Board hopefuls target testing
School in Maitland.
Castor Dentel also served two years in the Florida House, winning a seat in 2012 but then losing her re-election bid two years later.
She decided to run for school board, she said, to make sure teachers’ views are heard because too many are frustrated and leaving their jobs, to the detriment of the county’s school kids.
“Teachers want a seat at the table and to be an active part of the decisions that affect them and their students,” she wrote in her questionnaire.
Fox, 62, is a retired Orange teacher and a Realtor. She worked for 15 years at Edgewater High School in College Park and said she’s proud that former students are backing her campaign.
She’s running, she said, because she’s worried about the state of public education, which she said focuses too much on testing, frustrates too many parents and has forced out too many teachers.
“So many teachers are tired of not being allowed to teach due to the various policies that are in place,” she wrote.
Norato, 51, is a supervisor for Hallmark Marketing, and she has been PTA president at the College Park schools her children attended.
Other parents and community members persuaded her to run, she said, telling her she could advocate well for local students, who she thinks need a more creative and enriching education than they are now receiving.
The school board, she added, also seems too political at times. wrote.
“What we really need are more parents and concerned community members running for the good of the kids,” she
The three candidates — mothers whose children attend or attended public schools — all want to reduce schools’ focus on testing and to improve teacher morale. They all said too much time testing, and prepping for testing, has demoralized students and teachers.
The state’s decision to tie teacher evaluations to student test data, and the district’s sometimes top-heavy decisions, they added, also have discouraged teachers and contributed to early retirements and a teacher shortage.
“What they want is autonomy in their classrooms,” Norato said of teachers during the forum. “They want to be able to be creative. They want to be able to teach what their subject is.”
The district needs to find ways to boost teacher satisfaction so they want to remain in their jobs, she added. “We have not paid them appropriately. We have not rewarded them appropriately.”
Fox said too many teachers are leaving ahead of the usual retirement age — as she did — because they are discouraged. That leads to substitutes in classes for long stretches of time.
A focus on testing, she added, has infiltrated even the primary grades. “My granddaughter sat in her kindergarten class taking test after test,” she said. “Parents are getting frustrated.”
Castor Dentel said that while in Tallahassee she pushed back against state testing and teacher evaluations tied to test scores. Those state polices hurt morale, she added, but so have some district decisions.
“It is frustrating. It is demoralizing. Teachers are being micromanaged,” she said. “They’re packing their bags and they’re heading out the door and they’re not coming back,” she added.”We need to push back and protect our teachers.”
The candidates have not spelled out differences on their platforms, but they have emphasized some different priorities and touted the strengths of their particular backgrounds.
Castor Dentel said her experience as a teacher and legislator gives her a broad view of public education. “I want to listen to the parents, and I want to listen to the teachers,” she said.
She cited school safety, student discipline, mental health services for students, and more career and technical options as areas she’d push to improve.
Fox said she would work to boost counseling services for students because many counselors are too busy doing assigned clerical tasks.
She also wants to create new apprenticeship programs with local businesses for students who aren’t planning on college.
“We’re losing a lot of children to the streets and to low-paying jobs,” she said.
Norato said that as a PTA leader she has worked to bring enrichment programs like Odyssey of the Mind and Science Olympiad to local schools and wants more “activities that challenge our students and encourage them to work beyond the minimum requirements.”
She also wants to see more counselors dedicated to helping students rather than just handling bureaucratic tasks like scheduling. And she wants the district to do more to help students learning English and those living in low-income neighborhoods do better academically, noting their test scores lag.