When we endorsed Pam LeSesne in her bid for a seat on the Everett School Board two years ago, her ideas for expanding vocational education by building stronger mentoring relationships with business and labor unions stood out.
They still do.
LeSesne earns our endorsement again, this ti
me in a six-way primary race to fill the seat being vacated by Kristie Dutton. She is one of three particularly strong candidates, in our view, along with Mary Ann Elbert and Pamela Key. Also running are Cris Larson, a former district teacher; Rodman Reynolds, a laboratory coordinator, and Casey MacPherson, a software engineer. The top two finishers in the primary advance to the Nov. 8 general election.
(For more on each candidate, see Friday’s news story.)
LeSesne brings impressive credentials to the race, along with obvious passion for ensuring that all students are held to high expectations and supported, and fresh ideas for achieving that despite recent budget cuts.
She spent 25 years in the Navy, earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and retiring as a captain. She also spent six years as board member of Habitat for Humanity, becoming familiar with the school district’s vast immigrant community.
Since her 2009 school board bid, which she closely lost to Jeff Russell, LeSesne has immersed herself in district issues as a member of the strategic planning and fiscal advisory councils. She’s intimately familiar with the pros and cons of the district’s priorities, and has a firm grasp of budget issues and their effect on student learning. As a school board member, she would hit the ground running — fast.
That would put her in a favorable position to push her top issue: forging community partnerships that directly benefit students by offering them real-world experience in business and the trades. Mentorships offer a key way for businesses and unions to support education without additional tax dollars, and to contribute to their own future.
Elbert, a former Boeing engineer who also holds a master’s in mechanical engineering, said she finds the district’s math curriculum confusing, potentially widening the achievement gap. “Lots of tutors are kept in business,” she said. She also supports vocational opportunities, noting that they can help students connect math learning with its benefits.
Elbert also emphasizes a need for more accountability on the part of the school board and administration. She says board members and Superintendent Gary Cohn sometimes give evasive answers to questions from the public and from board member Jessica Olson — who has been at heated odds with her colleagues over transparency issues.
Key, an accountant, also calls for greater openness, and for encouraging more parental and community involvement in the district’s mission. She favors moving school board meetings from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., giving more working parents a chance to attend. She also believes district budgets should be easier for the public to access online, and to decipher.
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