Recently, a local political organization ran a disparaging article against my opponent with her face imposed on a grim reaper. While I agree that the article and imagery was not appropriate, we need to understand that there is a tremendous amount of anger and frustration in our community directed towards the WCSD. The Board does little but pay lip service to our community, teachers, parents and students. Let me go over a few examples.
School Violence
Throughout the District, students are able to get away with horrific acts of violence. Students that are bullied have no recourse and are often blamed for their situation. Teachers are often physically assaulted and the District hides it. As the schools grow more unsafe, little is done. Would you want your child to be the next victim of violent crime?
Special Education
The students most in need of support are often the ones most left behind. Across the District, only 20-30% of students with IEP’s (Individualized Education Plans) have a compliant IEP. This means that these student often go without the supports, therapies and other tools they are federally entitled to receive. Does this benefit special needs students?
Books
Many parents are rightly concerned about the explicit nature of some books in our libraries. Books should be age appropriate. Huck Finn in elementary school is not appropriate but is critical in high school. If the District cared, it could easily create a policy to age restrict certain books or even require a parent consent form. If we require parental consent for sex ed, why don’t we require it for sex ed in book form?
Transparency
Far too often, the District purposefully hides the truth from parents. We don’t know how often evacuations occur. If you attempt to put in an information request, the most common response is that there are no records they can provide. Why can’t they speak more transparently?
Lawyers
The lead council for the WCSD, Neil Rombardo, has a reputation for being a poor lawyer and bully. He is more concerned about intimidation and scare tactics than protecting our kids. If given a choice between litigation or actually engaging with parents productively, he chooses to make the parents lives worse. This costs money and erodes trust. Why can’t we find someone better to protect our children?
Money
A common refrain is that there is never enough money to do all the things that need to be done. That said, there is always money for legal fights, new administration buildings or $200,000 a year directors for special interest projects. Our kids play sports on unsafe fields and can’t get reading specialists in the classroom. Meanwhile, they don’t collect on Medicaid reimbursements that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Maybe an audit of District spending would show what is really going on?
Parent Rights
After covid lock downs, many parents realized what was actually going on in the classrooms. Rather than realizing that parents are the best advocates for their kids, the District has decided they are nothing but an annoyance. No parent should have to feel that by sending their child to school, they are giving up all rights. Why not treat parents like they have something to contribute?
School Choice
With all that is happening, many parents want to send their child to a school that isn’t part of WCSD. If they can afford it, parents with means send their kids to private school. Others are choosing to homeschool or try for a zone variance to another in district school. The wait lists for free charter schools are growing every year but the Board is dragging its feet on approving more. When the Board can’t fix the problems in public schools, why should it expect parents to not want to go elsewhere?
Conclusion
As you can see, the list of things to be angry about is long, and this list isn’t exhaustive. If there is something you are unhappy about, please let me know in the comments.