State School Board

This election season has seemed particularly divisive and nasty.  Not just on the national level, but even on the local level.  And so I have put off making decisions about some candidates.  I have to vote early this year since I am serving as a poll worker on Election Day, so I have to face my procrastination head on.  One race in particular that I have been unsure about is my representative for State School Board.  I know both women who are running and both are very passionate about education.  But neither one is completely representative of my views.  So, I had to do some digging and figure out which candidate was the better fit.

I spoke with Erin Preston this morning.  She spoke to me for close to 45 minutes.  Erin has gotten a lot of heat for being endorsed by the UEA which funded several candidates through NEA funds.  But that shouldn’t be a big deal, right?  Don’t we want our school board candidates supported by our teachers?  Here is where things get dicey.  NEA is a union and they definitely have a political agenda.  NEA has several positions that I vehemently disagree with.  I will outline the 2 that I specifically addressed with Erin this morning.

First, the NEA claims to support charter schools that “drive innovative educational practices,” but then spends the rest of their webpage talking about charters involved in fraud and waste.  (You can see the webpage here- http://www.nea.org/home/16332.htm).  Every article linked on their supposedly supportive charter school webpage links to articles about abuses about charter schools.  That would be like me saying I support teachers and then linking to every article about teachers who have had sexual relationships with their students.  Are there some charters who abuse the system?  Absolutely.  But they are not the norm, they are the exception.

In addition to their webpage, NEA took a position on charter schools.  You can find their positions at this site- https://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Policy_Statements_2016-2017.pdf.  NEA states that “a charter should be granted only if the proposed charter school intends to offer students an educational experience that is qualitatively different from what is available to them in mainstream public schools, and not simply to provide a “choice” for parents who may be dissatisfied with the education that their children are receiving in mainstream public schools.”  If a parent is unhappy with the education their child is receiving, that is why we need charters.  To limit charters and limit “choice” is a horrible mistake in my opinion.

But the next one is where NEA completely lost me.  “There also should be an absolute prohibition against the granting of charters for the purpose of home-schooling, including online charter schools that seek to provide home-schooling over the Internet.  Charter schools whose students are in fact home schoolers, and who may rarely if ever convene in an actual school building, disregard the important socialization aspect of public education, do not serve the public purpose of promoting a sense of community, and lend themselves too easily to the misuse of public funds and the abuse of public trust.”

I am not really sure where to start dissecting this.  The socialization argument is so outdated that it is laughable.  Apparently no one at NEA has read any research on homeschooling in the last 30 years.  The accusation that homeschoolers do not promote a sense of community is ridiculous at best and malicious at worst.  I have seen homeschoolers in my community planting trees at parks, volunteering at our local library, doing food drives for the food bank, and participating in community orchestras.  Let’s just leave it that the NEA has no idea what they are talking about when it comes to homeschoolers.  And by the way, we have some phenomenal online charters in Utah.  I am constantly recommending Mountain Heights when people ask about online schooling.  NEA has an agenda when it comes to charters.  We have magnificent charters in Utah like UCAS, AMES, Providence Hall, and Mountain Heights, just to name a few.

So, obviously I am not a fan of the NEA stance on charters.  I am a strong believer in school choice and that may look different for every family.

Second, and this one is a doozy, folks-NEA has a completely negative view of homeschooling.  Here we go…” The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience.”

Feel free to read that last statement again.  Parents cannot provide their children with a comprehensive education experience.  So, yeah, the NEA is not a fan of homeschooling.  But it gets better.  The NEA wants every child who is homeschooled to be given a yearly assessment and instructors (parents) should be “licensed” and all curriculum should be state approved.  Because we have to protect kids from their parents.

But this last one was the icing on the cake.  “The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools.”  That’s right.  Thank you for your tax dollars to support local schools, but we’ll be damned if homeschoolers are allowed to use the band program or participate in sports.  So, now the NEA is supportive of denying children access to resources.  OK.

That is where a lot of the concern about the money coming from NEA is about.  I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt.  I asked Erin about these issues and whether or not she agreed with these NEA positions and if she would support them as a State School Board Member.

Erin and I had a great, open conversation and while we disagree on several issues, I feel she respects and will defend my rights as a parent to opt out of SAGE, protect the options of charters while weeding out any who are misusing funds, and protect a parent’s right to homeschool how they see fit while allowing students to access public schools for extracurriculars.

Erin has played an integral role in creating some amazing charters, so I feel her experience with alternative options for education is not just political talk.  When she sees an opportunity to create something that will improve education, she goes after it.  Erin has extensive experience in starting, building, and running charter schools.  Erin founded Providence Hall, the only IB program in the state.  In addition to her work with charters (some that have worked with specialty populations like rural students, students with autism, and English Language Learners), she has friends who are homeschoolers and is willing to listen and learn from other perspectives.  Her view on homeschooling has been enriched as she has seen friends homeschool successfully.  Another interesting thing that I learned about Erin is that in the past, she has often stood in opposition to UEA positions.  But UEA endorsed her, in spite of those differences.  Her track record of standing on principle is something I truly value.

I have seen our State School Board at work and at times, it feels extremely contentious.  One of the things that stands out about Erin is that she is willing to listen to differing opinions and I feel that she will build bridges.  Please make an informed vote.  Don’t take my word for it.  Research the candidates and ask questions.  It is usually our local leaders who make the decisions that impact us the most.  Make sure that in all the noise of the election season that you know who you want to represent you and our children when it comes to making decisions about our local schools.