Meet the candidates: Lynn School Committee

There are nine candidates for six seats on the Lynn School Committee. Each candidate was asked the question: What is the biggest issue facing the public schools, and how do you plan to deal with it?Name: Patricia CapanoAge: 52Occupation: HomeEducation: St. Mary?s High School, Salem State CollegeFamily: Husband, Mario; sons, Nicholas, Alexander, JonathanThe biggest problem is two-fold: The constant need to apply best practices to raise student achievement and the need for more space. I have incorporated the superintendent?s goals in my efforts, including addressing dropout rate. I need to work to make sure there is funding to realize those goals. The best functioning School Committee sets benchmarks: We know we want to keep kids in schools, figure out why kids are dropping out and unfold the wraparound initiative to study each school and address all of them.Name: Maria CarrascoAge: 62Occupation: Case manager, North Shore Career CenterEducation: Bachelor?s in education, associate degree, North Shore Community CollegeFamily: Daughters, Elizabeth, Arlene and son, LeninMore parent involvement is my top concern. I believe we need more community schools to address needs of non-English-speaking parents and parents who work two jobs and need homework help. Ford School is a good example – it?s addressing parents? issues. Schools should be open for the community with principals who are willing to help. I tried with New Lynn Coalition to open Lynn Tech in this way. Many parents need help getting computers so they can go on the Internet – with buildings open, they will have computer access.Name: Donna CoppolaAge: 65Occupation: Case manager for a daycare-based teen parent programEducation: Associate degree North Shore Community College, bachelor?s University of Massachusetts BostonFamily: Husband, Harry; sons, Fred and Patrick and daughters, Katie and LauraThe top concern is parent involvement and communication. We need to work with parents to make sure they understand how important their involvement is in the Lynn school system. We ran programs to help parents understand study skills, the MCAS tests and homework help. We should be providing English as second language support for parents who need it. Education can?t all happen in that six-hour, 180-day-a-year span. It has to happen at home; it?s an ongoing effort as kids move up from elementary to middle school and high school ending with college scholarship and application preparation.Name: John E. Ford, Jr.Age: 68Occupation: Aide to state Rep. Steven WalshEducation: Bachelor?s degree, Northeastern University, master?s degree, Cambridge CollegeFamily: Wife, Sheila; daughters, Kathleen, Tina, Valerie and JenniferMy most critical concern is classroom. It?s hard to add teachers, reduce classroom space and add library space without it. We have to find some buildings we can rent or lease or renovate. We?re at a critical stage, space-wise, but any space we identify has to be safe and able to accommodate kids.Name: Charlie GalloAge: 30Occupation: North Shore Community College instructor and attorneyEducation: Bachelor?s degree, Suffolk University; law degree, Suffolk Law SchoolFamily: SingleThe biggest issue is funding; it takes adequate funding to have smaller classes, better buildings, small class-to-teacher ratios, and more resources for students. It takes a lot of money to run the schools. Grants are one money source, and I spearheaded the effort to get someone doing private fund-raising for schools. We can also advocate with the state for money and with that idea in mind, I brought (state treasurer and Democratic candidate for governor) Steven Grossman to the Pickering Middle School.Name: Lorraine GatelyAge: 60Occupation: Retired public school teacherEducation: Associate degree North Shore Community College, bachelor?s degree from Goddard College, master?s degree Cambridge CollegeFamily: Son, Michael PatrickMiddle schools are a huge, neglected void that need attention with a focus on buildin