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Renewing My Pledge as School Board Member
By Joe Cadrain, Winsted
This letter is in answer to the April 12 letter I received from the Winchester Democratic Town Committee (WDTC) that bashed me and others for being less than perfect school board members, and requested our presence at their May 13 meeting. I feel their letter was asking that the Board of Education (BOE) do away with itself in order to allow the superintendent and the unions to run the system.
It appears strange to me that this letter was dated one day after my statements on education labor unions appeared in The Voice [The Future of Public Education, April 12; the paper is generally distributed a day before the publication date]. After reading their letter, I felt that union representatives wrote to me to ask if I would join with them and the superintendent to achieve their goals. I have nothing against our superintendent’s goals, and I feel I can work with her and other members of the board to find ways to better educate the children under our control.
Being pro-education, I have personal goals of doing my best to see that our children have a chance to succeed in the world we live in. To do that I feel we need to make changes in our failed system. A good start would be to allow parents to send their children to schools of their choice. Can public schools compete with school choice? Yes, they can! Competition breeds accountability, and those that have it are winners.
The letter stated that there was concern within the WDTC. They claimed that members of the BOE have been pursuing personal agendas, have been agreeing to board actions and decisions via private conversations and not through discussions in public, and have ignored the ideas and opinions of the superintendent, members of the staff, and large number of parents. First, it appears that they are describing the actions that they themselves used to gain control of the town committee. Secondly, what they claim to have been a large number of parents at school board meetings were actually educators, their partners, and/or "want to be" employees. I ask you: How many parents ever come to Board of Education meetings to complain about how Mary or John are being treated in the schools? Most parents are afraid to voice their true feelings regarding the education system because they fear the system will be unfair to their children.
They talk about personal agendas, personal conversations and not listening to others as though they have higher moral values. Are they not biased because they are teachers? How often does the WDTC make public what was discussed in their secret meetings or during private conversations? Take the log out of your own eye before you complain about the splinters in the eyes of others.
They claim that as an endorsed candidate and now an elected board member, I have an obligation to the WDTC to align my goals and actions with the goals of the Democratic Town Committee. The first meeting of the Democratic candidates, in the last election, was very interesting. Bitterly, Mary Ann said she would have nothing to do with me during the election. Good Golly, Miss Molly! The leaders of the existing Winchester Democratic Town Committee, who worked hard to defeat my election, want me to support the unions they belong to. The WDTC gave me nothing, and therefore I say to Mary Ann and to Steve: No way—I owe you nothing!
I owe my allegiance to those Democrats, Republicans and Independents who voted for me in the last election, and who continue to support my actions while serving on the Board of Education. I continue my pledge to help provide our children with the best education possible under the circumstances. Have a nice day.
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