Gilroy
– Bob Kraemer wants to be there as Gilroy schools stay the
course, continuing the process of reform that has improved the
district during his five years on the board.
Kraemer, 64, stands firmly behind Gilroy Unified School
District’s effort to extend its reformation from a centralized
focus, to individual schools.
Gilroy – Bob Kraemer wants to be there as Gilroy schools stay the course, continuing the process of reform that has improved the district during his five years on the board.
Kraemer, 64, stands firmly behind Gilroy Unified School District’s effort to extend its reformation from a centralized focus, to individual schools.
“Change is not an easy thing to go about. I’ve been involved in a lot of change activities throughout my life, and people don’t take to want to change in a hurry,” Kraemer said, “and you have to put steady pressure, consistently applied, to people to get them to move from where they are – the old methods, the old ways of doing things – to where you want to go on a change.”
GUSD’s Accountability Task Force of educators, parents, students and community members currently being formed is the right way to follow through with the district’s Strategic Plan to prioritize school improvement, Kraemer said.
“Bringing in other viewpoints other than just the educators, I think is very healthy, and helpful,” Kraemer said.
Kraemer said he will work as a trustee to guard the district from outside-the-classroom distractions that could stymie further improvement, even if it means prioritizing what Superintendent Edwin Diaz does. Diaz has said he spent too little time in classrooms last school year.
“It’s easy for the board to forget that our job is to protect the superintendent, and to say: ‘Stop. We’ve come up with six or seven priorities at the beginning of the year, are you working on those six or seven? Or are we letting you get distracted?'” Kraemer said.
The 33-year Gilroy resident has served on the board for five years, after being appointed to fill a one-year vacancy then getting elected in 2000.
“I think there’s a job to be done, and I think I have the talent to do it,” Kraemer said matter-of-factly.
After experiencing some distractions last year, particularly at Gilroy High School, Kraemer wants the district to jump-start lagging test scores on the part of students from all parts of the spectrum.
“The answer is, you can’t ignore one of the ends,” Kraemer said. “You need to be able to challenge everybody, challenge everybody within their requirements.”
Here Kraemer points to intervention programs as both mandatory and desirable, to target students who are below grade level. He said he thinks the district has some effective programs that, with revised curriculum and more training, are a start to even bring up dismal math scores at the secondary level.
Kraemer, whose three adult children graduated from Gilroy schools, shares the concern that students spend too much time taking tests, but notes that they are mandated by the state.
“The key, I think, is to take that which comes out of the tests and do something with it to make it positive,” Kraemer said.
Teachers received additional training this year to do just that, he said, and will be using tests to look closely at individual students. He supports the district’s practice of giving teachers time to coordinate on reviewing student test data, as well as creating lessons, because it benefits both students and teachers.
GUSD also should stay the course with its focus on fundamental subjects, Kraemer said. He acknowledges more time is needed for subjects that are squeezed in at the end of the elementary day, but says he doesn’t know how schools can come up with that time.
“I love science … and so forth, but if you can’t read, and you can’t do fundamental math, you’re a burden to society and a burden to yourself from there on out,” Kraemer said.
The district, like public schools across the state, needs to get past the incredible problem of too many students below standards, he said. To do that, Kraemer said more teachers are needed to teach intervention and parents need to be motivated to help. He wants to continue pursuing grant money for after-school programs, additional teacher training, even extending the school day for low-performers.
Kraemer wants to see GUSD implement a full-day kindergarten – currently being piloted at three schools – and pre-school to target students early.
“If you get ’em right, at the beginning, I think you’ve got them,” he said. “And once you don’t get ’em, I think you’re in trouble: catch-up is very, very difficult.”
Another area in need of reform is the district’s hiring, evaluating and retaining teaching staff, Kraemer said, and he wants to see what is already in motion fix the system and restore trust.
“I think we need to do a better job of managing our teachers,” he said. “We need to make a change, we don’t have more money to give people, now, then, we need to find a better way of motivating, and evaluating, and hiring.”
