A conversation with ... Martha Fluor 

'There is a role for each one of us to play in this organization'

The president-elect of the California School Boards Association is a stylish and urbane woman from Newport Beach, the affluent community whose sun-drenched shores hug the heart of the Orange County coast. Born in the United States, Martha Fluor nonetheless spent much of her childhood in the midst of poverty in South America and Africa, where her father worked first as an engineer for Standard Oil Co. and then building schools and other infrastructure projects for the U.S. State Department’s Agency for International Development.

“I lived through a coup” in Venezuela, with rioting and gunfire in the streets, Fluor recounted at the outset of this edited conversation. There was also a major earthquake—and an attempted coup, this time in Chile. “You have a greater sense of the value of personal and political freedom” from those experiences, she observed.

“In Liberia, it was just a completely different culture. Here I am, a white girl in a white family, and all my friends were Africans,” Fluor said, looking back on her teen and early college years. “So I have a different sense. I can empathize with students of color who are in our schools, and those who speak a different language. I know the sense of insecurity that you automatically face just because you’re different.”

Despite that exotic background, or perhaps in part because of it, Fluor easily adjusted to life in California once her path led her here. She’s one of those people who can truly be called a pillar of her community. She’s earned it—serving in many civic organizations and, of course, on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, where she’s been since 1991; she’s also on the board of the Coastline Regional Occupational Program, and she’s a member of every PTA/PFO unit in her district.

Fluor has also been active in CSBA, serving on Delegate Assembly since 1992, and she’s completed the CSBA Masters in Boardsmanship and Governance programs. She earned her bachelor of science degree from San Diego State University and holds credentials in elementary and special education. She and her husband Bob, a retired executive with Fluor Corp., have five children and are raising their two granddaughters.

“Two of my kids are [learning disabled]. I’ve got one who’s 33 that, now we’re coming to find out she has some significant deficits that have been there all along, but had not really been diagnosed,” Fluor said.

---

You were a credentialed teacher in special education yourself.

I always wanted to be a teacher, so I transferred to San Diego State in the behavioral sciences—social sciences, it’s now called—and got my credential. Then I decided to get another one for special ed. My very first job was at the locked mental health ward at UC Irvine Medical Center. That was interesting. I was trying to create a classroom environment so that it was different from the jungle gym in the middle of this huge room where they were running around. Then, when school started I went into the classroom, an open classroom in an open school back then. I had 12 hyperactive little boys, fourth, fifth and sixth-graders. So I cut my teeth on that.

So you’ve certainly seen some changes. Have things improved?

Depends on who you talk to. Some things have improved, yes. Greater numbers of kids are being identified and properly placed. It’s a different philosophy of how you place kids, because you’re technically not supposed to segregate kids. In the old days, in my classroom I dealt with Learning Disabled students only—two standard deviations below the norm, but with average or above intelligence.  They had significant issues in some areas.  We mainstreamed them as much as we could in those classrooms where they could be successful, often art, music, math, science.

Today our special ed classrooms are populated with the gamut of special needs kids, from autistic to [learning disabled] to severely developmentally disabled. Each of those student groups require different teachers with different skill sets.  How can one teacher do it all? It’s difficult at best, but our teachers do it every day!

Of course, [the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] came in with promises to fund 40 percent of average per-pupil costs …

Yeah, right.

You haven’t seen that funding.

No. I think the maximum we’ve ever gotten is about 17 percent. And now, what also happened is that they’ve put even greater onus on us that we have to provide certain medical services. And it’s difficult for parents. I don’t think we do enough in terms of really providing that key support for parents they need. But ultimately, when you talk about special education, the issue becomes one of funding, and that’s where my concern is. It encroaches on the general fund.

The responsibilities that the public schools have are just daunting. And then you don’t have the funding for it. You don’t want to set regular ed and special ed against each other, but the fact of the matter is it’s more costly to provide these services for special ed, given the constraints that you have.

Is there any way around the lack of funding?

That’s what I’ve asked my district, because many of the services we provide within the district can also be provided by health insurance. So how do we access that? How do you link everything together so that the kids are getting the services they need? Who pays for it?

You went on to put your knowledge of Spanish and your cultural sensitivity to work as a bilingual instructional aide in Newport-Mesa.

Yes, they developed a program in the Irvine Unified School District, so when my youngest kids started going to school, I decided that could be something I could do. It was not English immersion, it was actually bilingual classes. My principal at the time knew that I spoke Spanish, and he said they had a computer program that works with the kids who were learning English, teaching them the basics. He said, “Would you like to do that?” I said sure. So I worked for four years in that school where my kids went.

It was very interesting. I had a couple of girls who came through who were educated in Venezuela; within six months they were fully engaged in English and were doing fabulously. Then I had some kids that came literally right off a farm. The parents were illiterate and hadn’t been to school. So you had to deal with the basics of just how to sit in a chair, how to ask for a glass of water, what is a pencil, how to follow the rules—and these are fourth, fifth and sixth-graders. Hello! It was tough, because they’d keep getting promoted [to higher grades]. And that’s a tragedy, because we needed more time.

