Its Election Time

The school board election posters and commercial yard signs are out. The various candidates are getting their names on every available lawn space in town.

I was part of the local teacher's association's committee to interview the candidates running for our seats and suggest a candidate to support. We interviewed three candidates. One of the candidates was running unopposed and his name will not even be on the ballot. The other two candidates offer interesting contrasts. One candidate represents the old time interests in Merced. He has the most money. He owns an insurance agency in town and understands the pressure from a business viewpoint. He has the money to invest int he campaign and all he wanted from us was a sign of support and an education on the issues. He fairly represents what we already have on the board.Many of our members support him because he is a volunteer for the water polo coaching group. His idea of safety on the school sites was to prevent outside people from coming in and disturbing the environment. Student on student violence did not enter his mind. If elected he will be determining whether students will remain on district campuses for just this kind of action.

The other candidate needed and got some financial support from the teachers. He is a father of an new administrator at a local campus. He is supported by a campaign manager that was a former principal at the adult school. He has been a teacher at in the summer school program. He was well schooled on the safety problems that we face and was willing to dig into the financial basis of the district. It was interesting to interview the candidates. The one and half hour interview revealed interesting insights as to how they would operate. He was pro teacher. He understood student on student violence and understood why we were concerned about our own safety. He may be a little naive regarding the cultural diversity that we teach.

If we are going to make a difference at the negotiation table, the real interest is at the election booth. We need to mobilize our members to support candidates that will listen and consider our viewpoints not just listen to what the managers and the superintendents think that they need. Our district is expanding its managerial force . This often comes at the expense of the districts ability to fund innovative programs or provide adequate environments for students. We hope that we have picked and supported candidates that will do this.
: )
Pat