This coming Tuesday, September 9, Des Moines voters will have a chance to show confidence in their existing school board or vote for change. Since every election is a referendum on the incumbents’ performance the rational voter should do his or her best in evaluating the incumbent School Board members' performance. By any objective standard, the three incumbents on the ballot fail. There are five overwhelming reasons for change.
Reason No. 1: DMPS debt service has increased by over 500% since 2006.
Reason No. 2: The existing School Board has already spent $20 million of its “reserve fund” and has authorized the liquidation of the fund’s remaining $42 million.
Reason No. 3: The State Auditor, David Vaudt, has determined that the Des Moines District’s budget and governance policy are in substantial non-compliance with Iowa law, and involve the waste of potentially millions of your tax dollars, dwarfing CIETC in the scope of taxpayer abuse.
Reason No. 4: The DMPS dropout rate is roughly five times greater than Ankeny’s and three times greater than West Des Moines’.
Reason No. 5: Johns Hopkins , hardly a partisan source, labeled sixty percent of Des Moines public high schools as dropout factories, more than all of the other school districts in Iowa combined.
The employers and taxpayers of Iowa and Polk County deserve a better use of their money and a better product for our colleges and our workforce. Even more significantly, the students and parents of Des Moines deserve better.
Repeating conduct and expecting different results is the operational definition of insanity. Why would anyone repose confidence of anything better from this secretive and seemingly corrupt School Board? The incumbents are Dick Murphy, Ginny Strong and Jeanette Woods. If you are eligible to vote in this election please vote for anyone else.
Reason No. 1: DMPS debt service has increased by over 500% since 2006.
Reason No. 2: The existing School Board has already spent $20 million of its “reserve fund” and has authorized the liquidation of the fund’s remaining $42 million.
Reason No. 3: The State Auditor, David Vaudt, has determined that the Des Moines District’s budget and governance policy are in substantial non-compliance with Iowa law, and involve the waste of potentially millions of your tax dollars, dwarfing CIETC in the scope of taxpayer abuse.
Reason No. 4: The DMPS dropout rate is roughly five times greater than Ankeny’s and three times greater than West Des Moines’.
Reason No. 5: Johns Hopkins , hardly a partisan source, labeled sixty percent of Des Moines public high schools as dropout factories, more than all of the other school districts in Iowa combined.
The employers and taxpayers of Iowa and Polk County deserve a better use of their money and a better product for our colleges and our workforce. Even more significantly, the students and parents of Des Moines deserve better.
Repeating conduct and expecting different results is the operational definition of insanity. Why would anyone repose confidence of anything better from this secretive and seemingly corrupt School Board? The incumbents are Dick Murphy, Ginny Strong and Jeanette Woods. If you are eligible to vote in this election please vote for anyone else.
7 comments:
Sporer,
I have to give you credit for not forgetting about the school board elections in the middle of all this presidential stuff. I don't live in Des Moines, but I will definitely vote in my own school board election. I know we all, R's and D's alike, want good schools for our kids.
Yes, we do.
This is an area of life where we had better come up with some solutions that work because the rest of the world is passing us.
I saw a legitimate survey that found American 12th graders are
29th in math proficiency but number 1 in perception of their math proficiency.
Says it all about our society.
I listened to the incumbents on the Jan Michelson (iTunes podcast) show and their statements removed all doubts as to their lack of fitness.
They need to go and John Narcisse needs new members to give him the votes so runaway spending and social engineering stop.
School should prepare students for college or work but DSM schools do neither.
Look at the people who were endorsed by the teacher's goonions, and vote against them.
YEP
Thank you Sporer!
I just saw this and didnt know who to vote for. But if Ted "Westboro Baptist" Sporer and his Fascist ultra right wing neo-cons dont like Murphy, Strong and Woods than that is who I am supporting!
Im heading to the polls now!
And it looks like the majority agrees with you 2:08
Post a Comment