Florida Education Association

2016 Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Name:_Lauren Frances Book

Office Sought:__State Senate, District 32, Democrat
(list office sought, district number and party affiliation if applicable)

Campaign Address:_8201 Peters Road, Suite 1000_________

City:

Plantation

State: Florida
Zip: 33324
Telephone: 305-336-1326
Website/Email: laurenbook.com, lauren@laurenbook.com
Candidate Signature: ____________________________________________________
Date:______________________, 2016_
Name of Local screening candidate: ________________________________________

The Florida Education Association believes the State of Florida bears primary responsibility for
ensuring equal educational opportunity for all students, enhancing the quality of public education
in our state, and providing adequate funding for the maintenance and operation of public schools,
colleges and universities. The following are FEAs positions and questions on some critical issues
facing public education employees, our public schools, and our education community.
Please indicate your response to each of the questions. Clarifications, explanations and other
information may be attached. Return your completed and signed questionnaire to your local FEA
affiliate.
Local FEA affiliates will return all completed questionnaires and interview team worksheets to the
FEA Advocacy Committee for review. The Advocacy Committee will forward the recommendation
to the state Governance Board for final approval and shall coordinate with affiliated labor
organizations where appropriate.

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Reclaiming the Promise of Floridas Public Schools

The FEA believes that our public schools represent our states commitment to helping all children
dream their dreams and achieve them. A high-quality public education for all children is an
economic necessity, an anchor of democracy, a moral imperative and a fundamental civil right,
without which none of our other rights can be fully realized. As part of this commitment to public
schools, government should uphold and enact policies that fulfill our collective obligation to help
all children succeed, including supporting policies that:

Provide for neighborhood public schools that are safe, welcoming places for teaching and
learning;
Ensure that teachers are well-prepared, are supported, have manageable class sizes and
have time to collaborate so they can meet the individual needs of every child;
Make sure our children have an engaging curriculum that includes art, music and the
sciences; and
Ensure that children have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional
and health needs.

1. Do you support such policies?

__X__Agree
_____Disagree
Public schools comments:
As a former classroom teacher, I know that investing in the education of our community and
the state as a whole is the only way to build a strong, vibrant, and resilient workforce. The
only way to do this is to ensure that students and teachers have the resources necessary to
succeed.

PROVIDING ADEQUATE RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Amendment IX of the Florida Constitution declares the education of children to be a fundamental
value of the people of Florida; establishes adequate provision for education as a paramount duty
of the state; expands constitutional mandate requiring the state to make adequate provision for a
uniform system of free public schools by also requiring the state to make adequate provision for
an efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system.
We believe all students in Florida, regardless of geography or socioeconomic backgrounds,
should have an equal opportunity for a high quality public education. To achieve this objective,
state and local governments must fund education at levels that ensure equity and adequacy.
2. We believe that the current level of funding for public schools, colleges and universities
does not meet the needs of all our students.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

3. We support an annual education appropriation by the legislature that fully funds the
cost of inflation and growth in the number of students, plus additional funds to be used
for improvements required for a high-quality system of public education.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

4. K-12 education is largely funded from state revenue sources and local property taxes.
We believe the annual school budget should be built around a shared responsibility and

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transparency between the state and local property tax payers in both the total amounts
contributed and in any increases/decreases funding the school budgets.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

5. FEA believes school districts should have flexibility in the use of their operating dollars
to meet local and state goals. Do you believe that flexibility and local control is important
to the success of our public schools?
_X _Agree
_____Disagree
Funding and resources comments:
I am generally in favor of letting local governments maintain appropriate local control.
However, I do not support local school districts diverting funds out of public schools or
violating our State Constitutions requirement to maintain minimum class sizes.
Standards and School Improvement
Currently, more than 2.7 million students attend our states public schools. The teachers,
paraprofessionals and other school employees who work with these students each day care
deeply about the quality of our public schools and the education these students receive.
While Florida has been a national leader in the adoption of higher standards of learning for all
students, many of these policies have also imposed educationally unsound prescriptions on our
schools. Students, along with their parents, communities, teachers, paraprofessionals and other
school employees, have been forced to live under test-and-punish policies that include sanctions,
high-stakes assessments, less time on teaching, mismeasurement of teacher effectiveness and
other policies that are counterproductive and have taken the joy out of teaching and learning.
6. Do you believe these reforms have improved teaching skills and student learning?
_____Agree

