Pai, Eastman, and Bennett: Independent Voices to Restore Accountability to our School Board

I'm wholeheartedly endorsing the three independent candidates for school board: Madhu Pai, Wayne Eastman and Jeff Bennett. I have supported them since they first declared because I'm convinced they understand the next steps our district needs to take. A lot of negativity has come from the other side in the last two weeks of the campaign -- from repeated scare tactics (claims that they would "roll back" the deleveling of 8th and 9th grade) to far more offensive statements in recent days. So it is crucial now to stress what makes Pai, Eastman, and Bennett the candidates who can most help all children in our schools moving forward from this point.

First, Madhu, Wayne, and Jeff have clear ideas to improve global education in our high school, and to bring our foreign language options up to par. These are needs that have gone unaddressed for far too long. Jeff and Madhu bring expert knowledge of curricula used by the best districts in the state and a plan to improve language arts and science education in our elementary schools. These are the steps that are most important in bringing up student performance and closing the achievement gap; we cannot expect the changes in 7th and 8th grade to do everything without earlier intervention. And Wayne has the essential expertise in IB that will be crucial to making this innovation work in our middle schools -- now that the district took this plunge.

Second, our curricula in several areas will have to be improved to meet new state core content standards. This includes even the redone language arts curriculum in elementary schools, and the social studies curriculum needs a much deeper overhaul, as is now widely agreed -- one good thing to come out of this campaign process, at least. We have great teachers, but do not do enough to support them, especially when they are asked to implement one new initiative after another -- and with fewer classroom aides now too. I trust Pai, Eastman, and Bennett to fix this problem. The school board needs to have a direct route to teachers so that the administration cannot censor teacher communication to the BOE. Teachers and administrators need to be free to note problems they face even if their worries do not 'tow the party line,' which has become so strongly enforced in recent years. The same goes for the public: they need board members who actually respond to their emails and phone calls.

This brings me to the third key virtue of Madhu, Wayne, and Jeff: they are their own people. They decided to run on their own, not at the behest of any other group or bloc in our towns. And they will ensure that our Board of Education is not a monolithic rubber stamp for the current administration. A member of the current majority (who I'll spare from naming) recently told one of our candidates that Board members should not be doing their own detailed analysis of the data on class performances presented by the administration -- they should just leave that to the superintendent's staff. That is the kind of 'hand's-off' mentality we need to overcome to move forward. A well-known local supporter of IB put it perfectly: "Being a Board member is not about celebrating what we do—it is about scrutinizing what we do." Pai, Eastman, and Bennett know that!

The establishment candidates' response to this crucial point has surprised me more than anything else in this campaign. I expected P-P, H, and S to do everything possible to reassure us that they would be independent voices, critique the superintendent if his proposals are not working out well, and introduce their own initiatives. At every stage, in every debate, they have done just the opposite; they have argued instead that we need to "support the superintendent." Well, of course we need to do that for day-to-day operation of our district; the Board works closely with the superintendent to get things done. And when he is moving us forward, of course Pai, Eastman, and Bennett will stand by him. But that hardly means that we should always agree with the superintendent no matter what, or that Board members should never say a critical word about the district's proposals at public meetings, and keep any doubts behind closed doors -- let alone practically worship the guy. The Board's job is to give direction to the superintendent, partly in reply to his proposals and arguments, and to respond to public input in doing so. Only one slate in this election seems to grasp that, and we really need to get back to this common understanding of the Board's role.

Instead, supporters of the establishment candidates have been sending around an email saying [I quote verbatim]: "If you support Osborne, and his work especially in light of the decimating budget cuts he’s been working with, than the Eastman side is not for you. Everything I’ve heard reminds me so much of how congress has tried to do everything to stop Obama, even on policies that they once supported. They are voting against the needs and best interest of families and workers, because they hate Obama so much. That approach, divisiveness and immaturity is a waste and heartbreaking. I am very afraid that same feeling will dominate the board and detract from the work that needs to be done." (I won't name the authors).

So, in other words, if you vote for Pai, Eastman, and Bennett, they will be like House republicans who hate Obama and poison the 'good feeling' on our school board?! What does this imply to you? That as independent candidates, Madhu, Wayne, and Jeff hate people like Obama? That they are against families and workers? That Brian Osborne is like our President?  The interpretation could go on and on. I'm especially offended since I've been a staunch supporter of Obama from his days as a state senator in Illinois. And I'd like to note for the record that it is the current board majority supporting the establishment candidates, whose decisions they endorse, who have refused every single compromise proposed through the deleveling debate in the last two years. If anyone should remind us of uncompromising blocs in our federal legislature, it should be this bloc that now dominates our school board.

Faced with this, Madhu, Wayne, and Jeff remain 'underdogs;' they are opposed by a well-entrenched political machine, and they need every vote. So get out there on Tuesday and vote ballot numbers 2, 4, and 6 -- the evenhanded numbers for reason and balance! And for more information, see: www.votesoma2012.com/ 

John Davenport

Maplewood