The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
By John P. Felix, Somerset
As you are aware, next Tuesday, November 5th, we’ll elect politicians to represents us at both State and local levels of governments. Much more importantly, we’ll also elect School Board officers who will be sworn to “provide excellent educational opportunities… for every student” as well as … “develop every student to his/her highest potential and instill knowledge necessary to become independent, contributing members of a democratic, multi-cultural society.”
My strong belief in the significance of the BOE mission statement reconciles with the importance of qualified, competent, forward-thinking, non-political BOE candidates who will work collaboratively with central office personnel to ensure that our public school system produce a high quality education for all students. Hence, I’ll encourage you to support the candidacy of Richard Seamon, Christine Danielsen and Nancy LaCorte. At last week’s Candidates Forum, these candidates independently set forth a vision for our schools, and at the same time distinguished themselves from the current Board president. Unlike Dr. Presley, each candidate correctly acknowledged that the success/failure of our schools and that of our children’s educational achievement are NOT the sole responsibility of a single educational leader. Despite the Board president’s continual mantra of “it takes a village” she emphatically disagreed with the other candidates by stating that the district’s Superintendent (current, past or future) is solely responsible for the success/or failure of our schools.
Although I believe that a Superintendent is ultimately responsible for the successful management of our school district, the success/failure of our schools should be a shared responsibility of the Superintendent’s office, and the vision set forth by the BOE. We, as parents, also share in this responsibility by making sure that our children are adequately supported at home and that our elected BOE officers and the Superintendent are held accountable for the educational success of our children.
Like all elections, next week’s is very important. Let’s restore civility, integrity, accountability and an urgency of educational achievement to our public school system. Our children and community deserve the commitment of a cooperative working relationship between Superintendent and elected Board officers. Learn more about the candidates who are fighting against the status-quo by following this link, http://www.123boe.com/meet-the-candidates/.