_X _Disagree

7. What changes, if any, would you make to the law, and why? Please include your
positions on:
The states role in ensuring equity and access to resources for all children;
The role of standards, assessments and accountability in public education;
Ensuring that all students have access to a broad curriculum that includes art and
music, as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Changes to standards and accountability comments:

I believe first and foremost that we must hold ourselves accountable for a vibrant and
strong public school system. As such, we need accountability measures that make sense,
fairly apply them, and recognize (and accommodate) the diversity of students and their
needs within our public school system. As a former teacher, I know the frustration with
ever-changing standards and metrics that are inconsistently applied. Tests should be used
to enhance our knowledge of student progress and should be used as tools to help our
teachers measure progress and facilitate learning. They should not be used primarily to
hurt or punish teachers and students. While I support a minimal (and appropriate) number
of standardized tests as a way to measure our success and find areas of weakness, we
need to move past the point of using these tests as punishment tools and not as learning
tools.

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8. Do you believe that high-stakes standardized testing is too pervasive in public

schools?
_X _Agree
_____Disagree
9. What other measures should be used for accountability purposes?
Testing comments:
Somewhere along the way, we have become too obsessed with standardized tests. While I
support their use, there are simply too many, they are given too often and are developed
with little regard to an established and stable curriculum. Teachers are often not given
enough time to prepare the appropriate curriculum in order to meet the rubrics of these
test(s). We need to pull back on the large number of tests and use them primarily to help us
improve the learning environment for our children and evaluate how these children are
doing not as a means of punishing teachers and school districts.
As for other accountability measures, while tests should play a small role in the overall
evaluation of teachers, we need to be sure that teachers are being evaluated based on the
actual work they are engaged in. Peer to peer review, in-class achievement, education and
training levels and other comprehensive techniques should also be employed when and
where necessary.
10. Would you support proposals requiring that methods for evaluating teacher
performance be developed at the school board level rather than the state, with meaningful
input from teachers and their unions?
____Agree

_____Disagree

Evaluation comments:
I am unsure. I am not necessarily opposed to the state developing criteria as long as it is
fair, consistent, clearly communicated and developed with input from teachers and their
unions. I worry that if we went to a county-by-county system then we could enter an era of
inconsistent standards or performance criteria. I am also mindful that more than 70% of
voters put into our States Constitution a very high standard for the adequate provision for
our public schools and that provision calls for uniformity. So while I want to respect local
input, I believe we must honor these provisions in our States charter document. Let me
conclude by saying that we must recognize local differences, respect local authority, not
close out local school boards and that I would need to hear more about how a district-bydistrict system would work.
Community and Priority Schools
We believe the schools that serve our neediest students should be transformed into community
schools where children have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional and
health needs. With the support of state and local leaders, local agencies and community groups,
these community schools could provide services beyond instruction, enriching the lives of
students, their families and their communities. A variety of federal, state and local funding
streams could be drawn upon for these services.
11. Would you support such a community schools initiative?
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

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Quality Staff, Development and Evaluation:

We support the goal of ensuring that all students, no matter their ZIP code, are taught by teachers
who know their subject matter and how to teach it, and who are supported by well-trained staff.
We believe the current systems used to evaluate teachers are ineffective and only provide a
snapshot of what occurs in the classroom.
We support a more comprehensive approach that fosters professional growth at every stage of a
teachers career and ensures that teachers are well-prepared, are supported and have time to
collaborate. This approach includes rigorous reviews by trained experts and peer evaluators, as
well as principals, based on professional teaching standards, teacher practice and measures of
student learning.
12. Do you?
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Florida is competing with other states for top-notch public school teachers and college and
university faculty. Florida must recruit thousands of new K-12 teachers each year to
accommodate growth and to replace those who leave the profession or retire. Teacher pay in
Florida is not competitive. The average teacher salary in Florida is nearly $10,000 below the
national average and nearly $6,000 less than Georgia. Education Support Personnel salaries are
also significantly below the national average.
13. If Florida is to attract the best school employees, teachers and faculty in numbers
sufficient to keep up with this need, then competitive wages, benefits and professional
incentives must become a priority.
_X _Agree!!!!!!!

