EVERYONE Needs to Vote in School Board Elections

Let me start by apologizing. I’m sorry this post is so heated. I’m sorry to come off as angry and negative. I’m sorry to let snark unleash its tongue. I’m sorry to rant. But I’m not sorry for caring. I’m not sorry for standing up for what I believe from the very core that makes me breathe. Let me be clear here; I am not in this fight just for my sons. My energy is spent to lift my whole community; less “me” and more “we.” What some might mistake for rage, I call passion. And it beats indifference every single day.

 

It’s seems silly and trite to say that schools matter. Duh! Education is the cornerstone of everything that drives our community. Property values. Economic stability. Qualified job pool. Being desirable to businesses. Creating a culture of commerce. Public safety. Strong neighborhoods. Our future.

Schools matter. Education is paramount to how we function as a society.

Whether you have children or not, you MUST vote in your local school board race. Even if your children have long graduated or if your children are in private school, you MUST vote in your local school board race. Schools matter for everyone. Education will help us rise as a community. Education is a ticket, an escape, a goal set, a dream realized, a right.

It’s been a tough, heated couple of years here, with the current school board majority more interested in pushing political power than boosting student achievement. The majority has finagled its way to dismantle exactly what makes this county desirable and prosperous by preying on the same tired Tea Party fears. There is a dangerous undertone of “separate but equal” and “fear that which you do not know” in the whispered poofs of rhetoric that they and their supporters spew. There is a wasteful effort to reinvent that which is not broken while budgets are slashed and students are hurting. A lack of funding and focus leaves the teachers spent. Students pay the price. We leave these children in the wreckage of our political warfare as casualties, detritus of grander, selfish agendas.

The new regime has been focused on bolstering its political clout at the expense of students. The most shameful byproduct of the current board majority’s antics is the resegregation of our schools. Yes, I said it. Resegregation. No hyperbole. No dramatic effect. This is indeed what we shall see. On the heels of North Carolina’s constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage going on our ballots in May, it’s a shameful time to be in the Tarheel State. We’re seeing a blase attitude towards racism and an irresponsible, if not criminal, lack of compassion for the disenfranchised.

While our state lawmakers run amok and high five each other at the next Tea Party rally, church picnic, or 19th hole, we need to act in local elections to make our voices heard. Tea is supposed to be a soothing agent, but the stuff that runs through the veins of these folks is anything but. On October 11, I’ll proudly cast my ballot for Christine Kushner in my district (District 6). She’s extraordinarily articulate, composed, and bright. She makes very deliberate decisions and panders to no one. Christine is well informed, compassionate, and thoroughly engaged in our schools.

Read on to see why I’m not alone. 

 

 

A few words from my much calmer, more rational friend Paul:

Donna Williams wants you to believe she’s simply a parent who believes in traditional schools. She’s so much more. Here are some observations from her comments at the recent school board District 6 forum (and a subsequent review of her website):

1) Donna Williams doesn’t understand what magnet schools are or how they are funded. Magnet schools were designed with special courses and extra teachers to draw a diverse student population and to fill seats in under enrolled schools. How? Using grants and federal funding. Ms. Williams says “My concern is we have schools that have not a single magnet course.” If you dilute magnet programs so that every school will have it, then the federal funding evaporates.

2)  Donna Williams believes “there’s extra $$ in that school system, where money is being spent that is not giving us what we need.” Broad Alumni Services audit of WCPSS finds “staffing levels are lean” and “without redundancy.”

3)  Donna Williams is generally vague on details and big on emotion. She mentioned her son in the military, Lions Den, God speaking to her, Iraq, and her tears. In addition to the money example above, she mentioned kids on “two hour bus rides”. This is playing to emotion, and Christine Kushner zinged her with a response citing a study noting that the average Wake bus ride is 16 minutes.

Facts, not emotions, should guide our leaders. (Editorial from the snarky side of the peanut gallery here – Ah, but wouldn’t “Vague on details, Big on emotion” be a great anti-campaign slogan?!)

4)  Donna Williams believes the largest failure of the school board in the past two years is not enough information or communication about what’s going on in their schools, and they want it right now “… because of the internet.” She would even like job reductions at the central office. I am unclear who would analyze or even post the increase of information that she feels is essential.

I agreed with Christine Kushner that the divisiveness of the School Board is the biggest failure.

5) Donna Williams believes that the “Flavor of the month” is what we need. She mentioned Smart boards (been around since 2003, but Donna had never heard about them before a visit to Sanderson). Also she didn’t know that the PTA bought those for Sanderson High School. The single sex academies in Guilford that she mentions (and SuperindentTata is promoting) have 100 students each, where the Wake proposal is for 800 – 1000 students. She credits the current board with the STEM program. I’ll credit the board with not killing the program, but the genesis of STEM schools in Wake was back in 2007 / 2008 (before the current board).

The takeaway: I want the most informed person representing District 6. Donna Williams cares about kids in Wake, but I have neighbors who have much more knowledge of the school board and Wake policies than Donna Williams. While well spoken, Donna’s “calming neutrality” way of speaking masks a lack of crucial knowledge.

I’m voting for Christine Kushner. End of rant.

 

 

• October 11. Vote in Wake County, North Carolina. School board seats, city council, and mayor races are hotly contested!
• Get information on the school board race in your district. Very thorough resource here.
• Register to vote (LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE ON OCTOBER 11 IS THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16!)