APPLETON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Questions for AASD School Board Candidates – 2026
Answers submitted by Michael Janke
The purpose of this questionnaire is to communicate the school board candidates’ views and beliefs with the Appleton Education Association Committee and membership. Your responses allow administrative assistants, paraprofessionals, and professional educators to clearly understand your relevant perspectives as you pursue a seat on the Appleton Area School District Board of Education. We deeply appreciate any elaboration and explanation you include with your answers. Thank you for participating in this process.
- Why are you running for school board?
Two of my four sons graduated from the Aces Xavier system, one from Appleton West last year and one who will graduate this year from Appleton North.
I decided to run for the school board because I saw a definite difference in the academics between the Aces system and the public system. I researched the AASD published reading/writing and mathematics scores and found that the number of students who met or exceeded grade-level standards has radically declined over time. I want to generate a discussion and be part of the solution that reverses this trend.
2. What are your areas of concern regarding student achievement in this district? Which achievement gaps are most important for the Appleton Area School District to address?
Graduating students who can read/write and do mathematics at grade level is the greatest concern I have. The number of students who graduate and perform at grade level since 2019 has declined precipitously. Currently, an average of 60% + graduate not achieving this threshold vs roughly 30% in 2019.
3. What is your position on the use of standardized assessments in Appleton, especially at the elementary level, and how would you ensure that data is used to support student learning?
Testing presents an opportunity to determine the progress of the students, where achievement (or deficiencies) lay and help to formulate Action Plans to enhance performance. To this end, tying results and integrating the results to an overall education goal is needed to adjust the master plan.
4. Do you support the City of Appleton reinstating a truancy ordinance? If not, how do you propose to improve student attendance?
Truancy post Covid has become a huge problem. Students not in school are students not learning. I support reviewing any proposal that reduces the truancy rate.
5. Do you support the AASD Operational Referendum? Why or why not? What should be done to ensure the AASD has proper funding and a balanced budget?
The administration has been clear in what they feel must be eliminated if the referendum fails but not how they plan to balance the reality that we have a declining school age population versus future spending needs. I haven’t heard the plan of how this new spending will increase student performance in reading/writing and math proficiency if the referendum does pass.
I understand that this is a complicated issue, but I also see that this is a crisis that has been years in the making. I am not opposed to a future referendum request, but I feel that now is premature. If we are going to ask for additional money, we owe it to the taxpayers to exhaust all avenues of cost cutting and we owe our children a plan as to how we will better prepare them to face the challenges of life.
6. What should the AASD do to ensure its grading systems, scales, and policies (e.g., standards-based grading, grading for learning) are accurate, equitable, and sustainable for students and staff?
Grading is neutral. It is based solely on the performance of the students. Grades need to reflect the effort students put into their work. In areas where a level of subjectivity is required by the grader (opinion essays for example) this needs to be graded on the strength of the argument/facts presented and their relevance to the question posed. Grade inflation does no student any good and can be a detriment to overall learning.
7. What should the AASD do to address increasingly disruptive and dangerous behaviors of students?
I support the removal of disruptive students in a classroom setting. I temper this by stating that students with known behavioral issues need to have a level of special consideration. This consideration cannot negatively impact on the quality of learning for all students. Removal should not be the first option selected, but it must be done if there is danger to either the other students or the teacher.
8. What should the AASD do to ensure that administrative assistants and paraprofessionals have fair compensation and working conditions, so they are sufficiently supported in their efforts to provide vital services to our students? How can the AASD better recruit and retain support staff?
All employees should be treated with dignity and respect. In a perfect world, performance compensation would be based on achieving goals/KPI’s/metrics as agreed upon between the administration and the individual.
9. How can the AASD directly involve more faculty and staff in decision-making processes at the site, grade, and district levels?
Learning councils should be set up at each school. These can provide feedback and ideas for improvement initiatives that feed up to the school board for review.
10. What steps could the AASD take to alleviate the workload of educators? What can be done to improve areas of concern (e.g., increasing number of initiatives, decreasing prep time, student behaviors)?
Nonvalue added time needs to be identified and eliminated. Activities that do not directly contribute to the education of the student must be minimized. Learning Councils (see question 9) would be an excellent tool to identify these tasks. Given the new age of AI, computer learning and virtual tools, these must become a larger part of the learning experience. These are tools that reinforce learning. I expect teachers to be the leaders in recommending where the district goes in the future regarding the next generation of education.
The Appleton Education Association is committed to providing our students with a quality education, and we work diligently to improve and ensure fair, equitable, and beneficial opportunities for Appleton children and adults. We actively promote public education by advancing the ideals, interests, and welfare of our students, communities, and all members of our profession. We embrace collaboration with other stakeholders in public education.
