My Dinner With Rich Semler

Dr. Richard Semler, candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, came to our local Uniserv meeting last Wednesday night to make his pitch. There was a really good turnout, and I was very impressed by the man. The take-home quote:

“We need someone who knows about schools.”

That’s the piece that’s been bugging me the most about Terry Bergeson, I think—while her force of personality is undeniable, and she is a hell of a public speaker, I’m not sure that she understands the effects that her policies are having in the average classroom. Take the WASL (please!). It’s a constantly changing measure, the results don’t get back to the kids until months after the test, and the cost involved is disastrous. She’s married to that assessment, though, and has shepherded it up through the years, which leads me to believe that she doesn’t have the ability to back away from the system, or even to know how to repair it.

Dr. Semler was very direct about the flaws in the testing system, and though he didn’t use it by name the alternative that he proposes is very similar to the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test that the NWEA puts out. I like the MAP, especially for reading and math, and when there’s a legitimate testing option that is cheaper and more usable than the one we have now, it certainly seems like something that should be considered.

I was gratified to hear what steps he’s taking to keep his campaign moving in the right direction. It sounds like he’s hired both a fundraiser and a full-time campaign manager, which is a positive sign. I was also very impressed by his wife, who came on the visit with him and also brought a ton of energy to the room. They both seem like neat people.

I do think his problem will be name recognition. I’d love to see him write some opinion pieces for the main dailies around the state; buying simple advertisements that direct people to the website to learn more would also seem like a good way to go. The WEA hasn’t made their official endorsement yet, but I’d hope that they’d do that soon and then offer him a platform to speak from at Rep Assembly. Having the WEA and Where’s the Math isn’t enough, though—-he needs to find a way into the consciousness of The Average Voter who doesn’t think about schools and will be tempted to vote for Dr. Bergeson just because they know the name. I think too that the August primary makes this issue that much more critical.

In short, I think Richard Semler would make a hell of an SPI. I like the knowledge base he showed, I liked his specific suggestions for improving the system, and I think he can bring a perspective to the job that would benefit education as a whole.

Vote Semler.