PALMER — A quarter of a billion dollars and the education of the future economic engine.

Thus, the moderator of Wednesday’s Matanuska-Susitna School Board candidate forum reminded listeners what’s at stake in the Oct. 6 election.

Nine of the 10 candidates presented their hopes and ideas for the local schools at the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Each gave an introduction, fielded questions and offered a closing statement.

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Seat A

Four names will be on the ballot for Seat A and its three-year term. Michael Dunleavy, Adam Boyd, Jamey Duhamel and Neal Lacy are all trying to replace the outgoing school board president, Jim Colver who is running for borough assembly.

Boyd has lived in the Valley all his life and runs a farm by Hatcher Pass. As a business owner, he said, he hires teenagers and watches their struggle to succeed.

Vocational and technical classes add excitement to the curriculum, Boyd said, and would work hand-in-hand with the traditional classes. He would also like to see more agricultural education opportunities and look at why charter schools were created and what support was behind that. The district should use those lessons for other schools. Boyd is supported by the National Education Association.

Duhamel is a lifelong Alaskan raising four boys in Palmer. She currently works as an advocate for children with special needs and victims of abuse. She has coordinated the Light of Hope event for five years and sits on multiple boards of non-profit groups associated with educational issues.

Any budget cuts should not have an impact on students or put an additional burden on teachers, she said. What’s important, she said, is that even while making cuts, the district needs to build relationships to secure funding in the future.

Charter schools are great, Duhamel said. Children are not cookie-cutouts, and families should choose what type of education they want.

Dunleavy has lived in the Valley since 2000. He has worked in education for 24 years as a teacher, principal and superintendent.

The economy is not getting any healthier, Dunleavy said. The district has to do more with less by becoming more efficient and thinking outside of the box, like creating partnerships with Mat-Su College to offer more classes without adding full-time staff.

No Child Left Behind has been an disaster for education, Dunleavy said. Except for the positive of bringing more attention to under-performing students and schools, it has tied the hands of teachers and administrators.

Lacy is running for the school board to make sure the students today get the same quality education he received. School district policy sets the tone for the community, he said, and school board members transfer that positively down.

Lacy said he likes the testing of No Child Left Behind, but he doesn’t like it being rammed down from Washington, D.C. Policy should be what the school board does, he said.

Seat B

Incumbent Sarah Welton is running for re-election to Seat B and its three-year term against James Tapley and Robert Doyle.

Welton said the board should be collaborative and never strive for individual gains, she said. The district has become first in the state for career and technical programs, Welton said, and the literacy curriculum is showing great promise. Despite the demanding requirements, it is essential all students read by the third grade, she said.

While requiring a course on personal finance sounds good, it would require roughly $600,000 in additional funding, Welton said. Finance is something that could be emphasized more in existing classes, she said.

Welton does have union endorsement, and she said No Child Left Behind costs the district money by designating anyone who doesn’t graduate in four year a drop-out.

Doyle has spent 31 years in three districts around the state. Children should come first, and graduation rates must come up, he said. Doyle said these are tough times, but it is how you spend money, not how much you have. Restructuring classes can give schools more options, he said.

No Child Left Behind forced schools to recognize the achievement gap, he said, and more should be done to provide minority and disadvantages students with a foothold.

Tapley said the minimum goal of the board should be to get the biggest bang for the taxpayers’ money. The board should look at schools that are meeting graduation requirements and pass their practices on to schools below the minimums, he said.

Personal finance classes should be required, as too many students can’t even balance a check book, he said. He said he supports No Child Left Behind and additional training for students wanting to go to trade school.

Seat E

Erick Cordero is running for re-election to Seat E and its two-year term. He faces a challenge from Dave Anderton and Julie Collins. Collins did not attend the forum due to illness.

Cordero has three goals: safety of schools, sustainability of budgets and parental involvement. The school bond on Tuesday’s ballot is necessary because the district is woeful at coming up with long-term maintenance plans, he said.

Cordero supports more paths in public schools, and he said the district must give teachers the tools they need to continue to develop. Testing students is necessary, he said, but the whole picture of each student is much more complex than a test score. Cordero is supported by the National Education Association.

Anderton managed the custodial contract the district had with NANA. Meeting with teachers and students inspired him to run he said.

Testing students to know where they stand is a good thing, Anderton said, but teachers should be tested as well. The school board needs to listen to advice of experts and talk to children, he said. He said community involvement is key to successful education.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.

Editor’s Note: For more information about the candidates for the Mat-Su School Board, please visit the Frontiersman Web site at:

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/08/23/local_news/doc4a90d2dbd1306531164632.txt