Truth, Accusations, and Innuendo

I realize that politics are ugly.  But I have said from Day One that I am not a politician, I am a parent. I thought that the nastiness of politics was reserved for higher-level races.  Apparently, none of us are immune.  One of the principles I try to live by is integrity-I want to make my actions consistent with what I know to be true and right.  I fully realize that what I am about to write may cost me the election, but I feel compelled to set the record straight and stand up for what I believe to be right.
Issue #1:  There was a post on social media that stated that I was a member of an extreme right-wing organization.  I belong to PTA, Girl Scouts of Utah, and the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) group.  I am a registered Republican and also volunteer as a merit badge counselor with Boy Scouts of Utah.  I do not believe that any of those organizations can be called extreme while some could be labeled right-wing.  I have to assume that the issue is that I have "liked" Utahns Against Common Core on Facebook and participated in discussions.  I have spoken to the fact that I do not like Common Core, but I also have "liked" various PTA pages as well and PTA is an ardent supporter of Common Core.  I try to participate in the discussions on both sides of the issue.  I reached my own conclusions about Common Core after much research, discussion, and thought.
Issue #2:  On October 24th, the sitting vice-president of the Alpine School Board, JoDee Sundberg, sent out on e-mail from her private e-mail address to several principals in her area where she is running for re-election.  In that e-mail which is sent to their Alpine School District e-mail accounts, she asks for assistance from teachers in campaigning for her door-to-door as well as financial donations to support her campaign.  You can read the e-mail here.  http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/asd-board-member-in-panic-mode-uses-shocking-tactics/
In the e-mail, JoDee claims that the Eagle Forum and Utah County Republican Party leadership are assisting her opponent in his race for a school board seat.  She asks for a donation from AEA (the teacher's union for Alpine) and says her opponent is an ideologist who will dismantle the district "with their extremism and change the course of all the good we do."  I do not know JoDee's opponent.  I do not know his views.  But to resort to name-calling and making baseless accusations without factual information is negative campaigning at its worst.  If JoDee sent the e-mail from her home (which I am guessing she did since it was sent at 7:11 a.m.), she has used public funds (your tax dollars) in promoting herself politically since she takes a monthly stipend for internet that is provided to ASD board members.  This is against ASD policy (http://policy.alpinedistrict.org/policy/4100_Internet-Wide_Area_Network_Acceptable_Use_Rule) and it is illegal to use public funds for political campaigning.  While it may not technically be illegal, I believe it is unethical to contact principals to encourage their employees to vote, campaign, and make donations for a political candidate.  I understand that as a board member for 16 years, JoDee has established relationships with many of the principals that she e-mailed.  She should have contacted them on their private e-mail addresses and asked for THEIR support, not for the support of their employees.
To be clear, I have not been contacted by the Eagle Forum and the only contact I have had with the Utah County Republican Party was to respond to a survey that they sent to all school board candidates.
Issue #3:  In response to JoDee's e-mail, the principal at Geneva Elementary in Orem, sent an e-mail to his employees, including teachers and support staff.  That e-mail is also found at the link I used previously.  That e-mail was sent from the principal's ASD account to the ASD e-mail accounts of his employees at 8:07 a.m.  In that e-mail, the principal asks for his staff's support for 3 specific candidates in the ASD school board races.  He also implies that if these candidates are not elected, ASD will lose teaming, PLCs, collaboration, and teacher incentives.  He also states that you will support these candidates if you support district leadership.  I have never met the candidate running against JoDee and have only spoken twice briefly to the candidate running against John in American Fork.  But the third individual, Wendy Hart, I do know.  I have contacted the board on multiple occasions about issues I have been concerned about and Wendy was the only board member who consistently responded and acknowledged my e-mails.  We have since become friends and I find her articulate, passionate, and well-informed.  Wendy and I do not always agree, but I respect her.  I have never heard Wendy be anything but supportive of our teachers.  She has never stated that she wants to get rid of PLCs, teaming, collaboration, or teacher incentives.  These are baseless accusations not grounded in fact that are meant as a smear campaign to drive voters based on fear.  Those who do not like Common Core are referred to as the "forces of opposition" who are "against our district leadership."  These individuals who oppose Common Core are referred to as "radical forces."  I found the most offensive quote to be that "they are demagogues who spew forth venom."  I am not mentioned specifically in the e-mail, but since it is targeting those who do not like Common Core, I guess I am a radical force.  I want to speak to the name-calling and baseless accusations.  Let me tell you who Wendy is.  She is a parent who is passionate about education and honorable in her role as a school board member.  You do not have to agree with her ideas, but that we have district employees who are using district resources on their paid district time to vilify these candidates has caused me much distress.  I am disappointed and embarrassed and heart-broken that the individuals who I trust with my children's education have sunk to such amoral tactics.  To make matters worse, John and JoDee as well as high-level district employees were CCed on the e-mail from the principal and not a single person spoke up about it.  Neither John nor JoDee denounced the content of the e-mail.  No district statement has been made.  Each of the candidates signed a Pledge of Fair Campaign Practices that stated we would not use or permit the use of scurrilous attacks on any candidate.
This story has hit the media.  (http://www.sltrib.com/news/1758855-155/conley-political-email-alpine-district-done?page=2)  The principal has apologized for using a school computer and has reimbursed the district for his time and the electricity.  He has not apologized for the content of the e-mail.  Those unfounded accusations are out there.  He can apologize, but cannot undo what he has done to assassinate the character of these individuals.
Whether you oppose or support Common Core, we all have the same thing in mind-the best education for our children.  There are parents and teachers on both sides and we should remember that before we start name-calling and vilifying people.
I want to state publicly that I respect Brian Halliday and Wendy Hart.  They do what they feel to be right for our children.  And I want to publicly thank Paula Hill for the campaign that she has run.  While we sometimes disagree, I respect Paula and appreciate her service.  I appreciate that she and I have run self-funded campaigns (my mom did make a contribution :) and that we have not lowered ourselves to personal attacks.  My hope is that we learn from this, make our representatives accountable, and do better.