Paz is the trustee Fort Worth needs

Pilar Candia, challenging Trustee Ashley Paz for the Fort Worth school board District 9 seat, is bursting with so many ideas it can be difficult to pin Candia down on exactly how they will help improve struggling neighborhood schools.

For Candia, who has been an active member of the community, mentoring nearly two dozen children, communication and parental engagement is essential to improving student achievement.

During a meeting with the Star-Telegram Editorial Board, she outlined ways to encourage parents to get involved, including supporting PTAs and targeting outreach events to reach Spanish-speaking parents in her majority Hispanic district.

Candia, who is multilingual, says she “knows their language” and “understands their struggle.”

If elected, she would support efforts to bring on more bilingual staff and create English-language classes for adults in the schools.

Candia’s knowledge of the community is substantial; she has served as the district director for City Council member Sal Espino for two years.

But her enthusiasm for politics could become a vice on a board too often governed by emotion and personality.

Candia stands in contrast to the trustee she says she helped to elect and is now seeking to unseat — Paz.

Four years ago, Paz was a concerned mother who saw big problems with the board.

A deliberate and even-keeled trustee, she has made it her mission to embody the changes she wished to see.

She says the politics and nastiness involved in the removal of Superintendent Walter Dansby was a low point; the hiring of Superintendent Kent Scribner was a highlight.

Unlike Candia, Paz does not speak Spanish.

Paz sees governance — setting goals for the superintendent and holding him accountable — and not management as the board’s primary responsibility.

She believes that job is impossible when trustees become mired in politics, pet projects and the details of what is happening in individual schools.

“There is no room for micromanagement,” she told the Editorial Board.

Paz’s approach is data-driven. She relies heavily on research and advice from the Council for Great City Schools and represents Fort Worth on a number of the organization’s committees.

It would be wrong to interpret Paz’s focus on governance as aloofness.

Paz has been a steadying force on a board often beset by politics. She deserves to return to the board and continue her work.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board recommends Ashley Paz for the FWISD School Board District 9 seat.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Paz is the trustee Fort Worth needs."