Got Ballot? District 1

Update: see the bottom of this post.

I received my ballot just this week; I believe everyone registered to vote should be getting theirs soon.  I'll have a post for each race.

District 1 - Eric Blumhagen

This is such an easy choice.  The depth of Eric's knowledge of this district and its workings - across several areas - is enormous compared to his competitor, Liza Rankin.

If you have gone to any forum, you can see how Eric easily grasps questions and has thoughtful answers. Rankin seemed to need every other question repeated and had less meat to her answers.

As well, Eric has the temperament to be on the Board.  He's calm and analytical. He knows how to listen without judgment.

The above should be enough for anyone but I'll add one other because of my belief about service on the School Board.  It's a team sport. No one should be there for their own agenda or to be a slate of zealots.  We've seen that before and it did not work out.  Rankin is soft-spoken but make no mistake, she's got an agenda.

And, if you have her and Chandra Hampson and Zachary DeWolf, you have three people who are favor of flipping the SPS table.  Get one more person and you will see an endorsement of all that the Superintendent wants and very little pushback on flipping the SPS table.

And to be clear, she does not like the current HCC form and told the Superintendent that in a letter:

We need to take a stand for our students and commit to serving their needs where they are geographically and academically.

Not too much to argue there - that should be what SPS is doing every day.


She points out that "the substitute resolution includes a priority on "minimizing disruption" which I would argue is antithetical to returning students to their home schools."

Ah, so it's not giving kids of color who may need highly capable services but more about where they live and making sure they are in the exact community their entire school careers.  This is where you can see that Rankin has not had kids in high school because, for high school, it's about a best fit for interests and emotional well-being.  Maybe staying in their neighborhood high school might not be the best thing for some kids but Rankin wants everyone to stay put.

She is all in for taking HCC apart.  (I note she says HC.  Also, all bold is mine.)

The struggle shouldn't be for equity in HC; it should be to provide equitable advanced learning opportunities to all students.  

She asks for "an equitable goal - differentiated HC and advanced learning opportunities at every school."

I'll just stop right here and say that the district DID have a system in place to do that and you know what? They didn't deliver.  What would be different this time?

Striving for more diversity in HCC is centering the needs and wants of the dominant culture - it's make self-segregation more palatable with the presence of more students of color who must choose   that was not made with their needs and wants in mind. Diversity isn't equity - equity is equal access to resources for everyone.

But, if you are revamping a system, can't it change to meet the needs and wants of students of color and their parents?

She goes on saying, "The only way to close opportunity gaps and improve outcomes for students of color and low-income students is to commit to providing them with the same resources and opportunities as their more privileged peers."

So the commitment HAS been made by the district to direct more resources to students of color.  Title One schools do get more state and federal dollars.  All AL programs are open to all kids.  She didn't say "in-school" opportunities (and I think that's what she meant) because schools can never give all the same life opportunities to all students. 

So that leaves - I surmise - PTA funds.  That's probably next on her list.

She also said:

Students in SPS who are white and affluent are achieving and advancing at exponentially higher rates than our students of color and poverty.

She does not explain how she knows which white students come from affluent families nor how many of them there are.  But she just knows.  Let me add to that as she wrote recently:

Additionally, there are students who test in very early and are precocious, not gifted, and by the time they are a little older are receiving academic tutoring to keep up with the acceleration, instead of being taught at a more appropriate level. 

Again, how does she know this for a fact? The answer is, she doesn't but it suits her narrative.  This is supposed to be a data-driven district and yet she wants to sit on the Board and judge parents. 

Band-aid fixes only serve to widen the gap, as they then allow white students to achieve more and more.

What that band-aid fix is she doesn't say.

This is all so much more about keeping kids in their neighborhood schools than what should be happening for Advanced Learning - which is finding and serving bright kids of color in a revamped HCC program that includes cultural competency.

Vote Blumhagen.  

Update: Chandra Hampson wrote an endorsement for Rankin and Mitchell and said these things:

• Liza has been a local champion for special education students, highly capable students - wait, what? Just jump over to my thoughts on District 1, the race between Rankin and Blumhagen, and see what Rankin says about HCC.  A champion? Where's the proof of that?
• She’s be an instrumental ally to me and many others. There's that slate mentality. Not good.