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From: One Who Was There!
Date: 06 Jul 2004
Time: 22:39:41 -0400
Remote Name: 172.150.26.152
Nineteen (l9) candidates announced for positions on the Board of Education of the Public Schools of Robeson County. Of these l9 candidates, l candidate has withdrawn, but only 15 of the l8 showed up to express their views and their commitment (?) to education of students in the public schools. Are we to assume that the 3 who did not show enough interest to communicate with the public. and particularly the Robeson County Teachers Association, are taking their positions for granted? Are they relying on the apathy and the "old way of doing things" to get them elected? Interestingly enough, the candidates represent a mixture of experience and careers. Represented at the recent Public Forum were a retired county employee, 2 businessmen, 5 former school administrators and 2 retired teachers, a former school district finance officer, and 2 community representatives, a newcomer to education from community agencies, and an incumbent minister, social worker and activist. This group of candidates was so gung ho to perform for the public that they paid little attention to the opportunity to tell the public about themselves and went right into their platforms. On the whole, they did such a good job on their platforms that it left little for them to address in the three questions presented to them later in the Forum. When questioned about the number l problem and what they would do to address the problem, the answers ranged from political influence to lack of respect for the district and its teachers, teacher shortages, and lack of funding. Again, the candidates spent too much time identifying the problems, but too little time providing information as to how they would address the problems. It was obvious that the seasoned administrators and teachers among the candidates were more familiar with the problems, however, only two candidates gave specific information on addressing teacher shortages and standing up to the challenge of educating children. After having reached some consensus that teacher shortage was a major problem, only two candidates had specific recommendations for establishing a teacher cadet corps and one candidate recommended for examining the process of recruitment of teachers. Each candidate was provided an opportunity to make a final statement to influence votes. These responses were as varied as their backgrounds and experiences, most of them promising to represent the total district but few with strengths in putting children first. With 50% of Indian students enrolled in the public schools in Robeson County dropping out of school, it would be a discredit to Indian values for education to make uninformed decisions and to let things go on as usual. If change is to occur, it must begin at the table where the major players and decision makers sit. The loss of Indian representation would be just another step in sweeping Indians under the rug as most institutions and agencies are doing. Indians are not reported in the most prestigious reports on public education, their college going rates are decreasing, and no one is watching what is happening to children! Let's hope that Indian voters will prove Professor Hill wrong and educate him to the fact that there is white, Black, Indian and Latino poverty in Robeson County. INDIANS MAY HAVE THE RECORD IN DROP OUTS, BUT THEY ARE NOT ALONE IN LACK OF ADEQUATE EDUCATION AND POVERTY. WE HAVE KNOWN FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS THAT POVERTY KNOWS NO COLOR….JUST IN THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO PERPETUATE RACISM AND ELITISM THROUGH THEIR SOCIAL SCIENCES.