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Running for: City Council, District 33, Brooklyn

Political Party: Democratic

Previous job: Chief of staff to David Yassky, City Councilman from District 33

Web site: EvanThies.com

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1. Have you been endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers? No

2. Have you received campaign contributions from the following education-related political action committees?

Democrats for Education Reform No
United Federation of Teachers No
Council of School Supervisors and Administrators No
New York Education Voters No
Educational Justice PAC No

3. Do you have children in the public school system? No

4. Do you support programs like Teaching Fellows and Teach for America? Yes, with reservations.

5. Do you support efforts to stop the growth of charter schools? Yes, with reservations.

6. Would you preserve school report cards as they are now? No

7. Do you believe test scores should be a factor in determining whether teachers receive tenure? Yes, with reservations.

8. Do you support the 2009 law giving the mayor control of the public schools? Yes, but there should be more checks and balances limiting the mayor’s power

9. What letter grade would you give the public schools in your district right now? C

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10. In the last eight years, have the schools in your district improved, stayed the same, or worsened? How? Many schools have improved, but many have continued to decline.  Graduation rates have improved overall, but the influx of school-age children into the district – especially in North Brooklyn, Park Slope, and at PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights – has overburdened some of the best schools, and left others under-resourced.  It’s also hard to tell if the City’s testing of students is providing us with accurate, unbiased data to make important determinations about schools’ success.  I have proposed an Independent Education Office to give us a more reliable analysis.

11. Do you support Joel Klein remaining chancellor of the city’s schools? Yes

12. What’s an appropriate cap for charter schools, or should they exist at all (the current cap is 200 statewide)? The current cap is more than adequate.  Charter schools provide some good alternatives, but they are not a solution to the problems we continue to have with our public education system.  We need to rededicate resources to improving public schools first, before we invest in unsustainable stopgap measures.

13. What’s the best way to improve a struggling public school?  Turning around an under-performing public school often requires new administrators and improved funding.  But greater parent participation is almost always required.  Parental involvement can be encouraged through stronger CECs and funding for parent/teacher coordinators.  When it comes to failing schools, the DOE has to make community outreach a priority to be successful.

14. What’s the single greatest problem facing the schools in your district and what specific policy would you propose to combat it?  My main concern for district schools is that we have too few of them; and that many of the ones we do have are overcrowded.  Lack of seats is directly due to failures of the City during land use processes, which created a massive amount of new housing in the district, but required no additional schools to be built.  I have proposed “360 Degree Planning”, which would force the School Construction Authority’s capacity evaluation process to be more transparent.  The SCA budget is also much too small over the next five years.  I have called for more than $900 million slated for two new unnecessary jails in Brooklyn and the Bronx to instead be spent on new schools.