Vote Ruth Adkins for School Board!

Come this May, you --the voters-- have the opportunity to inject some genuine democracy into local educational politics. 

How?  By replacing PPS Board member Doug Morgan with schools activist and Neighborhood Schools Alliance stalwart Ruth Adkins. 

What do I mean by democracy?  Simply this:  Morgan is a product of the backroom moving and shaking which has manipulated, with money and endorsements, the last two board elections in Portland, effectively hand-picking all seven current board members.  That exercise in "democracy" has given us the heavy-handed rule of Superintendent Vicki Phillips.

Stand for Children --the local chapter-- has been particularly effective with its endorsements and money, allowing all seven current board members to flood Portland households with direct mail glossy flyers in the weeks before the last two elections.

During the Willamette Week endorsement interview in 2003, editor Mark Zusman asked Morgan directly if he were part of a "slate" cobbled together by former school board members and other influential Portland citizens.  Morgan denied knowledge of such a slate, but the four candidates apparently recruited to run by the likes of lobbyist and ex-board member Stephen Kafoury, and subsequently endorsed by Stand --Morgan, David Wynde, Bobbi Regan, and Dilafruz Williams-- all won handily.

In 2007, they're all running for re-election.  And expect all four to again garner the support of Stand for Children and various affiliates of the Portland Schools Foundation and Community and Parents for Public Schools.   Just like last time.

If Ruth Adkins has any chance of knocking off Doug Morgan and breaking up the Vicki Phillips' board cabal, she'll have to do it the old-fashioned way --by persuading voters that she truly represents their interests, not by merely piling up endorsements.  And because there are a lot of people in the community who are fed up with the Phillips' regime --and the Board majority that routinely rubber stamps Phillips' proposals-- I believe Ruth has a better than even chance of pulling it off. 

She's got my vote already. 

Check out Ruth's website.  Note the use of the term grassroots.  I'll have more on the differences between Ruth and Doug Morgan in subsequent posts.

(This is my first blog post in nearly a month following radical --and I mean radical!-- oral surgery for invasive squamous cell carcinoma.  I'm proud that the first is in support of Ruth Adkins' school board candidacy.)

Comments

[Lynn Schore]

Great to see you back on line Terry, we missed you! Lynn and Steve

[Ruth Adkins]

Thank you so much, Terry! I am honored to have your support and it's great to have you back online.

I hope very much to earn the endorsement of Stand for Children, the PAT, For Our Children's Future, as well as all other groups or individuals interested in great public schools for all children in this city--based on my decade of experience and involvement in Portland Public Schools and my commitment to helping the Board and Superintendent re-connect with the community through open, collaborative, common-sense decision making.

But, whether I get the "big" endorsements or not, my commitment to equity, transparency, and accountability is the same. This is a grassroots campaign with support from parents, teachers, and neighbors all over the city who see a need for improved leadership on the Board. Thanks again Terry--I look forward to seeing you and everyone out on the campaign trail. Visit my website to find out more about where I stand on issues, read the blog, get a lawn sign, and of course donate!

[Rob Kremer]

Glad you are back, Terry. I wish you all the best in your recovery. I assumed your break from your blog had something to do with your battle with cancer, and I am really glad to have you blogging again.

[Terry]

Thank you Rob, Ruth, Lynn, and Steve. It's good, really good, to be back online.

Go Ruth!

[Mike Miller]

Terry, great to see you back in the fray and on the mend.

Ruth is going to make a great school board member, and her addition to the Board will tip the balance in favor of a more enlightened voting block made up of Williams, Ryan, Henning, and Adkins. Now we will have a Board that takes its oversight role seriously, one that would not have allowed Superintendent Phillips to ram through last year's ill- conceived "reconfiguration" plan. (Reconfiguration. What a misnomer! Clearly, the entire motivation for last year's sweeping changes was to close as many school buildings as possible, regardless of the impact on educational outcomes.) This new Board majority will undoubtedly hold "Heckuva Job" Phillips to a higher standard of accountability than the current majority.

I hear through the grapevine that Ruth has earned Randy Leonard's endorsement. If true, way to go Ruth!

Mike

[blueteeth]

I believe that its not an exaggeration to say that the future of Portland Public Schools hangs in the balance of getting Ruth Adkins elected to the school board. We cannot endure another couple years of Phillips unchecked "leadership." GO RUTH!!!!