Natalie Beyer '86 still in the running for Durham County School board

Beyer: ‘Going forward we can do better’

The Herald-Sun


DURHAM — Natalie Beyer wants to make changes in how the Durham public school system deals with the public, how it teaches literacy and how it recruits and retains teachers.

Beyer, 41, is seeking to represent District 4B on the school board. The seat is currently held by Stephen Martin, one of three incumbents running for re-election on a platform of direction, purpose and stability.

“I don’t know that the school district is in the best place — that stability is a goal worth fighting for,” she said. “I know that people are glad that the discourse at the school board is mostly civil, that we’re in a new era of congeniality. But I know that going forward we can do so much better.”

Beyer spent most of her childhood in Durham and has lived most of her adult life here as well. After the birth of her children, the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics graduate left her career in health care to concentrate on parenting. She earned a master’s degree in health care administration at UNC Chapel Hill.

Beyer, who does office work part time, recently helped start Durham Allies for Responsive Education, which sprang from parents dismayed by the district’s new literacy program. She is not yet persuaded of the program’s effectiveness.

When asked about local challenges, Beyer replied: “We have a greater than average population of AIG [academically and intellectually gifted] students and we have a greater than average population of exceptional children and English as a second language or ELL [English language learner] students. I think the challenge is for the teachers to teach all of that and to challenge all of that and to meet all of that where it is.”

Beyer, a longtime advocate for local magnet schools, praised the district’s school choice program and its small innovative high school programs. Beyer’s daughter (Club Boulevard Elementary) and two sons (W.G. Pearson Middle) all attend magnets.

One of Beyer’s interests is improving the district’s communication with the public.

“I would love the board to fully engage the community and teachers in a thorough way — in a listening way,” Beyer said. “I would love school board members to have office hours.”

Beyer, who has spoken at some school board meetings in recent months, said that it is often hard for attendees to know what questions to ask or actions to recommend during the public comment periods. She’d like to see the board get a Twitter stream to monitor and to respond to during meetings. And she wants to see board members spend time in schools.

She also called for more transparency in budgeting. “The public has ongoing skepticism about central office expenses and administrative expenses,” Beyer said. “And the public wants to make sure that the majority of funds are going into the classroom and directly impacting students”

Other concerns of Beyer’s involve teacher retention, teacher burnout, whether Durham overtests its children and how the district evaluates its programs’ effectiveness.

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