01/31/08
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ENDORSEMENTS While
most voters in the county are probably more focused on their choices in
the presidential primaries, they will have one local contest to decide.
Three seats on the seven-member Board of Education are up for grabs. We
here offer our recommendations. Seven
candidates are on the ballot. The Feb. 12 primary election will trim
that number to six, from which the voters will choose the three board
members in November. The
League of Women Voters' pre-election guide, appearing in this week's
issue, offers information on candidates, ballots, polling places and
voting procedures. Our
editorial board interviewed six of the school board candidates (the
seventh, Di Zou, was out of the country and not available at the time
of our interviews), in two groups of three. Based on those interviews and our knowledge of the candidates' achievements and qualifications, we endorse the following three: Faenita
Dilworth has some insight into the schools' most nagging problem, the
achievement gap between racial groups, and will be an advocate for
early and effective intervention. Allen
Dyer has a long history of activism that has nudged the school board
toward a more transparent way of doing business. If elected, he will be
the board member voters can rely on to challenge the conventional
wisdom. Incumbent
Ellen Flynn Giles is the most impressive candidate in this race. She
has a keen mind and a firm grasp on the policy and politics involved in
the work. Though she disagrees with Dyer on the value of the
state-mandated high school assessment tests and other issues, she is,
like him, an independent thinker who is unafraid to question authority.
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