Last year I was embarrassed to admit that I was voting in the school board elections for the first time. Unfortunately this is quite common. In fact, I learned that only around 2% of the population actually votes in this election. This was brought home to me when one candidate I voted for, won by only two votes! At the time, I was impressed to learn that I was one of those votes!
My pride, however, was short lived. I attended a couple board meetings this year, and was very disappointed in the performance of the member I had voted for. I had made a mistake in my voting choice. Why was this the case? I was a last minute voter. My interest was sparked shortly before the election and I wasn't able to find much information on the candidates. I vowed that i could not let that happen again.
So here I am, a year later, having learned from last year's experience. I am much more prepared, and am confident about my voting decision
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You might be wondering why you should vote. The civic process so often feels very much out of reach. It's all so complicated, seems to be all about politics, and who has the time anyway?
Here's a little motivation for you:
- If you're a home owner, the value of your home is tied directly to the performance of the schools in your area. Location, location, location!
- You may not have a child attending district schools, so you may feel that the schools aren't your issue. Well, we all have to live in the community together. The person ringing you up at the grocery store, checking you out at the gas station, serving you in a restaurant, driving next to you on the road, is most likely a product of your local school. If you have to go to the hospital, or if you become elderly and need care in a nursing home facility, your care provider may well be a graduate of your school district. If you need the help of a law enforcement officer, a fire figher, or an emt, you might find yourself turning to someone who got their education in the town where you live.
- Then there are our tax dollars. Whew! I have a copy of the fiscal year 2012 Christina budget. The millions tossed around in there are nothing to sneeze at! The school board does not determine specifically where all that money goes, but they do vote on whether or not to pass the proposed budget.
- The school board also hires the superintendent, and she/he makes the decisions for the district.
Our neighbors being well educated, and our community having good public schools is in the best interest of us all!
A quick look at nationwide statistics shows that our state has a long way to go to be its best. What we need are board members who are open, honest, and who clearly want what is best for the children in our schools. We need folks on the board who are realistic about where we are as a state, who do not point fingers and resort to name calling, but who roll up their sleeves and dive in. We need people in these positions who were involved in the schools before they got on the board. I for one don't want some new guy off the street who has not experienced Delaware public schools in at least one of these capacities: as a student, parent or a teacher.
So, whatever district you're in, get out and vote next Tuesday, May 8th! At the bottom of this email is a list of voting sites. All you need is to be 18 years of age and to have a valid state ID. You don't even have to be a registered voter.
I live in the Christina school district, and as I've taken the time in recent weeks to look into and speak with each of the candidates, I wanted to be sure that I share what I've learned, with my friends and neighbors. Not only do I intend to be a well informed voter, I want my community to be informed as well. So if you are a resident of the Christina district, sit back for a few moments and enjoy the fact that I've already done some research for you:-)
The candidates are, Valene Harris, Stephen Lee, and Shirley Sutton-Saffer.
I'm about to tell you what I've learned about them, but I encourage you to look into them yourselves, so first I'll give you their contact/website info (most of which can be obtained from the board of elections):-)
Valene Harris: valharris4christinaschoolboard@gmail.com
836-8034
Stephen Lee: cunmanuta@yahoo.com
Shirley Sutton-Saffer: sasclancy@comcast.net
454-8464
Monday, May 7th, McVey Elementary's PTA will host a meet and greet with all three candidates from 6-6:45!!
Val Harris.
I will not print the negative comments.
Steve Lee didn't list much contact information on the form he submitted to the board of elections, but I was able to eventually reach him. We have communicated both by phone and by email. Mr. Lee has unique experience among the current candidates, in that he taught in our district for four years. I believe this was at the high school level. Still teaching, but at the university level, Mr. Lee cares deeply about education. As the father of a soon to be Christina student, and as a former Christina teacher, Mr. Lee has a personal interest in the success of our district:-) It's commendable that though he has moved on professionally, he still wants to participate on the district level.
The main question I had for the candidates was in regard to the recent board decision to allow new and successful teachers to be displaced by teachers with seniority, from the failing Bancroft school. Mr. Lee was not familiar with this particular case. He hasn't been able to attend board meetings in recent years. He does have friends still teaching in the district, who tell him about issues here and there.