_____Disagree

14. Floridas school employees have dedicated their lives to our public schools and look
forward to the modest retirement that they were promised in return for their public service.
We believe that retirement benefits are an investment in recruiting and maintaining a
quality workforce in our schools.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

15. Public school employees deserve a modest retirement and the Legislature must stop
the annual ritual of debating proposals to radically restructure Floridas public pension
system.
__X__Agree
_____Disagree

Health insurance for school employees is currently provided at the school district level and
benefits and premiums vary widely. Large increases in health insurance premiums are impacting
take-home pay for all Americans and school employees and retired school employees are no
exception. While Florida alone cannot solve this problem, our Legislature and leaders must
provide adequate funding to guarantee these costs will not impact the quality of health insurance
benefits for school employees and their families.

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16. The Legislature must account for the rising cost of employee health insurance in
establishing funding for our schools, colleges and universities.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Raising the minimum wage is important to Floridas economy because five of the six fastest
growing sectors of Floridas economy are in low wage industries--home health aides, customer
service representatives, food preparation and serving workers and retail salespersons.
Of those workers who would be affected, 88% are over the age of 20, 56% are women, nearly
half are workers of color, and over 43% have a college education. The average affected worker
is the lead breadwinner in almost half of these households, and 23.3% of all children in the U.S.
have a parent who would be helped by a raise in the minimum wage.
Raising the minimum wage in Florida would not only help many of our students and their families
but would also help many of the support personnel in our public schools who only receive a raise
when the minimum wage increases.
17. FEA supports increasing the minimum wage.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Quality staff, pay, retirement etc. comments:

I am in favor of raising minimum wage in Florida.
Collective Bargaining
The FEA believes that the input of teachers and school employees is critical to the success of our
public school system. The collective bargaining process is the best way to guarantee that
employees have a meaningful role in developing and implementing strategies to help all students
reach high academic standards.
18. Do you support the constitutional right of public employees to engage in collective
bargaining?
_X _Agree
_____Disagree
Safe Schools
Our school communities must be safe, welcoming places for teaching and learning.
19. We believe the state must provide additional resources for comprehensive school
safety infrastructure and programs to ensure that schools are the safe sanctuaries our
children need to learn and grow.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

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Safe schools comments:

It is imperative that we keep our public school students safe. Our students need to be
protected and when the unthinkable does happen they need help and support to cope with
whatever the situation is.
Class size
In 2002, Floridians overwhelmingly passed the Class Size Amendment requiring school districts
to limit the number of students in each classroom and requiring the state to adequately fund its
implementation. Voters reaffirmed their support of smaller class sizes by rejecting a proposed roll
back of the Class Size Amendment in 2010.
20. As an elected officer, will you vote to uphold the provisions in the class size
amendment as adopted by Floridas voters?
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Class size comments:

Again, in my experience as a classroom teacher it was very tough make sure I spent time
with EVERY child evaluating their progress. No matter how good a teacher one is, there will
inevitably be someone left behind. As teachers, we strive to minimize those left behind but if
class size is allowed to increase again, more and more of our states youth will be behind.
Further, if I am fortunate to be elected, I intend to not only swear to uphold our States
Constitution but to support the provisions contained in it. Class size limits is one such
provision.
Voucher Proposals
Despite the Florida Supreme Court ruling that the private Opportunity Scholarship Program is
unconstitutional, Florida continues to indirectly send public money to private and religious schools
through various programs. Several versions of so-called school reform proposals have been
introduced in Florida and call for the use of taxpayer money to support private and religious
schools at the elementary and secondary school levels. They go by many names, including:

VouchersThese permit the use of taxpayer dollars to send children to private, often
religious, schools;
Tax credit scholarshipsLike vouchers, these use taxpayer dollars to send children
from low-income households to private, often religious, schools;
Special needs scholarships such as McKay scholarships and exceptional student
accounts,
Universal vouchers or portabilityThis proposal allows money to follow the child,
rather than being dispersed based on funding Floridas constitutionally established
districts, schools and programs.

