Spearfish School Board Candidates Forum: Three Nice Guys, Not Much Difference

The three men vying for two spots on the Spearfish school board participated in a public forum this evening at the Creekside Elementary library. Three-term board member Jeff Sleep, one-term board member Dave Bressler, and challenger Brett Rauterkus gave the standard opening and closing pitches and tackled nine questions about school policy.

Sleep, Bressler, and Rauterkus plowed little new ground. Their cautious answers provoked no controversy. They risked no notable disagreement with each other. And they gave the 40 or so voters and students in the room little indication of how the Spearfish school district would fare any differently under the oversight of any possible pair of these three candidates.

In response to the various questions, Sleep, Bressler, and Rauterkus all agreed on the following points:

1. Technology in education is good, and we need more of it to prepare students for a technology-infused world.
2. Spearfish needs to restore the vocational classes it cut over the past few years.
3. Performance pay may be the norm in other jobs, but it's hard to implement in education.
4. Tying teacher pay to test scores is a risky proposition and may push cheating on tests.
5. Special education is a really hard job.
6. Consolidating Spearfish, Belle Fourche, and Lead-Deadwood schools (yes, someone asked!) is not going to happen due to community pride, but cooperating to offer vocational classes and other programs might save money and increase opportunities for all students.

So what's the difference between these three candidates?

1. Asked about the school gunslinger bill (the unnecessary and unpopular distraction now foisted on every school board by our gun-nut Legislature), Bressler talked slightly more sensibly. Bressler said that guns should be in the hands of professional, the police and the military. Rauterkus said that there are other options to consider first before resorting to arming school staff. Sleep expressed the clearest support, saying he's all right with arming teachers and other volunteers as long as they have a high level of training and background checks. Without other distinctions to work from, I might pick Bressler and Rauterkus just to minimize the chances that my school board would actually consider implementing a school gunslinger program.
2. On budget cuts, Bressler and Sleep both targeted the middle school concept as the first place they'd look for further budget cuts if necessary. Rauterkus focused on operational efficiencies like saving energy with better light bulbs.
3. On Common Core standards, Sleep expressed the clearest misgivings, saying he's not sure if all the time and money we spend creating new curriculum maps and tests and such will be good, bad, or a waste of time (psst, Jeff! the answer is c!). Sleep also worries that Common Core may be forcing some standards too early onto the young'uns. Bressler said the Common Core process will yield benefits eventually. Rauterkus, apparently assuming that Common Core is good, talked briefly about how to implement them across the curriculum. Here, Sleep leaves me having to balance his gentle skepticism toward Common Core with his gentle acceptance of guns in schools. Hmmm....
4. Bressler provided the only new big idea of the night. He twice cited the book Inevitable (one of the authors is a South Dakota boy!) and its concept of "mass customized learning." Bressler says we need to replace our obsolete Industrial-Age model of education with an Information-Age model. (John Taylor Gatto, anyone?) Whether Bressler could catalyze the deep cultural change necessary to adopt such radical reform in Spearfish is anyone's guess. Also open for lengthier discussion is whether "mass customized learning" is really a good idea or just another education consultant's magic-bullet sales pitch. But at least Bressler showed signs of passion about starting a conversation about such a big idea.
5. On consolidation, Sleep acknowledged most clearly the possibility of saving money on administration. He noted that the Kansas City school district has the enrollment of the entire state of South Dakota but gets by with a single unified administration. Point vividly made... but Sleep didn't step out and say, "Therefore, I advocate appointing a single superintendent for all Northern Hills schools."

Alas, none of the candidates responded to these minor differences by saying, "Good grief, Dave/Jeff/Brett, that idea's nuts!" Spearfish voters just heard three seemingly nice guys advocate mostly the same things for their school district. For those looking for glaring differences between the candidates in vision and practical policy-making, tonight's forum provided little help in deciding where to place those two checkmarks on April 9.