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Running for: City Council, District 29, Queens

Political Party: Democratic

Previous job: Director of Community Boards for Queens Borough President Helen Marshall

Web site: KarenforCouncil09.com

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1. Have you been endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers? Yes

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

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

3. Do you have children in the public school system? Myself, and both of my daughters were educated in New York City public schools.

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

5. Do you support effort to stop the growth of charter schools? No, however there needs to be better regulation of charter schools. In order to hold charter schools to the correct level of accountability there needs to be greater oversight and community input.

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? No

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. In addition, there needs to be greater parental input.

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

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10. In the last eight years, have the schools in your district improved, stayed the same, or worsened? How? There have been many improvements. Physical plants are well maintained, reading scores have been improved, and the planning of new schools will help mitigate overcrowding.

11. Do  you support Joel Klein remaining chancellor of the city’s schools? If not, who would you suggest to replace him? I think it is extremely important going forward that we have a qualified educator as the NYC Chancellor.

12. What’s an appropriate cap for charter schools, or should they exist at all (the current cap is 200 statewide)? I believe the current cap should be maintained until the outcomes are evaluated.

13. What’s the best way to improve a struggling public school? The best way to improve a struggling public school is to cut down on class size and to provide longer hours of extra support. Getting parents more involved with their children’s homework is also a necessary step.

14. What’s the single greatest problem facing the schools in your district and what specific policy would you propose to combat it? Overcrowding is the number one problem. I would try to build more schools, advance the implementation of the CFE decision, and use state allocated funds to create smaller class sizes.