Monday, October 8, 2012

Questions for School Board Candidates

My interest in education is both philosophical and practical.  I have long been fascinated with how people learn.  My mother and one sister are former public school teachers, and my other sister teaches at a private school.  My professional experience includes teaching college English, helping nontraditional college students document their life learning for college credit, and assisting high school students from low-income families in preparing academically for college.  I am the mother of three school-age children who are learning at home but may one day choose to attend public schools.  I am an advocate for the constitutional principle of church-state separation and for children's civil rights, both of which have obvious educational implications.

I have compiled a list of ten questions for the Muhlenberg County school board candidates running for election (or re-election) next month.  I am mailing the list to each candidate with a request for a response to be shared on this blog.  I have no idea if any candidates will respond, but I hope that some will, because as far as I can tell, no one else is asking most of these questions.

If you are a local reader with different questions, I encourage you to contact the candidates yourself.  They are listed at the bottom of this post.

Questions for Candidates:
  1. Do you support continuing the district’s drug testing program, which requires all high school students to submit to random drug testing in order to participate in extra-curricular activities and to park on campus?  If so, what do you make of a large-scale national study showing no difference in drug use between schools that use drug testing and those that do not? 
  2. The current school board recently voted against videotaping its meetings, which would allow citizens to view meetings on cable access.  Given the fact that it is difficult for many people to attend the five p.m. meetings, and considering that meeting minutes include only board decisions and not complete discussions of issues, should the meetings be videotaped?
  3. Do you support the district's continued use of programs like Character Counts! and PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), given that these programs have been widely criticized for promoting unquestioning obedience to authority as the ultimate value?  (See, for example, Alfie Kohn's "How Not to Teach Values" and Chris Liebig's "Sacrificing Thought for 'Good Behavior.'")
  4. Our district's school board meetings are opened with prayer.  Do you think our school board should continue this practice, given the fact that the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in Coles Coles v. Cleveland Board of Education (1999), found beginning school board meetings with prayer to be a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause?  If you support continuing the prayers, do you think local taxpayers should be willing to pay plaintiffs' legal fees should the practice be successfully challenged in the courts?  (Note: Kentucky is in the sixth circuit.)
  5. Do you approve of the current school board’s recent decision to create a limited public forum that allows all non-profit groups to distribute literature at official afterschool functions?  Should religious organizations such as the Gideons be allowed to distribute bibles at these events if that requires the district to allow all groups--including those representing Muslim, pagan, and atheist viewpoints, among others--to distribute literature to students?
  6. Of a case in which a New Jersey public school teacher claimed that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific, the famous American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said, "This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it's about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers."  Does the teaching of creationism have any place in our district’s classrooms?
  7. What stance would you like to see the school board take on school policies that reward perfect student attendance with special picnics, pizza parties, etc., considering that such policies encourage parents to send their children to school sick in order to avoid missing out on these events? 
  8. Many parents are concerned that the increasing use of high-stakes standardized testing (to evaluate students, teachers, and schools) is compromising important educational values.  Would you support a policy that would allow parents in the district to opt their children out of such testing?  
  9. Parents in our district who homeschool their children provide tax support for our schools, and may be the kind of involved, supportive parents who can make positive contributions to the school district.  As such, do you support allowing homeschooled students in our district to participate in extra-curricular activities? 
  10. Our district’s schools are very different from the schools most of us attended as children.  Students are surrounded by armed security personnel and security cameras that record their every move, and subjected to unprecedented amounts of standardized testing.  What can be done to make the schools in our district more humane environments for our students?

Muhlenberg County Board of Education Candidates:

Kevin Rice, 2nd district
Margaret Ann Williams, 2nd district
Sylvester "Sly" Johnson, 3rd district
Dr. Kelly Tarter, 3rd district
Scott Bivins, 3rd district
Darrell Bowers, 5th district
Jerry Winters, 5th district

21 comments:

  1. There is no real sepereation of church and state.not the way you think. That was to keep government from trying to mandate to relgious institutes. Now eveyone is offended by everything and the only ones to benefit is the lawyers. Myself I d be more concerned with the drugs, bullies, perverts, and just plain crappy people they will encounter.

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    1. I think the biggest danger of mixing religious indoctrination with public schooling is that we end up with high school graduates who think that there is no "real" separation of church and state in the U.S., or that the Constitution was based on the Ten Commandments, or that there is no good evidence for evolution.

