Meet East Penn School Board Candidate Alan Earnshaw

Age:
46

Family:
Wife of 24 years, four teenage children, all of them East Penn students.

Political party affiliation:
Republican, cross-filed.

Tell us about your educational background:
Public high school graduate, Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Brigham Young University.

Tell us about your professional/business background:
I am the global business intelligence manager for the Performance Materials Division of Air Products and Chemicals. Previously, I managed the R&D information technology group at Air Products, have worked as a computer programmer, and founded and operated a small computer software company.

Why are you running for East Penn School Board?
This is my 12th year on the board. When first elected, my oldest daughter was in first grade. Next month, I will hand her her diploma at the Emmaus High School graduation ceremony. It has been a privilege to see the incredible achievements of our students in academics, the arts, and athletics and to play a small part in fostering their talents. I am seeking another term to continue building on this momentum and to "pay it forward" as thanks for the teachers who nurtured me in school.

What qualifies you to serve on East Penn School Board?
Over my 11 years on the East Penn school board, I have gained significant experience in all aspects of school governance, law, district operations, board policies, and parliamentary procedure. I have served as board president for two years, am in my sixth year as board vice president. This is my sixth year as a member of the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute Joint Operating Committee; I served as vice chair for two years, and am in my second year as chair. I have served on numerous committees and negotiating teams and led the search for a new superintendent in 2007. As the father of four East Penn students, including one with special needs, I have been involved my children's classrooms and chaperoned many extracurricular activities.

What do you see as the East Penn School Board’s primary role and responsibilities?
The board governs the school district. It provides a "thorough and efficient" education for all students in the district, while acting as careful stewards of taxpayer resources. It sets policies, establishes priorities for the administration, approves the curriculum, adopts the budget, hires and supervises the superintendent, approves all hiring and termination decisions, and sits as a judicial body in employee and student hearings.

Tell us about three major challenges facing East Penn School Board and how you would address them. (Please be as specific as possible):
1. Maintaining the high quality of education while facing state budget cuts and a struggling economy. We have aggressively reduced spending in the district, reduced headcount through attrition, implemented energy efficiency improvements, renegotiated contracts with vendors, and refinanced debt, among many other measures. Our per student costs in 2010-11 were 6.9% below the state average, while our student outcomes (including standardized tests) are well above average. We will continue to aggressively manage our costs and seek efficiencies wherever possible. 2. Meeting the student performance targets mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, implementing the Keystone Exams, and evolving our curriculum to match state standards, while finding innovative ways to improve teaching and student learning. I will continue to support our professional development programs and school improvement plans, I will support backfilling currently-vacant positions in the curriculum and instruction department to provide more resources for curriculum development and enhancement, and I will continue advocating for career and technical education at LCTI, the best CTE school in Pennsylvania and one of the top three in the country. 3. The number of special education students in the district is growing at a rapid rate. These students require a much higher level of service to educate under the law, and these costs have far outstripped the rate of inflation. I will continue advocating for implementing a funding formula for state aid, support efforts to reform special education standards and practices, and support investing ACCESS funds in adaptive technology and staff training to provide better outcomes for these students.

How much are you spending to run? How is your campaign being funded?
Less than $200, all paid for by the candidate (no donations have been accepted; signs were reused from previous campaigns).

What, if any, endorsements have you received?
Citizens for Strong Communities endorsed me, but I did not seek their endorsement.

Do you use social media? If so, please provide links to your Facebook and Twitter.
https://twitter.com/acearnshaw,http://www.ElectEarnshaw.org (campaign site), http://www.AlanEarnshaw.com (East Penn Issues site)