A07, FPR endorses Bob Cox, Ralph Harris & Kevin McDermott [D209]

The Forest Park Review editorial ends with this paragraph.

Frankly, there isn't a single sitting board member in District 209 that would get our endorsement. There are several who have actively contributed to the financial and academic disaster that passes for a school system. Meanwhile, those who have been complacent in voting along party lines are no less guilty in their roles as enablers.

I encountered similar thinking when talking to a journalist from another newspaper.

These journalists who come to some of the District 209 board meetings see that members from the minority sometimes behave disrespectfully toward the majority and Superintendent Stan Fields.

These genteel journalists are offended that members of the board minority behave rudely.

It's easy to be polite in the majority. In the majority you put your items on the agenda. Staff largely backs your items (or they get fired). And you don't have to explain your position because you know you've got the majority of votes.

These genteel journalists seem to overlook the fact that showing up to meeting after meeting in the minority gets frustrating. The minority doesn't get their questions answered, and if Josh Adams attended the last board meeting, he'd know that Fields implemented a policy that members of the board minority have to file FOIA requests to get basic information.

Board members aren't getting paid. The minority is trying to shift the district's emphasis from crony politics to education. And they get frustrated and lose their tempers.

These journalists seem to be missing the big picture. If the minority behaves badly it should be seem in the context of the various provocations by both the majority and Superintendent Stan Fields. Remember, how Fields wouldn't respond to board member Kelly's emails? And remember how Fields ridiculed Kelly in his first board meeting as superintendent?

If voters follow the FPR endorsements then we'll be stuck with two more years with Chris Welch as president of the school board. Cox is a Welch supporter. And Welch only needs one ally elected to the three positions to form a majority with himself and Dan Adams and Reatha "Sue" Henry.

Does the Forest Park Review support two more years of Welch being president of the school board? Based on the endorsements, it appears the Forest Park Review does support Welch continuing as president of the school board.