BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto school board candidate Shana Segal says she would try to hire more specialists and aides who would help teachers meet individual students where they’re at.
It’s a practice called “differentiation,” which is meant to both challenge advanced students and give struggling students the support they need, she said.
But Palo Alto teachers don’t have enough support to do this. And while it’s expensive, Segal would looking at having teams of two teachers in a classroom.
Teachers don’t want someone to come in for a one-hour training — they want someone who will stay and help them, she said.
The morale of teachers is low because of the lack of support, she said.
“Their voices are not being heard, respected and valued,” she said.
For an example of differentiation, Segal said she would offer algebra to students starting in eighth grade, that way they have a path to taking calculus before graduation. That’s different from the state’s recommendation to offer algebra starting in high school.
Segal is a former English teacher who is now a substitute. She grew up going to schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District, and she has a first grader and a third grader at Palo Verde Elementary School now.
Segal said was inspired to become a teacher after having great teachers at Gunn High School. She is endorsed by the Palo Alto Educators Association.
Segal said she has expertise as a parent and an educator, and the board doesn’t need another lawyer.
Two of her competitors, incumbent Shounak Dharap and Nicole Chiu-Wang, have law degrees, as does sitting board member Jesse Ladomirak.
Segal was inspired to run after the district made a series of decisions that she disagreed with in the first half of the year.
First, she learned that her kids would be attending school this year at the Cubberley Community Center while Palo Verde is under construction. Administrators should’ve sat down with parents first, and they lost trust with that decision, she said.
Then, Segal spoke at a meeting where dozens of teachers asked the board not to approve an English and language arts curriculum for elementary schools.
Over their objection, the board voted 4-1 to approve a curriculum that was scored a 3.1 out of 5 rather than waiting another year.
Segal said her son tried the curriculum, called Benchmark, and he didn’t like it. Students didn’t have anyhting to do when they finished an assignment, the phonics lessons were weak and the textbooks didn’t include people from different backgrounds, she said.
The board should listen to experts, and teachers are the experts on curriculum, Segal said.
Segal also didn’t like Superintendent Don Austin’s decision, which was later reversed, to take away classroom space from Palo Alto Community Child Care in favor of a new after-school program called Right At School.
Palo Alto Community Child Care has higher standards for licensing and teacher education, and its student-to-teacher ratios are lower, she said.
Parents should have a choice, so Palo Alto Community Child Care should stay, Segal said. The board will have to make a decision on the nonprofit’s lease later this year after Austin reversed his decision following an outcry.
All of these decisions contribute to teachers, parents and students feeling like they aren’t heard, Segal said. She wants to use less acronyms so meetings easier to follow.
Segal said Austin did a good job re-opening schools before most others in California, but he can work on his communication style. His emails can be intimidating and authoritative, and some people are scared to email him, Segal said.
Segal worked at Lynbrook High School in San Jose for 10 years, starting at age 22, and she was the chair of the English language development and helped choreograph dances and musicals. More recently, she worked as a consultant helping parents moving to the Bay Area know their school options.
Segal said she wouldn’t have another job while she is on the school board, giving her a lot of time to dedicate to the district.
Segal is running for one of two seats against Dharap, Chiu-Wang and Ingrid Campos.
Seems like a qualified canidate.