That said, Mr. Lee clearly has knowledge on the public education process. He also has a desire for teachers to have the freedom to provide their students with fabulous educational experiences, rather than have to work constantly at toeing the administrative line. I really appreciated that Mr. Lee respected my need to get info from him quickly, and was very forthcoming and straight forward with his answers. Where as Val Harris had no specific answers for me, Mr. Lee's answers are in depth! I'd be happy to share those emails with any of you, the one of answers from Mr. Lee, as well as the one email I received from Ms. Harris, if you'd like to hear them speak for themselves:-)
I also really liked that Mr. Lee feels that one of the best ways to improve our schools, is to bring in competition. He wasn't one to whine or complain about the charter schools, rather, he states that what we need is a competitive atmosphere, to push our schools into performing their best, in an effort to retain students.
I think that in a few years, once Mr. Lee has experienced the district as a parent, and has been back in the schools for a while in one capacity or another, he would be a great candidate, and I would love to vote for him:-)
Ms. Saffer has, by far, been the most accessible candidate! I have spoken with her many times over the past couple weeks, every time it's been before she had to run off to one district function or another:-) She has enjoyed my questions and the issues I raised. It should be said, that as a district parent for many years, someone who has made being in the schools her full time job, and as a current board member, I'm sure it was much easier for Ms. Saffer to answer my questions, than it was for the other candidates. As a Christina district parent, Ms. Saffer has made it her job to know what's going on in the district, and to do everything she can to help the students and families served by Christina. Not only did Ms. Saffer have answers for all my questions, but for the first time in my experience with the Christina district, my concerns and suggestions were met with interest and excitement! She said that as a district parent, all these issues are things she faces as well. She really welcomed ideas on how to improve certain areas.
Ms. Saffer, a homeroom mom, began her career in district involvement when her son, then in the fourth grade, was bullied due to a slight physical deformity. He was bullied so badly that he was eventually pushed down a flight of stairs. Ms. Saffer got no results from his teacher, principal, the school board, or the state board. After advocating for her son in every way she could, and attending one board meeting after another, she finally decided to run for the school board herself! Ms. Saffer acted as a mother first. That has paid off. She kept her son in the district despite the obstacles he faced. Justin is now in college and plans to become a teacher:-)
One of the many questions I asked Ms. Saffer is how she has been able to work on the issue of bullying since then. She told me about a student who came before the board recently, due to being bullied about her sexuality. I was impressed that a child felt confident to come forward. In my experiences being bullied, I never wanted to tell anyone, let alone stand before a school board! Because of human nature, it will always be an issue, but every time something is brought forward about it, Ms. Saffer acts in anyway she can to meet the needs of the child. She informed me that there is now a paper available that a child can fill out in private, if they are being bullied in any way. Mr. Saffer is on the pta (I assume at Glasgow where their daughter is a 9th grader), and they have been working hard at getting this paper into the hands of principals. Parents need to ask their principals if they are making this form available to the students.
The other issue I want to address here, is last month's vote that allowed teachers from the failing Bancroft school to displace teachers doing just fine in other schools. Ms. Saffer voted against that. She is really upset that teachers who are loved by their schools, are having their jobs snatched out from under them. It was a 4-3 vote. Ms. Saffer, Mr. Young, and Ms. Scheinberg all voted for the teachers to be able to keep their jobs, and for the schools to keep their teachers.
I also have to say that in the two board meetings I attended this year, my favorite members were Mr. Young and Ms. Saffer. They were the most engaged in the discussions. At a meeting I attended in the fall, Mr. Young and Ms. Saffer both voted against a class size waiver. In the time that I have been paying attention to school board performance, I have thought that Ms. Saffer has the interests of students and families at heart. My research in recent weeks, in preparation for the election has really confirmed that.
Please be sure to check out her newly made blog, and read what so many have to say about her character and hard work, after knowing her as a district parent for many years. All that is said there, echoes what I've found.
Lastly, I am very excited about the superintendent that the board has named as their new hire. Freeman Williams is a Delaware native. He is a Christiana High School graduate, and even played on their basketball team:-) His wife teaches at Newark High School, his son teaches in the Appoquinimink district. The whole Williams family is dedicated to Delaware education. This was a great move by the current board, one requested and encouraged by a handful of West Park parents, at the January board meeting I attended. Mr. Williams is a Christina veteran, and I am excited to see what will happen under his leadership, and with folks on the board like Mr. Young, Ms. Scheinberg, and hopefully Ms. Saffer:-)
Well folks, this is a long email you just read. Writing it has taken quite a bit of my time. It is well worth it though, to ensure that our community is well informed, and is inspired to become even more informed and involved! Don't take my word for it, look into these issues and candidates on your own! And if you don't have much time to do so between now and next Tues, then you can at least make good use of the info I've given here. There's a lot more to go on here, than I had when I voted last year! Please, send this email on to the other Delawarians you know!
Let's all go out and put our votes where our mouths are! See you at the polls! Blaky Wasgatt"
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