I'm anxious to see and evaluate all the options that may be proposed. We must make the best decision for our students.

Dan Barkley, of Marion, and his wife have three children, all graduates of the Marion Independent School District. He taught high school math for 12 years, and coached several athletic teams. He has worked in outside sales of industrial process automation and controls since 1988. Comments: debark

ley@juno.com