I believe kids should be not only fluent, but literate, in the English language and their home language. In fact, every child—not just immigrant children, but every child—ought to be taught to be not just bilingual, in this increasingly interconnected world, but biliterate.

How can bilingual instruction be improved in California?

Clearly, for us in our district, actually having preschools on our campuses has done a phenomenal job in getting kids prepared to be successful in school. I think throughout the state of California, if they go through our preschool programs they have the ability to start learning those English language skills that translate into higher success rates at the elementary level and on to secondary. I’m not sure we’re doing a great job with the kids that are coming in, say, at seventh or eighth grade and on … it’s just difficult. There’s just not enough time to teach them everything they need to know. The question is, how do we get them engaged and deal with all the other issues of cultural adjustment? I’m not sure we’re doing a great job in that area. I’m sure there are some districts that do a great job. I’d like to visit them and see how they deal with the newcomers.

You’ve been a member of your local school board for 19 years. You’re also on the board of the Coastline Regional Occupational Program.

Yes, I love career and technical [education]. In my mind, it provides students with choices. It opens their eyes to the possibilities. It’s a safe place for kids to experiment, to see what they like. I think it offers students the chance of a lifetime to explore their passions and their dreams risk-free. We have a wonderful culinary arts [program].They’ve taken first place in the nationals and the state—primarily boys, Hispanic boys. They’re going to culinary school because they found their passion. How are they going to learn that otherwise? This is an opportunity for them to explore within their high school education, it provides an opportunity to really engage kids in their own learning. I think it illustrates the value of education. This is why you need the algebra stuff. If you want to be a home builder, or a mechanic, you need those higher-level math skills, and the physics and science to understand how to do it.

We’re a joint powers authority. We have five districts, so we can offer a myriad of opportunities. Also, within the ROP, we’re able to employ industry-trained individuals. They receive a credential, but they’re also industry professionals.

Do you think public education in California has improved or declined in the past 19 years?

Oh, it’s improved! My little kindergarten granddaughter is much more engaged—they’re really working. She’s doing more now than my kids did in kindergarten 25 years ago. And my kid in ninth grade, she’s in honors English and she’s reading “Bullfinch’s Mythology.” Now, this is a 900-page book. So yes, I think public education has improved. Has it narrowed? Absolutely. No question about it. But overall, I think we have provided wonderful opportunities for the last 30 years. But I’m afraid we may be losing ground now, because there’s so much cut.

Year upon year of budget cuts.

We used to have summer school. It was enrichment. Now it’s strictly remediation, it’s strictly for those kids who need credits to graduate or repeat a class. I used to go to the library. Well, gee, now some schools districts don’t even have an open library, much less a librarian. How about art, music, drama—gone! So I think those things are really, really sad.

How, as CSBA president, do you think you can help to refocus the discussion here in California on proper funding for public schools?

I think we’re going to have to call upon all our resources. We’re going to have to call upon everybody within the organization. We need to partner with the business community in a way that I don’t think we have yet. I think we’re going to have to be more and more political.

When are we going to reach the tipping point? Because we always open our schools. No matter what the budget cuts are, or what happens in Sacramento, we will open our doors with whatever we have on that first day of school. When are we going to say, “You know what, we can’t open our schools—we just can’t?”

And—as important as proper funding is, we’re also being forced by inflexible federal demands coming out of Washington for “adequate yearly progress.” Well, that just forces us to cut out the enrichment that makes for a well-rounded education, that awakens kids to their potential and lets them just see that learning can be fun.

We need to get angry and say, “No, this is not right—it’s not right that we cut music and art and P.E., wellness—all of those—for the sake of “adequate yearly progress.” If a kid is failing, we say, “OK, let’s double up; he’ll take an English language development and an English course.” So now his elective is no longer an elective. He doesn’t get the joy of taking ceramics or art or music, he’s got to double up on math, or double up in whatever that core deficiency is. Before you know it, the entire day is made up of English, English-language arts and math. When do we get to the tipping point of saying we’re not going to do it anymore?

To focus on funding issues just a little more, CSBA is leading a court challenge to California’s school finance system [in Robles v. Wong, a lawsuit with student plaintiffs and their families, backed by CSBA and its Education Legal Alliance along with the Association of California School Administrators and the California State PTA]. Is this long overdue, a last resort, or what?

It’s long overdue, because I think—once again—we’ve hit the tipping point. We’ve been too accommodating, and we’re getting angry now. But we’re not looking for some judge to come in and “fix things” for us. We would like the judge to declare that the state’s system of financing public education is unconstitutional, that it doesn’t match the high standards the public schools are responsible for helping our students meet. We’re asking the judge to work with us and the other partners to develop a vision of what the state of education in California should look like. Because what it looks like now can be summed up in four words—and here’s what I want people to remember about how it is now: unsound, unstable, insufficient and irrational. It’s going to require us to mobilize our communities, to engage and partner with them in demonstrating that it is unconstitutional, that their children’s education is and has been affected by the lack of funding.

