George Wharton Answers Questions

Candidate for
Board Member; Winton Woods School District

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Hamilton County and asked of all candidates for this office.

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. What effect would the community (charter) schools have on the public schools in your district?

The community schools compete for students and drain state support and other resources from the district. Parents should have a choice as to where they want to send their children. As a public district we must do a better job of educating our students to compete with community schools.

2. Evaluate the adequacy of support services, beyond state standards, presently provided for special-needs students in your district.

The district can do a much better job of providing services to students with special educational needs. The district needs to find a way to implement programs such as summer school for those failing subjects, tutoring, and early intervention and corrective programs for students with disciplinary situations to help retain and graduate students.

3. Has the use of proficiency tests in your school improved the education of students?

It is questionable whether the use of proficiency tests have improved the level of education of students in the Winton Woods School District. The use of proficiency tests has raised the awareness that students need to achieve at a certain level. However, test scores for the district are among the lower half of districts in the state, indicating lower achievement overall for students. The district needs to look toward increasing student achievement through innovative teaching techniques, greater parental involvement, and increased financial support systems.