The View From The Boardroom

After 32 years as a member of the Lakewood Board of Education, I see Lakewood City schools with a far broader prospective than I did during the 9 or so years I taught in the district. I have learned so much and now see education and our schools as being more complex and more tied to the community and to education polilcy on a state and federal level than I did as a parent or teacher.

Education is changing. When I started teaching English and History in the 60’s, it was the common belief that if the teacher put information on the table and the child didn’t learn it, it was his fault. If he didn’t get it by the time he was 16, he left school and his leaving was unremarked.

The biggest change in education in my lifetime is the mandate to keep children in school and teach them all to a higher level. Nearly 50% of my class at New London High School (and here in Lakewood) dropped out before graduation. To reach our stated goal of keeping all children in school to graduate, this we have had to admit that there is a lot to learn about how we should do this and to admit that we don’t know all the answers. Teachers and school board members in 2015 are learning to address different learning styles, maturation issues, effective use of assessment tools and data and the neurology of learning itself. This process is fascinating.

The requirements of the Federal “No Child Left Behind,” the Common Core standards and ever changing state standards and the variety of external tests and measurements imposed on education are daunting; but they will not stop our great school district from finding ways to teach deductive learning, inspiring children with the awesome, and making learning fun and joyous  so that they will continue to want to learn. Our biggest challenge is integrating the new with the tried and true methods and experience.

Nothing gets me more fired up than hearing: “This school or this city is not the same” in tones that say quite clearly that the place is going to hell in a hand basket. I agree that our schools are changing. Lakewood is changing. That is a fact. And Lakewood and Lakewood Schools are changing for the better. Our teachers and administrators are better trained, more creative, more attentive to the needs of individual students than they ever were.

School Board members have to make difficult decisions. They have to be fiscally conservative. They have to be educational leaders. They have to listen, put their own interests second to the interests of the district, and balance attention to details and to the big district-wide picture. In the 32 years I have served on the board, I have constantly striven to stay on top of changing legal requirements and new technologies and changing knowledge about the learning process. My commitment is to advance the education of all children while keeping a firm rein on expenditures. 

Yes -- Lakewood is changing. Lakewood schools are changing. And these changes may be challenging, but we are up to the task. We - that is everyone - board members, administrators, teachers - are working to stay ahead of the difficult issues. The times are good and exciting and together - bit by bit – we will continue our dedication to excellence and to meeting the needs of each child.  We are up to the challenge. I am up to the challenge. That is why I am asking you to vote for Linda Beebe on November 3rd.

Linda Beebe

Linda G. beebe

Member of and candidate for re-election to the Lakewood Board of education

My qualifications for serving on the Board of Education are broad and varied.  I am a former teacher.  I taught English and history in middle and high school for 12 years – in Pennsylvania, in Scotland and in Lakewood.  My children Aaron and Megan went to Lakewood schools; my husband Dr. Bruce Beebe taught for 30 years in Lakewood High School; I was in the PTA and led a Girl Scout troop.  I have been an attorney for 33 years and have been active in community organizations for over 40 years.  I was COC Business person of the year in 1998. I have been honored by the Ohio School Boards Association as an outstanding board member. I am a member of the League of Women Voters and  the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce; I have set as a Trustee of the Lakewood Foundation, Lakewood Senior Citizens Inc. and the Barton Center Board of Trustees. I have served as President of the Lakewood Board of Education four times, and have been closely involved in the past 12 years in the Lakewood school facilities project that will culminate in the complete rebuilding of our school buildings – on budget and on time.

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Volume 11, Issue 19, Posted 5:42 PM, 09.15.2015