The Echo

Dear Christina,

Elections are looming.  A referendum is in our midst.  Teachers have been RIF'd.  An A.G. opinion supports a FOIA petition.  Program cuts are real and our students have walked out.

It's time to lay the cards on the table.

How about we start with some grandstanding; it's the word of the day in the blogosphere.  I've tried to walk the high road in this political nightmare, sticking to transparency and honesty. 

But, recently, a candidate for Christina's school board pulled me into the election.  It wasn't the FOIA that he targeted, though I would not have blamed him if he did, it directly involved his judgment as board president.  It was this blog and others like it.  Precisely, it was this statement, "I don't think I'm running against Eric Anderson for re-election, I'm campaigning against John Young and Elizabeth Steinberg."   The issue: the blogs and the idea that if you arrive at the same conclusions as those vocalized on Transparent Christina or Children & Educators First, then you are unable to think for yourself.

Flip the logic on it's head:  It's the equivalent of denouncing those who rubber stamp every vote that comes before them as board members on a stage.  The truth: every vote is sacred, and each board member arrives at theirs through their own personal means. And some put that logic to the public in the interest of transparency.  I do not ever lay a vote on the table without having arrived at it 10 ways to Sunday, or in this case, 10 ways to Mother's Day.  There have been close ones, painful ones, like the decision to dissent on the CLEAR Review, a tool I believe will benefit our district, but came with a hefty price tag and a groundswell of concern from parents and teachers.  We could have handled it differently, bringing the issue to the public for comment and debate.  We didn't and the result is haunting.  We've approved a strategic plan that in places relies heavily on the results of that review, yet unknown.  It reminds me of something I read recently regarding the perception by students of  bullying and fighting in schools:  The winner goes to the office, the loser goes to the nurse.

For too long, Christina has been on the losing side of an education battle.  We live in triage.  Well before Joe Wise crippled the district, Christina was fighting rising drop-out rates and achievement gaps.  The DSTP made it evident, No Child Left Behind made it news, and Joe Wise put it on the front page.  Despite it all, we have had teachers on the front lines, in many cases fighting poverty and despair, struggling to undue 16 hours/day of neglect and blight, in 8 hours of educational intensity.

Christina has struggled to rise above it's financial nightmare.  Really, it was and is a nightmare.  They were forced to turn to the state for a loan and have been solvent in repayment according to the five year terms.  Our final payment comes due next year.  I can argue for more transparency, but I can also assure you, our constituents, that Christina has been responsible in repayment.  This I thoroughly believe.  I can find no documentation to contest it and every document to support it.

But, what's the purpose of talking about loans when we are laying off teachers?  Because there is a misconception and our children are impacted by it.  Today, I read a letter in the News Journal, taking my district to task for cutting text book funding to help mitigate the very real deficit.   In fact, the state has offered two peas in the way of funding for books for years.  The majority of money that buys books comes from the local share of school taxes.  If the local share must go to operating buildings, energy costs, and payroll for those very valuable teachers that we are struggling to keep, then something must go.  Textbooks?  Truth:  Christina cut out a lot of "fat" when Wise toppled the finances.  Is there still fat?  Maybe.  But, not enough to save 43 teachers.  That much, I believe.  As far as books, our district has not been able to afford to purchase books, aside piecemeal, for years.  Those who have children in our district know that.  And they know it, because few if any children bring those books home.

Very real story:  My daughter struggled with reading this year. Those who read my blog know that I do not often bring my own children into the political story of Christina.  And sometimes, I don't have a choice.  My daughter started her year in a regular reading class.  In early fall, she was pulled back to her special ed classroom's small reading group because she was falling behind.  I begged, pleaded, and argued for her text to come home so that I could work with her.  The answer was "no." During winter, her IEP rolled around and it took an administrator from her program to call down the guard and concede the book.  Why the fight?  The fear that dictates it's too expensive to send a book home and not get it back.  The concern that books are no longer in publication and therefore cannot be replaced is very real.  Meanwhile, my daughter has continued to learn at a slower pace.  She's learning, but way behind her typical peers.  Do I blame her team?  her school?  No.  If I had to pluck someone out of the air to blame, it would be Dr. Wise.  Myself, I'm a close second.  If a school board member can't get the book home, then what does that say about the plight of our parents at large? 

The truth: a referendum will provide for the textbook or technology purchase needed to put supplies back into our students hands. The next truth:   the suggestions I've made to our administration, the requests, and questions, would likely not amount to enough money to keep us floating.  I concede this, but it does not mean that I am done asking for those efficiencies.  I highlight this because I believe we need to continue our fight for change in Christina, for openness, and accountability.  The nearing election, Tuesday, May 11th, provides the next opportunity for voters to voice their opinions.

I've called Christina's a "Board in Transition."  Five years later the sitting board is still in transition from the dark days of Wise and the events that have caused those very real and painful votes the members of the board have had to voice.  But, there's another transition afoot, one I've talked about in past posts -- transparency and accountability.  Though the lesson comes from a piece on Mayoral control of education (you don't like your mayor's decisions, you vote him out after four years.)  When a school board leads, it takes 5 to 7 years and sometimes longer to change a board with whom whose decisions you do not agree (due to the duration of terms.)  I believe I was elected to help steer the leadership in Christina in a new direction. I certainly did not run because I was happy with the course that had been charted for my own children and their peers. 

And by laying my cards down and making these statements, I know that I am not strengthening relationships with some board members.  But, the night the pathetic semblance of my name, and my blog, were used to disparage another candidate, changed the dynamic.  A non-blogging Delaware board member, whom I hold high regard, put it to me this way:  You have nothing left to loose.  They won't work with you anyway.

It's been five years since the news about our finances first broke.   Christina's transition is well entrenched.  It started before me and I hope has been accelerated by the decisions I have made.   To those fighting it:  you are only fooling yourselves.  If nothing else is gained by this post, the constituents will know that someone is LISTENING.  Their voices ARE being heard.

Today, unceremoniously as it is, I break the unspoken pact of boardmanship.  I will join the ranks of two others who have, for their own various reasons, publicly endorsed candidates in their district's elections.   I am not the first and I don't deserve any praise for it.  In fact, I expect a backlash from those whose first instinct is to be wary of change.

Today, I put my support behind Eric Anderson, a former Christina teacher, who I believe has the best interest of our district at heart.  Our current board is enjoined by parents of children in the district, both elementary, secondary, and served by special education and special programs.  There are a combination businessmen, stay-at-home parents, and a member whose children graduated from the district some years back.  But, we lack a crucial partner -- an educator.  I believe that Eric is that educator whose insight is desperately needed in the decision-making process to guide Christina to success.  And with Eric as an elected partner in the process, I believe that a successful referendum will be the next step to creating a financially-sound Christina. 

Today, I urge you, Christina, to get out the vote on Tuesday, May 11th, and again, make your voices heard!!! I will lend my vote to Eric Anderson. I hope you will do the same.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth