I attended the forum for Board of Education candidates held on Saturday by the African-American Coalition of Howard County. I will address my perceptions of the forum as a whole in a later post, but for now, I do want to address an issue near and dear to the hearts of many a Board of Education voter: ethnic diversity on the board.
I am proud to say that, if their presence and performance at the forum is any indication, that there are two wonderful candidates who would be fresh perspective and insight to the board, while also adding ethnic diversity. And they're not the two you may be thinking of. The two candidates I'm speaking of are Jackie Scott and Olga Butler.
These candidates were the most refreshing aspects of the entire event. Ms. Scott's responses to questions were concise, substantive, and informed. I especially appreciated her response as to how to address the "other 80%" of the student population-- those who are not in GT programs or remedial/special education work. Her answer demonstrated that she knew that finding ways for EVERY student to find their path to success via the schools is far from a "one size fits all" situation and that a multimodal approach is needed.
Olga Butler, like Jackie Scott, is a first time candidate and also an African-American female. I was very fond of her response to the matter of the "achievement gap" in Howard County. She answered the question in a totally blind manner-- blind to the issues of color, race, ethnicity, language barrier, or socioeconomic status. She clearly recognized the full spectrum of why these inequities happen. And her response didn't focus on one source of inequity. Her answers were smart and sensible and indicated a business sense that I feel the board could likely benefit from.
So, most of the hopes for candidates to bring "ethnic diversity" for the board ride on the candidacies of Ann DeLacy and Pat Gordon. At least so the political elites would tell you. Take my advice: don't vote for either of them.
Judging by what I saw today, you, Howard County voter, have far better choices with which to place the franchise of your vote. Ms. DeLacy, the former head of the Howard County Education Association (and also the Montgomery County Education Association too, though she apparently doesn't want you to know that she's headed TWO teachers' unions, because she never mentions this) was just plan caustic. Take this statement from her opening remarks: "I know where all the bodies are buried!" Really? That's nice. Someone who wants to be on the board in order to settle past grudges and right past perceived wrongs. Wow, just what we need.
And as for Pat Gordon, who was sighted this morning placing her signs asking for voters to "Return" (not "Re-elect") her to the School Board... well, I'm of an age that I can remember Jim Palmer trying to make a comeback with the Orioles, two years after entering the Hall of Fame. His fastball long abandoning him, he could still rely upon the ball placement that made him a dangerous swingman at the end of his career (and still the only pitcher to win World Series games in three decades) but his velocity was gone. Four innings and two runs in spring training later, and Jim was retired again. For good.
That's Pat Gordon. I admire her service to the board but she needs to do the right thing and deactivate her campaign. Her responses were not as crisp and sure as I remember (referring a few times to our locality as the "County of Howard"), and..well, I'll say it... I'm not sure this county is well-served by having an octogenarian school board member. Although her recent board experience does allow her to be qualified to be "in touch" with current affairs, this board is not the one she left. It's nasty and chock full of personal agendas. I have concern that she would get lost in that shuffle.
We should look at diversity on the school board, and we should look to bring fresh faces forward. From what I saw today, voters in Howard County have at least two excellent opportunities to have both. I would like to learn more before formally endorsing, but right now I feel very good about Ms. Scott's and Ms. Butler's candidacies.
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