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Columbia, Missouri (KMIZ)
Election Day is less than two weeks away.
ABC 17 News is interviewing each of the seven candidates running for three vacancies on the Columbia Board of Education. At least two of them are new members and he is the only one still in office.
Paul Harper is endorsed by the Columbia-Missouri National Education Association, a teachers’ union with collective bargaining rights with school districts. Until last year, he served as General Counsel to State Comptroller Nicole Galloway. He currently serves as legal counsel for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Campaign finance: Read Harper’s 40-day pre-election financial report
Lucas Geisler: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your candidacy?
Paul Harper: of course. I am the father of her two daughters. My oldest she graduated from Rockbridge High School in 2020. My youngest will graduate this year.
I am a civil servant all my life. I started out as a special education teacher, but decided that special education wasn’t for me, so I went to law school, worked in the state for 20 years, and still do. During that time, I served as General Counsel to State Comptroller Nicole Galloway, where he worked for seven and a half years.
Geisler: You made teachers pay one of the big parts of your candidacy. What can the district do to preserve future salary increases?
Harper: we have a big budget. You have to drill down into that budget. You have to find money on a budget of $250 million and you should be able to find a variety of things.
For example, little things like a coffee deal that was $15,000. we didn’t need it. Whenever I’m on the board, I’m going to dig into those things and pay for extra support not just for teachers, but hourly employees, bus drivers, teachers. We’re going to make sure we have additional funding. It’s not just teachers, it’s all employees in the district. We need to be competitive across the state and we need to pay our employees better.
Geisler: What do you think about where the CPS stands on state test scores? And what do you think will help kick them higher?
Harper: Yeah, to be fair, I’m assuming you’re talking about the MSIP, the Missouri Improvement Plan, but they only changed a few things. But yes it is low.
District received 70%. But the most impressive thing is that it has an 80’s school. And then there are schools in the 20s. And as taxpayers and parents, it is very disconcerting that we have such different measures within our schools. Because you can’t compare year to year, but you can compare schools within the same year. And we need to do more for these poorly rated schools.
Geisler: From the point of view of the board. What do you think you can do to make a positive impact on this?
Harper: Well, we need to put more money into those schools, right? Now it’s, you see, roughly even for each student. As you know, Title 1 schools need more money. There are some schools in the North that frankly need to put extra money into different areas to get an equitable education that you are giving everyone the same. It means giving everyone enough to reach their educational goals. That’s what we have to do in this district.
Geisler: In January, three board members abstained from renewing the superintendent’s contract because they felt the process was rushed. What are your thoughts on the process of reviewing and evaluating superintendent performance with respect to retaining superintendents?
Harper: Well, one of the things the scorecard does is set a framework for the school district, and it’s expected to ensure that the district follows that framework. Well, it’s pretty bad whenever a district doesn’t actually follow its own rules. Some of the board members did not actually do the evaluation. They should have followed their own process. I was right to abstain until the process was completed. They shouldn’t have taken that vote.
Geisler: Are there any other big issues facing your district that you look forward to addressing if elected?
Harper: You know, one of the things I’ve been talking about is financial transparency. We are not always transparent on financial matters. I would like to see more financial data online. I would like to see something like a state accountability portal. Here we can actually find out exactly how we spend our money. Are they using our money and is it getting our own money or are they asking the states if they have access to their portal because they have a local government section .
I would love to see more financial data for full transparency.
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