Last month, leaders of the Mercer Island Education Association, both teachers and support staff, met with candidates for the School Board. We heard from four bright, energetic residents devoted to service and to public education. All candidates voiced support for great teacher flexibility in adapting curriculum to meet individual student needs. All have much to offer. Below we outline some strengths of the candidates.
Three candidates are running for Position 4.
Linhui Hao is a relative newcomer to Mercer Island. She has already taken the lead in addressing an unmet need: bridging language and cultural barriers for families with difficulty getting involved in the school district. These efforts could help MISD more fully realize its commitment to equity and inclusion. Her readiness to engage and educate our community is shown by her classroom visits, when she spoke of her experiences in China during the 1989 democracy protests. She wants the district to focus on students need “looking forward,” beyond the district’s current 2020 Vision. We liked Linhui’s directness and her strong belief that students should “read more.” Hao’s assessment that the district ELL program is understaffed matched the views of our panel.
Diana Lein has a rich knowledge of state and local education issues. She has been an active parent in our schools, working to successfully make routes to schools safer, and pushing for the differing needs of individual students. Lein acknowledged the intense pressure our students face and expressed support for addressing the social and emotional health of our children in addition to their academic success. She wants Mercer Island to have the “best teachers in front of the students” and realizes that teacher retention depends in part on morale and workload. MIEA welcomed her desire to increase transparency and openness of communication between the Board and MIEA.
Deborah Lurie, a public defender and a Mercer Island High School grad, has made a career of advocating for children. Her background in the humanities could add balance to a Board weighted toward STEM fields, and her legal expertise would be an asset for district leadership. Unafraid to take a stand, Lurie expressed reservations to overly relying on standardized testing, knowing that students are much more than test scores. She knows that all school decisions can have unintended consequences for many children, requiring a balance of the needs of a few with the broader needs of the “school community.” She knows students don’t arrive at school on an equal footing and would push for efforts to provide equal opportunities for all students. Lurie’s comment that “teachers are the backbone of the schools” resonated with educators who are concerned about the district’s ability to attract and retain educators.
In the other race, for School Board Position 5, Caifeng Wu was not available. We spoke only with Brian Giannini-Upton. He has volunteered frequently in classrooms, and as PTSA president for West Mercer Elementary, has a track record of listening to opposing interest groups to resolve conflicts. He has attended virtually every school board meeting for at least two years and deeply knows the board’s role and the way it functions. Giannini-Upton wants all students to have equal access to the services and resources they need to turn their potential into reality. He floated ideas of more team teaching, more incorporation of current news into teaching and stressed the importance of inspiring civic virtue in our students, where all do their utmost to make the world a better place.
Please exercise your civic virtue by mailing in your ballot by the Aug. 1 deadline.
Mike Radow
President, Mercer Island Education Association
