We’re down to just two weeks now for you to go into the booth and vote for three, Jesse, Carol and me. Just three! There is no splitting your vote over your indecision. You can’t be like Solomon and split it down the middle. Two of them and two of them will not bring about the redirect that I have been talking about. Splitting it won’t precipitate the conversations that I have outlined in the attachment. Do not be distracted by the “Select four.” No only choose three and please choose all three, Jesse, Carol and me. I know you are wondering about the outcome of Johnny and Shirley. Well it’s one of those cases that can inform who we are as a community on so many levels. I think little Shirley needs a passport and should consider the witness protection program. Maybe we both do. But, here’s the dilemma a board member faces or at least this board member faces. Johnny’s mother is angry, not about the behavior or punishment meted out to her son. She is at the board meeting to talk about the disparity in the sentencing. Her protest is an indication that she has lost faith in the school and is appealing to the board as a last resort. In the present format she only has 3 minutes and no one is going to respond. Most likely she will walk away more frustrated than when she came and that frustration will turn into anger. She’ll probably share her feelings with family and friends and so it goes. That’s kind of “How we have come so late to this place.” So here’s the question I will leave you with, “What’s the board member supposed to do?” Should we direct the superintendent to go after Shirley, two weeks after the infraction, and suspend her. Should something be placed in the teacher and principal’s file? Should Johnny’s record be expunged? Should someone apologize and a clarification of the Zero Tolerance policy be issued with additional guidelines? I want to keep her in our district and somehow let her know that we care. Now speaking of caring, after pounding the pavement for too many months I feel compelled to share with you that nothing says “Welcome” like “Welcome.” Things like “No solicitation,” “Beware of dog,” or “Beware of owner,” or “Private property keep out” send a clear message that prevents you from getting all the valuable campaign literature that we have gone to great lengths to prepare. A lovely “Welcome” sign says so much about you as a neighbor and member of a community. So much has changed in our township and it’s not just in our schools. All the fences and security systems and “Can’t be bothered” signs speak to where we are and how our schools have come so late to this place. It’s not the election it’s the electorate that will make our schools the welcoming places that we want them to be. As I was canvassing on Aspen Way yesterday my thoughts turned to Dr. King’s reference to President Lincoln during the March on Washington and the passage from the Gettysburg Address, “a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition…” I’m not sure how I got there but for some reason I kept stumbling over the somewhat obvious contradiction posed by the “conceived in liberty.” Both orations are among the greatest ever spoken in our nation’s history. They call for us to be better than the present circumstances. I think we are better. Regardless of the tally on the night of November 5th there will continue to be a lot of Johnnys and Shirleys finding their way through life and needing us to be better than we have been. Voting for us is only one part of the change that needs to take place. I’ll close with my favorite words from Dr. King “It is always the right time to do the right thing!” Be the change! Clifton
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 13:29:30 +0000
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