Pavel Payano

Pavel Payano earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2006, an M.S. in public affairs from the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 2011, and a J.D. from Suffolk University in 2015.[1][2] Payano's career experience includes working as the director of community mobilization of The Social Innovation Forum, an SEIS teacher with the Collaborative for Educational Services, the outreach director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, a special assistant and immigration specialist for former Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, and the New Hampshire Latino's Campaign co-director and a field director for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[1][2][3] He has served on the city council of Lawrence, Massachusetts, as the founding president of the Greater Lawrence Young Professionals Network, and on the board of directors of Lawrence Family Development, Inc.[1][4]

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Payano participated in [the profile publisher]'s 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

To ensure that the district gets out of receivership as soon as possible.

[12]

—Pavel Payano, (2015), [13]

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy

Click here to learn more about education policy in Massachusetts.

Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking

Candidate's ranking

Issue

6

Balancing or maintaining the district's budget

4

Expanding career-technical education

2

Closing the achievement gap

3

Expanding arts education

1

Improving college readiness

5

Improving education for special needs students

7

Expanding school choice options

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from [the profile publisher] regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question

Response

What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?

"Modifications are required before they are implemented."

Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?

"Yes."

Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?

"No."

Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?

"No."

How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?

"More work needs to be done to ensure that we are challenging all of our students to become successful leaders of our community."

How should expulsion be used in the district?

"Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy."

If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?

"Lawrence School Committee members should help the district create a comprehensive plan of action that will significantly improve the educational outcomes of the students in that school. These plans should be based on input from teachers, students, parents, and other community members. They should also be based on trends such achievement, student growth, graduation, teen pregnancy, bullying, and dropout rates."

Do you support merit pay for teachers?

"Depends on the plan."

How should the district handle underperforming teachers?

"There has to be a comprehensive approach that holds all teachers accountable to high standards but also assists them in becoming better educational professionals. Simply removing teachers and hiring younger people is not the answer. We want to recruit teachers that care about the community and will stay in their profession for years to come."

How would you work to improve community-school board relations?

"By becoming more accessible to parents, students, and members of the community."

Payano's campaign website listed the following campaign themes:

As School Committee Member he seeks to heal his community by energizing the youth and ensuring that the Promise Neighborhood is a success in Lawrence.[12]