Bill Savage’s letter to the editor in the Washington County Daily News is spot on. In West Bend, we will have a referendum on the same ballot as the school board candidates. Voters deserve to know exactly where they stand.
To the editor: After serving on Hartford’s school boards for 12 years, I can tell you with the utmost certainty that being a school board member is the most underutilized position in Wisconsin.
Since Act 10, school boards have an enormous amount of influence over several issues. School boards can offer merit-based bonus programs, provide direction for curriculum and set the tone for the educational experience children receive. School boards have the ability to make personnel changes. No longer do board members have to sit back and watch the union veto every decision made. Since Act 10, being a school board member is an important position.
I’ve asked the question before, but I’ll ask it again: Where does the buck stop at the Hartford Union High School? The principal? The administrator? The School Board? The proverbial buck stops with you, the voter.
In the last election for the HUHS Board of Education, there were three candidates vying for two seats — three candidates with no campaign. Not one flier was distributed, not one issue was discussed and not one article on their positions was written.
The absence of an issue-based campaign serves no one. Right now we run the risk of having an entire school board that really doesn’t know why they were elected or what is expected of them. Running for office on issues and winning gives you a moral compass on what direction the people who elected you expect you to pursue. Without that moral compass, those board members do not have the confidence to stand up for us, or shall I say, “we the people.”
In April, there are four candidates for two seats. I’d like to know why they are running, what their concerns are, and of course, more importantly, what they intend to do to improve HUHS.
Bill Savage
Hartford
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