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    2. Is your life so boring that you have to mess with public schools that your children don't even go to??? Everybody has their own choice and nobody holds guns to heads saying they have to take a bible. I have a question for you. When we die and there is no GOD what do we lose, but if there is a GOD what did we gain? If we are happy living for God why are you so bothered? We have a right to our beliefs just as well as you so why take that from the ones who do believe. If you took care of your kids and taught them what you believe that's on you but they will grow up and be able to make their own choice one day. What bothers me is for something you don't believe in you sure are trying hard to push people away instead of taking time to take care of your family. When the end of time comes and there is a GOD I hate that you will burn in hell for the rest of eternity but hey if there isn't a GOD you got nothing to worry about right???

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  2. Isn't it funny that these people are willing to force their will on the population but what most oof the population believes is what these few are agianst. Does anyone think this is a fair practice. We have to change our lives to make a few wack jobs happy. Suck it up, you are not the only one living here.

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    1. You may remember from government class that in a federal constitutional republic like the United States, the residents in a region cannot simply decide by majority vote to break the law.

      No one is asking you to change your personal religious viewpoint. You are free to worship as you see fit, to blanket your personal property with religious symbols, and to stand on the street corner and proclaim your beliefs. However, government employees, including those working in public schools, may not endorse particular religious viewpoints on the job. We have fifty-five years of caselaw on religion in the schools; this is hardly a newfangled idea.

      Just because one takes a position that is unpopular doesn't make one a "wack job" [sic]. Dissent plays a long and important role in our nation's history.

      I have a feeling you are really going to like my next post.

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    2. Am I the only one who sees the delicious irony in this statement?

      "Does anyone think this is a fair practice? We have to change our lives to make a few wack(sic) jobs happy? Suck it up, you are not the only one living here."

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    3. Correction: my above comment should read "sixty-five years of caselaw."

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  3. I commend you for reaching out to the schools and trying to show a perspective most in this county refuse to see. I've often wondered what would happen should I hand out atheist literature on the courthouse steps like the Christians do. As a mother of a small child in the Muhlenberg County school system, I appreciate your efforts and would like to support you in your endeavors. Please contact me if you wish. mandi_rachelle@yahoo.com or facebook.com/mandi.dockery

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    1. Thanks, Mandi. I'll be in touch in the next few days!

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  4. Really, what difference does it make to you what they are handing out in the schools, if your kids are homeschooled??

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    1. As if the children in our schools do not grow up to be adults in our communities. How can you honestly believe that the education of our publicly schooled students should only be important to their parents? It is every persons responsibility to ensure the proper education of our youth, and shame on you for suggesting otherwise.

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  5. Let's just say you are wrong. Let's say that there is a Hell. Do you know for sure? No you don't. What if you spend eternity there for taking this stand. Will it be worth it?

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    1. Let's just say that there is a heaven, but only those who live their lives as devout Muslims will go there. Will living as a Christian have been worth it?

      Or that there is a god, but what he really values is critical thinking and skepticism--not blind obedience to ancient texts and religious authority. Will you be hell bound?

      Pascal's wager: look it up.

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    2. You dang right its worth it!!!

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    3. A god who would condemn you to eternal torture for temporal crimes is not worth worshiping for a nanosecond.

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    4. It is not temporal crimes, Chris. It is a choice. Do you know him or not? Those that choose not to believe will be punished eternally.

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    5. So you're saying you only believe in god because of the off chance that there might be a hell?

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  6. I teach my kids the difference of right and wrong without using religion. And I don't have to teach them they will go to hell if they don't follow any form of religion. As adults THEY will decide what religion, if any, is right for them. They have morals and love for their fellow people. But also have acceptance in their hearts and an open mind to be considerate of others beliefs or nonbeliefs. I want to tell you THANK YOU! Thank you for standing up to them and showing them that you cannot just back one belief system when it comes to our kids. It's got to be an all or nothing deal. If you guys don't like her material she's passing out, don't take it. Wasn't that your advice to her about the bibles? And to the person that told her to move... That is just mean. I wonder what would Jesus say about that?

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  7. You know the Secular Student Alliance has your back Susan! We can't wait to get an SSA branch started at Muhlenberg high school and get some equal representation for those students who have felt alienated for so long! See you tomorrow!

    - WKU SSA President:
    Walter Petit.

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  8. I think that it is hard to believe that on that long list you don't have any concerns with the rising poverty in the county. To me, giving every elementary student a free breakfast and a free lunch seems like socialism. I can't believe that wasn't on your list. But wait, if it wasn't for your husband providing for your family (like the Bible says to do) you would be on Food Stamps too.

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  9. Does this lady not have enough to do with her life other than to post on a blog attempting to keep God out of our schools? Really? When her children don't even attend? She's not even worth talking to everyone! Just pray for her ignorance and move on with your lives, she's pitiful really and I feel so sorry for her children. The real question here is why are artists so obsessed with Chriatians? Hmmmm

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