Willamette Week gets it wrong --again!

Not to put too crude an spin on Willamette Week's latest school board endorsements, but when it comes to local educational politics, Portland's 'progressive' weekly needs to pull its head out of the sand, or an even darker place "where the sun don't shine."

Take the decision to support Portland Business Alliance honcho Pam Knowles over Scott Bailey.  Why?  Because Bailey may have a conflict of interest (his wife is a teacher at Lincoln) and --get this-- Baliey is "in love with his own voice."

Therefore, in a close race, Knowles gets the nod as the more "appropriate" replacement for Sonja Henning.

Say what?  The most "appropriate" candidate is the one who most closely resembles the board member whose seat is being contested, even if that departing board member, Henning, was wrong --dead wrong!-- on serious policy issues?  Like supporting Bill Sizemore's teacher merit pay initiative? 

If cloning departing board members is the standard by which we are to judge school board candidates, how the hell will the board ever change for the better?

Of course, Willamette Week has been wrong, laughably so, on many of its past education endorsements.  In 1990, WWeek endorsed Measure 5, the property tax limitation which effectively gutted public school funding.   And in 2003, when I ran for the board, the paper endorsed an anti-tax, anti-government charter school proponent for the Zone 1 seat eventually won by Doug Morgan and now held by Ruth Adkins.

(I finished second to Morgan then, well ahead of the WW endorsee, Ron Liljegren.)

In the other contested Portland board race, Martin Gonzales was preferred to either Rita Moore or Steve Buel.  Why?  Because Gonzales has "shown an independence" and a "willingness to dissent."

Well, maybe so.  But I'm still waiting for Gonzales to "dissent" on an issue of real importance, like school choice and the transfer policy that enables it.

 

Comments

[Marian]

Terry, I also thought these were pathetic endorsements. It's as if WW hasn't been paying attention. Where's Beth Slovic?

I had the opportunity to meet Scott Bailey and found that he really understands what PPS needs and the mistakes it's made. He understands the complexity of school funding and I think he is our best chance at getting stable funding. He actually he has a plan on how to get there, which includes inviting the community into our deteriorating schools and by articulating (as only a numbers guy can) the path to get our schools funded adequately. I think funding is the single most important issue we need to deal with.

What was the slam against Buel about? He's the best advocate for equity (Rita a close second) in the bunch. Gonzales seems nice enough but he lacks vision.

I wish someone were running against Trudy. I pray she's learned from all the mistakes she made during Vicki's wrath. I've seen a few glimmers of promise but my heart is still broken from her rubber-stamping recklessness.

[Terry]

Where's Beth indeed?

I've also been more favorably impressed with Bailey than I was initially. His PPS Equity responses, especially to the K-8 debacle, indicate a real understanding of the problem. They also hint at a change of heart in his earlier gung-ho support for Vicki Phillips.

To say Martin Gonzales lacks vision is an understatement, Marian.

As for Trudy, we need to get up a write-in campaign to express our displeasure with business as usual. As soon as I come up with a name of a Zone 6 resident, I'll start the ball rolling.

[Marcia]

One of the main reasons I will vote for Bailey is that he DOES have a wife who is a teacher in PPS. So many decisions are made without regard to how they will affect the classroom and the teacher. I would say most decision makers have never been near a classroom. If a board member has a direct line to the classroom, all the better in my mind. Go Mr. Bailey. You have my vote.

[Zarwen]

Quite right, Marcia.

As far as Zone 6 is concerned, I am going to write in the name of Moss Drake. He is a PPS parent; his son and my son and playmates and classmates at school. Moss practices the rare virtue of not talking unless he actually has something to say. On those occasions, I have found it is wise to shut up and listen.

Moss Drake for Zone 6!

[Terry]

You're right on, Marcia. A teacher's perspective is what's missing in all these school board debates.

Tell me more about Moss Drake, Zarwen.

[Zarwen]

He grew up here in Portland. He lives in the North Tabor neighborhood. He has two boys in PPS schools. Really good with numbers. I described his communications skills earlier. Especially appropriate given that WW described Scott Bailey as "being in love with the sound of his own voice."

We all know a write-in candidate won't win, but I recommend to all readers of this blog (and PPSEquity, and others) to write Moss's name in as a protest vote. Also appropriate in light of the fact that, when PAT endorsed Scott and Rita, they listed "no recommendation" for Zone 6. I used to be a PAT member, so take my recommendation and vote for Moss!

[Kristin]

I'm voting Moss!!

[Terry]

Although anyone who lives in Zone 6 would probably be preferable to Trudy, if I'm going to push a write-in campaign for Moss Drake, I need to know why.

Like, where is he on issues like the transfer policy? Or shoving cast-off principals down the throats of poor schools like Madison without teacher input? Charter schools? Testing for accountability? Merit pay?

[Harry Kershner]

I'd appreciate your endorsements for Zones 4, 5 and 6, Terry (I assume it's Bailey for 5).

Also, any guidance on the city, county, and Multnomah District positions would be appreciated. My wife and I are clueless about these things.

[Terry]

Yeah, Harry. Bailey in Zone 5 for sure. As for the other two spots, probably a write-in in Zone 6, and I don't know yet about Zone 4. Depends on what PPS Equity does (or recommends.)

[Steve R.]

Don't wait on me! I'm not making endorsements on PPS Equity. I like all three zone 4 candidates, each in their own special way. If you could roll them all into a single candidate, in some magically self-adjusting proportion, you might have an ideal board member.

[Zarwen]

As I emailed to you gentlemen privately, we suffer a great misfortune in this election when Zone 4 puts up three viable candidates and Zone 6 puts up zero. Neither Buel nor Moore is likely to make too large of a dent in Gonzalez, but I believe either could have been a winner against Sargent. At the very least, they would have made her work for it!