Platform Page 

Wooden Post and Fence Post have joined together to bring a refreshing alternative to school board governance practiced by the “politics as usual” incumbency. They’ve built the type of solid platform you’d expect from two pieces of quality lumber. Their platform has three planks (and one enormously bad pun), which they’ll use as they stump in their respective districts in the months leading to the November election.

PLANK #1: SUPPORT NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND REVITALIZATION PROJECTS.

Today’s students deserve to learn in modern, safe and clean classrooms. Alas, too many schools are overcrowded and lack adequate facilities to serve their communities. Wooden Post and Fence Post support new school construction. As building materials themselves, they know revitalizing old campuses begins with a strong foundation, a foundation of trust, leadership, budget oversight, concrete, rebar, and, of course, lumber. They pledge to support school construction projects; they might even join in the construction themselves. And in the spirit of full disclosure, any relation to other building materials used to revitalize a campus is a coincidence, not an act of nepotism.

PLANK #2: STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND COMMUNITIES ARE OUR FIRST PRIORITY

Too often school boards think they are running Fortune 500 companies. They use their positions to build political alliances, seek out future campaign donors, and scramble to replace the “old guard” with “their people”. They’ve allowed superintendents to earn 6 figure salaries that rival the compensation packages of CEO’s — minus the stock options. At the same time they stall on contract negotiations, put autocrats in charge of the schools, send nasty emails to teachers who have the courage to speak out against their absurd policies, buy massages and personal computer equipment with district money, ignore parent concerns when issues are raised at board meetings, and then wonder why morale is low in their districts. Enough is enough!

Wooden Post and Fence Post realize what their rivals don’t. When today’s youth become tomorrow’s adults, they will fondly remember their parents’ love and the guidance given them by a few special teachers. None of them will show up to a ten year reunion and say to an old classmate, “Remember board president Kelley? What an impact he had on our lives.”

They also pledge to put a stop to the excessive corporate mentality destroying the financial health of our schools. Why pay an outsider with no loyalty to a district a quarter of a million dollars to run the show when viable in-house candidates will step forward to provide leadership to the community they’ve served all their professional life?

PLANK #3: PAY ATTENTION TO THE SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES YOU VOTE FOR!

If nothing else, Wooden Post and Fence Post want to encourage voters to take the guesswork out of choosing a school board candidate. Literally. Wooden Post is running against a candidate who sent an “anonymous” email to a teacher calling her and the teacher’s union president members of the KKK. Why? The union had the audacity to file a freedom of information act lawsuit to force him to turn over an auditor’s report that he tried to suppress. What did that auditor’s report reveal? The personal items he purchased with the district issued credit card. In spite of these acts he won reelection simply because his name appeared at the top of the ballot.

Fence Post is running against candidates who served their constituents by arguing in favor of setting the voting threshold for a school bond measure higher than legally necessary to protect the interests of taxpayers. She’s running against a group of people who at one point tried to recall a board member for voting in favor of an extra-curricular program that emphasized teaching tolerance and diversity. She’s running against people who fear condoms being placed on bananas in high school health classes. She’s running against people whose fundamentalist, ultra-conservative dogma has led two schools to attempt to break away from the district independently, and a couple of others to consider seceding and unifying with their local elementary school districts.

None of these candidates would’ve been elected if voters took the time to get a little background on the candidates. Don’t know Craig Mann from Patricia Schriber? Ask a neighbor. Need to verify the rumor that Ron Nehring is Grover Norquist’s right-hand man? Call up the local teacher’s union. Can’t figure out why all those teachers keep protesting in front of Jim Kelley’s office? Send an email to someone with a little background knowledge.

Bringing sanity back to community politics starts with voters. If you want to affect positive change, take the time to learn about the candidates, then spread the word to your neighbors and friends.

Hold those trustees accountable! Sure, a Wooden Post and a Fence Post might not be able to serve even if they win. There’s some weird law about inanimate objects and public office that might come into play. But imagine the message the incumbents will receive if hundreds of citizens write-in Wooden Post or Fence Post. They might actually pay attention to you, once they realize you’re paying attention to them.

Wooden Post for board. Fence Post for board. They’re write-in candidates you can trust.