There was a time before I had children that I paid no attention to schools and school issues. I didn’t see the relevance to my own life. I figured schools only mattered to the students and the parents, and sadly, I paid little attention to teachers back then. I took teachers for granted and I took my own fine education for granted. As a mother and a more aware citizen, I realize how foolish that was, and perhaps all the energy I spend advocating for education now is an effort to compensate for that folly.
Tomorrow we cast our ballots in Wake County, North Carolina for a new mayor of Raleigh, city council representatives, and new school board members. Ah, the school board. You might think school issues don’t affect you but you are woefully mistaken. I speak from experience. Whether you have children or not, please come out to cast your ballot for all the seats in tomorrow’s election. Whether you have children or not, please come out to cast your ballot for all the seats in tomorrow’s election. It’s supposed to be a gloomy rainy day, the kind of day that calls for soup and grilled cheese and yoga pants. Bring your tomato soup stained self to your polling place and vote, despite the rain. We can’t stand to weather any more years of politicking and pandering from our school board. We need to start behaving like a community and see the worth in education for every child.
The nation stands divided. There is an awful lot of energy spent trash talking to win elections rather than actually getting down to work to put more Americans to work. At the core of finding stable work is a solid education. An educated community creates a safe, empowered, vibrant, stable community for us all. The children of today are going to be the ones caring for us and our world in the future. A disservice to them now will be a burden to us all later.
Like our nation, our city, county, and even neighborhoods, are divided. We need to elect a school board that will best support, protect, and advocate for all our children. Families need stability, teachers need allies, students need support. We need non-partisan champions of our public schools, people who stand to gain nothing by the dismantling of our public school system. We need unity, leadership, compassion. I’m looking for that blend of head and heart to tow us out of this ugly hole cut into our community.
Division belongs on a math class white board, not on our county school board.
VOTE. Tuesday, October 11. Be an informed voter.
General Board of Elections information (find your polling place, view a sample ballot, see your voter registration information) http://www.wakegov.com/elections/default.htm
The last two posts here are extraordinarily helpful in digesting the new school reassignment plan. www.wakereassignment.info
Excellent article on choosing a school board candidate and understanding the school board’s role. http://www.greatschools.org/improvement/volunteering/22-school-board-candidates.gs?page=1
Wake County Voter Information: www.wakeelections.com
Election 2011 Voter Guide http://blogs.newsobserver.com/elections/raleigh-and-wake-county-races