We don’t know [as this interview is taking place, in September] who California’s next governor and superintendent of public instruction will be. Still, what advice would you give to them?

Listen, engage, empower. Enrich. Think long-term. Think about the unintended consequences. We’re constantly doing knee-jerk reactions. Think about that kindergartener, what he wants to be in 12 years. When he or she graduates from high school, and goes on to college or a career, what do you want that individual to know? How do you want us to demonstrate that they’re learning it? I think that so often [our political leaders] are not getting good advice. And they’re not listening to us at the local level.

The Obama administration has changed federal education policy in many ways, such as the competitive Race to the Top program and the detailed intervention models for school governance and operations. What’s your assessment of those approaches?

I’m so disappointed. I was less than enthusiastic about the entire presidential election, to be honest, but Obama had a wonderful persona, and I’m truly disappointed. I’m truly disappointed that he put an individual in charge of the Department of Education who has such disdain for public education, and such a narrow focus, and who only views it through [his experience with] the Chicago Public Schools.

You look and say, well, Arne Duncan is just like Rod Paige [George W. Bush’s first education secretary], who had a narrow focus. Rod was a school board member, for goodness sakes. He should have known better. He had such a narrow focus: No Child Left Behind, 2014 [when all students are to test proficient in English and math]. Now you have Arne Duncan, 2020 [when Duncan wants the U.S. to once again lead the world’s college completion rates]. We’ve got an extra six years; oh, great. And now you have to apply for a competitive grant. He’s saying, “These kids deserve this, these kids don’t.” No longer is it equal opportunity. No longer is it equal access. It’s who can write the best proposal. I’m just appalled.

So if you were the secretary of education, how would you distribute federal funds?

I think we have to have an honest, courageous conversation about the role of the federal government in education. I think CSBA is wrestling with that: What is the federal role? I think the federal government has overstepped its role. If that’s the case, if you’re doing way more, then you need to pull back. I’m not sure that the federal government should have such a significant role.

What are your goals as the president of CSBA?

One primary goal is to recognize the value of the school board member, that the school board member is a leader. I want CSBA to demonstrate that school board members are leaders in their communities. We need to recognize board members—and districts, and county offices of education, and the staff of CSBA. Individuals have not always been recognized within their communities. So I really want to focus on developing a recognition program.

When a school exits Program Improvement, for example, it was because of the school board leadership and the principal that that happened. The school should receive recognition, and the school board should provide that recognition to the school. But we, as a membership organization of districts, should recognize the members of that board for putting into place policies and programs that achieved that. We should also be recognizing school districts and county offices for their longevity in our organization.

We haven’t done enough in recognizing the value of our members—recognizing that in tough times, our members stay with us. We don’t even recognize members that have been with us 20 years. Why not? They don’t have to spend the money, but they see there’s a value in it. So that’s one of my major goals, to get back to a sense of family, because this is a family. We’re all in this together.

I also think we’re going to have to do a lot more engaging and using our members and their connections. I think our system of committees needs to change. I just don’t think that we engage our members enough. We have the Annual Conference, we have Policy Platform, and we may have a couple of task forces. We have Legislative Action. So that’s pretty limiting when you think of 300 delegates, and you’re trying to think of how to engage them all with something that provides some support, so you’re not out there alone. Something that keeps our members engaged and wanting to be active. There are members that say, “Give me a job and I’ll do it. But I’m never asked.”

School board members, by nature, are volunteers.

Exactly. So I think we have to take a look at how we engage and how we empower our members. For example, we have a Superintendents Council, but there is not an ROP superintendent on there. And so I’m going to ask that we have a career and technical—an ROP superintendent—on the council.

It’s been a challenging year, for CSBA and for public schools. The next year will bring many changes: A new governor, a new state superintendent [of public instruction], and not only a new CSBA president but a new executive director—just the eighth in nearly 80 years now. As CSBA’s new president, what do you see ahead for 2011?

One of my goals is to make this a time for healing, a time to repair relationships within the organization, between the staff and the Delegate Assembly and the board. It’s a time for repairing relationships, as well as for recognizing the good work that school boards do.

So I think it’s exciting. I think this is a marvelous opportunity to reinvent, recreate, restructure how we do things. It allows us to get our creative juices flowing, to engage with our partners. We’re asking our delegates how we can make their time more productive when they come together. I want to engage them. I want to find their strengths, I want to use their special expertise. I want to hear from them. I think that communication is really, really key to keeping our vision and our mission and our priorities for public education out there.

We also have to reach out to all our members and say, “There is a role for each one of us to play in this organization.” It’s a question of fitting each one of us into the role that we want to play. There are clearly individuals within any organization who really want to be out in front, who want to be advocates, and they’re willing to pound on doors if they have to. There are others who prefer to be behind the scenes, who may be perfectly OK just writing a letter or putting an article in the paper. One of my jobs as president will be to actively seek them out. If they want to play an active part in CSBA, then I’ll find them something they can do. 

Brian Taylor ( btaylor@csba.org ) is the managing editor of California Schools.