Political Philosophy for Arthur Dennis Crable

Candidate for
Member, Board of Education; Pasadena Unified School District; Seat 1

In 1987, I passed the California Basic Skills Test and began to substitute teach in the PUSD. I was given a class of uncontrollable, low-performing students at Marshall Fundamental school. These students, who were classified as learning handicapped, had chased off four teachers before me. I motivated the students to control their behavior, instituted a sense of pride derived from hard work, and we excelled as a class. Last year I met a student from that class, and he stated that, although he was not too fond of me then, he sincerely thanked me for my efforts in controlling the classroom environment, and my implementation and maintenance of high academic standards. He said he had just landed a job at a local rest home: not great work, but work. This young Black man was in the 8th grade when I first met him, and he was illiterate. To this day, this school district specializes in creating thousands of just this type of student. If you don't believe me, let's take a walk together through any of our middle and high schools.

The following year, I was given the same type of class at Wilson Middle School. The same beginning, the same end results. However, I became disgusted at the obvious pattern of allowing Black, Brown, and poor White students to remain terribly undisciplined, and just plain ignorant. I felt like I was part of a school district strategy in which the goal was not to educate, but to promulgate and maintain a form of institutional slavery. I returned to the consulting profession.

In February 1998, while working as a sole proprietor environmental consultant, I visited my daughter's school, Washington Accelerated Learning Center. I had previously substituted at the school, so I knew that the school was fairly rowdy, as was not at all an accelerated learning center in the true sense of the phrase. While walking the hallways, I noticed a 4th grade class that was clearly out of control. A fight broke out in this class. I helped restore order, and was subsequently asked to take over as teacher. Needless to say I replaced mayhem with order and mutual respect. I did this by getting and staying in constant contact with the parents and guardians of the students, and with the help of my peer teachers and administrators. However, when I threw a student out for violence or for being a constant disruption to the class, he or she could not come back until I agreed; not when the principal decided it was time for the person to return. I created a policy of non-violence, cooperation, and academic challenge that I enforced in spite of the weak enforcement of these policies in this district. How did I do this? I was not afraid to be fired, and I let everyone know that: students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Besides, I was simply demanding what was right: students must exercise self-discipline and self-control. And students must come to school to work. Students can not create a classroom or campus environment that destroys another student's ability or will to learn. We simply should never not tolerate it.

These are the policies I will repeat to my fellow board members, to the superintendent, to all the principals, teachers, and parents until we not only believe them, but practice them every day. I'm certain we will be pleased to find how well our students can perform academically given a safe, well-managed, and challenging learning environment.