Voucher proponents claim that these programs will generate school competition and thereby
improve student achievement. They argue families are the best decision makers for students and
deserve privately provided education choices with the use of tax-payer funding.
We believe that funding strong neighborhood public schools is overwhelmingly preferable to the
privatization and voucherization of public education funds.

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21. Do you oppose vouchers and/or other proposals that allow taxpayer dollars to be used
for private and religious schools at the K-12 level, either as a limited experiment or as a
full-scale program?
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Voucher comments:
In general, I am opposed to taking public tax dollars out of public schools and putting them
into private schools especially when those schools are not held to the same accountability
standards as our public schools are. Many of the programs mentioned above do just that.
There are school choice options within the public school system such as the magnet
school programs that parents can avail themselves of instead of relying on taxpayerfunded vouchers. I do not oppose in any way, allowing parents the option of sending their
children to private schools, but I do oppose tax dollars going for that purpose.
I do however feel there is SOME need for scholarships for special needs children, similar to
MacKay scholarships.
Charter Schools
Charter schools have seen tremendous growth in Florida and charter school management has
become a multimillion dollar profit industry. Despite long standing claims that charter schools
could do more with less, the charter school industry continues to lobby for legislation that would
force school districts to provide them with a share of per student funding and capital outlay money
equal to that of traditional public schools.
FEA believes that public school choice programs, such as charter schools, virtual schools, and
magnet programs can provide students with additional opportunities to succeed. However, these
programs must have appropriate oversight and accountability and be subject to local control.
Locally elected school boards should have the final decision-making authority over charter
schools within the district, including decisions to accept or reject, renew or terminate a charter
school contract. School districts should not be forced to divert any local taxpayer funds to charter
schools without the consent of the locally elected school board.
22. FEA believes that locally elected school boards must be afforded their constitutional
duty to supervise, operate and control charter schools within their districts and determine
appropriate levels of funding and siting of those schools.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

23. Do you support requiring charter schools to meet the same requirements as traditional
public schools, particularly as they relate to access for all students, health and safety
standards, civil rights requirements, class size and teacher quality?
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Charter comments:
Any school that relies on public dollars must meet most if not all -- of the same requirements
of traditional public schools. While I would support limited exceptions to meet the special or
unique needs of the charter school and its students, my default is to ensure our tax dollars are
used fairly and those that use those dollars remain accountable to taxpayers.

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Privatization
Some believe that privatization is the simple answer to the challenges we face in our public school
system. Privatization often has more to do with profits than quality and privatization does not
necessarily save money as private companies too often overpromise and underperform.
Privatization of non-instructional services in our schools can compromise safety because savings
are often realized through low wages and less employee screening. Government officials rarely
consider the hidden costs of privatization including the cost of converting public services to
private providers, the value of public property which is often loaned or simply handed over to
contractors and the cost of monitoring and enforcing the agreement, which remains with the
taxpayer.
24. FEA believes these costs must be factored in when weighing the benefits of
privatization and companies must be held financially accountable to taxpayers if they fail
to provide the services promised at the price provided.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree

Higher Education
25. The United Faculty of Florida-FEA believes tenure for university professors and
continuing contract for college professors promote academic freedom to teach and
research without undue political and/or economic influences.
__X___Agree

_____Disagree

26. UFF-FEA supports higher education affordability that ensures access for all students
and does not result in decades of student debt.
_X _Agree

_____Disagree
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