Patch Blog: Kayser Voters, Can You Describe Your Political Education?

In a prior post I discussed with the School Board District 5 Election between Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez.  I supported Sanchez but many clearly did not.

Elsewhere, I have bemoaned that teachers vote in vastly higher numbers than members of the public.  I’ve also argued that parents are often influenced by teachers to get out and organize, and to vote.  All of that makes sense.

David Green takes my critique and says in effect, "Ok, fine, so what?"  He says that “teachers that live in the district are legitimate stakeholders! Of course they voted. For every teacher, there are at least 20 kids. That means at least 40 parents for each child enrolled. Those parents can be involved and vote. If they didn't get out and vote for Sanchez then that's a clear message that they didn't care for him. That's democracy.”

The purpose of this blog post is to simply ask parents and community-members how they voted and why they voted the way they did.  When I was growing up in a suburb of Philadelphia, neither me nor my parents knew anything about candidates for school board.  We certainly cared deeply about the quality of education and sympathized deeply with striking teachers and wanted to support them.  Was it the same for you?

So here’s the question.  On what basis did you make a decision to vote for Bennett Kayser or Luis Sanchez?  Who told you what, who did you believe and why?  Also, how many others did you influence to vote?  Did anyone you know disagree with your choice or your enthusiasm?  I hope that many readers will comment so that others (me included) can learn more about how such important decisions are made and on what basis.  I will abstain from commenting myself.