Barbara Walls

Questionnaire from The Gaston Business Association

State funding did not keep pace with school system needs this year. Where should the board look first to close that gap?

With cut backs at the Federal, county as well as the state level, Gaston County Schools will lose important, vital services for the students who need help the most. First, I would try and locate as much government/non-profit grant money available to fill the biggest needs such as losses in Title I funding and for resources in the Exceptional Childrens' programs. Long term, if public schools are to survive, voters are going to have to vote for people who support public education, instead of voting for folks who believe, like the majority in the current NC General Assembly, that private schools are better able to educate the elite and are diverting necesssary funds as required by the state constitution to vouchers for public schools. A school board can only do so much, with so little for a limited amount of time.

Districtwide reading and math proficiency scores both sit near 50%. What specific changes would you push for to increase these numbers?

The current school board needs to understand that pre-K educational opportunities are one of the biggest factors, along with SES in predicting academic success in both reading and math. Pre-school programs, along with supporting community programs funded and operated by our local libraries (who are currently underfunded by county commissioners) play a huge job in helping increase math and reading literacy. Cut backs in Title I funding by the federal government will make improving these proficiency scores difficult, so the school board will have to encourage citizen groups to help offer programs addressing these needs to close the gap.

Additionally, the school board promoting excellence for all our students could help improve the higher education attainment goals for many of our students. Gaston County has the lowest educational attainment level of its area counterparts, like Gaston, Iredell, Cabarrus and Union counties, which results in lower overall quality of life indicators such as per capita GDP, life expectancy, unemployment rates, etc.

The Gaston County school board should encourage all schools to promote opportunities for students to be able to attend competitive colleges and universities by supporting curriculum instruction for SAT as well as ACT exams which would strengthen reading and math literacy rate. Whether students choose higher education or choose to enter the workforce upon graduation, having programs to promote higher level math and reading achievement levels will benefit all students. The lack of relevance for instruction in math and reading to many students in their teens is a tragedy. A high school culture that pushes lower skill level employment for its students will result in students setting lower expectations for themselves. That fewer students prepare for ACT and the SAT than they did fifty years ago has a negative impact on overall learning for all students in Gaston County.

The district needed an emergency $10 million from County Commission partway through this year. What would you do differently to keep the board from being in this position again?

More oversight is needed to prevent this from happening. The current school board members were too quick to take the word of the financial experts at the county system office without paying attention to details. It is understandable that this could happen for as a citizen following the school board and its budget, I too was blindsided by the news of the $10 million shortfall. However, in the future, asking more questions, insisting upon the evidence is the duty of all school members and I will take on an active role in the oversight to prevent this from happening in the future.

What is your position on the use of AI in the classroom?

AI is currently being used and misused in both the workforce and in academic settings. Students need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of AI and when and how it is appropriate to use them. As an educator in freshmen/sophomore level college classes, I was frustrated for a number of years because many students used AI inappropriately, committing plagiarism, but thinking because it could not be proved they would be ok. I struggled to get them to understand that AI can only find patterns that have been published and with a poorly worded question or with a question with little online material the answers they are given can often be wrong. One assignment I have done is having students in groups create their own summaries of articles that are not available online. Then each group asks AI to summarize their findings, pointing out the most important information and to include quotations to support the findings. When my students saw AI make up information, including non-existing quotes and not be able to adequately answer because it can not say, "I do not know, or not enough information is available" they begin to see its limitations and its dangers. So, yes, educators have to use AI in their classrooms, so their students learn how and when to use AI and when to not use AI.