School Board Elections… A Postmortem
I’m tempted to copy and paste my previous post My Thoughts On Tomorrow’s School Board Election because I think I actually nailed it. Here are several points from that post that I believe explain what happened.
I’m not sure what to say about the candidates running for school board since they’ve become an afterthought in this election.
[…]
And here’s the main thing Voices 4 Delaware accomplished through their politically clumsy campaign… they have managed to lump all their candidates together.
In essence, Voices 4 Delaware has become the candidate.
This was the main problem. The choice presented to the voters was vote “for” or “against” Voices 4 Delaware. Their candidates individual personalities and ideas couldn’t be heard over their PACs noise. It was all about Voices 4 Delaware, and one was left with the impression that the individual candidates didn’t matter. It felt like… if a Voices candidate dropped out at the last minute it wouldn’t be a big deal, just find another warm body to take their place. Sadly, Voices 4 Delaware did a huge disservice to the candidates they supported.
I’ve looked at the numbers for Red Clay, Christina and Appoquinimink, and all of these districts had higher than average turn-out this year.
Red Clay 2012 School Board Election – 2735
Red Clay 2011 School Board Election – 2559
176 more people voted
Red Clay was interesting. Out of the districts mentioned above it had the least difference in voter numbers. What it seemed to have was a shift in voter support. BTW, I’m just guessing that existing voters shifted, because the other option would be that people who normally vote in a school board election didn’t vote this year. I’m having trouble believing that. Guess that means I have more analysis ahead of me.
Christina 2012 School Board Election – 1426
Christina 2011 School Board Election – 719/650 (Two seats open)
Approximately 707 more people voted
Wow. That’s a big number. Ready for another one?
Appoquinimink 2012 School Board Election – 1294
Appoquinimink 2011 School Board Election – 758
536 more people voted
Christina and Appoquinimink’s totals are telling a story, and one that I warned Voices 4 Delaware about…
The last thing you wanted to do is to draw the attention of people who normally don’t vote in a school board election, but that is what has happened this year.
That’s me donning my political hat. Personally, I love that more people voted.
So, what lessons have we learned?
1. Whoever came up with Voices 4 Delaware’s strategy for these school board elections should probably look for another job. Losing every one of these races is, well… embarrassing.
2. The candidates count. They should be allowed to be the voice of the campaign. Grouping them as one slate under a PACs umbrella was political suicide, mainly because no two school districts face the same problems. What was really lost in these races was the candidate. Streamlining may be an effective business technique, but I’d remind people that all politics are local.
3. There’s a way to beat Citizens United. One of the most asked questions I heard during these school board elections was, “Who are the people behind the PAC?” Everyone I spoke with had serious concerns about an anonymous group funneling money into an election. And while no one could define Voices 4 Delaware agenda, everyone knew an agenda existed.
There are probably more lessons, but this post is long enough! In truth, I feel sorry for the candidates who lost; who weren’t allowed to shine on their own merits. I met both Red Clay candidates, and liked them both. In fact, the Red Clay candidate who was endorsed by Voices 4 Delaware stated that she had never even met with them. Wow, just wow. Voices 4 Delaware endorsed a candidate without ever meeting her? That’s a lot of arrogance right there. Did the candidate even matter to them? Basically, there simply wasn’t enough room in this election for the candidate’s message and the egos of those “calling the shots.”
Tags: Education, School Board Elections
I am tempted to call Skip (on the cell phone number that is at the bottom of the letter that Transparent Christina posted) to get a comment from him on the election and the resounding defeat of all of his candidates.
That would be very interesting… if he took your call.
Will
Skip
Find
Strategy?
Supposedly they just endorsed her because the teacher’s union endorsed her opponent. One has to wonder if they were just flush with cash and trying to make DSEA play defense while V4D got their hooks into Sussex.
LOL! They didn’t need to spend a cent in Sussex to get the vote. All they had to do was say… “Teacher’s Union” in a scary voice. 😉
Cherry(local colonial republican chairman) lost in the Appo school district due in part to a GOTV effort by some local democrat officials. The Republicans want to make a political statement by putting partisan hacks on school boards. GOTV in house 8, house 9, and senate 10 helped defeat him.
Get their hooks into Sussex? They’d have had to have tried for that. Nonexistent down here, and two out of three wing nuts lost.
JP: The first step toward meaningful school reform would be for Markell to tell Skip Schoenhals to go fuck himself.
@DL… Cherry loss was due, in my opinion, to four factors: (1) a highly-engage opponent (Edelin) who maintains strong parental involvement in her kids schools and with the local sports leagues and used that person-to-person connection to establish relationships with voters; (2) an active/motivated local education association who felt that Edelin was the best possible candidate and wasn’t beholden to some secret cult of financiers; (3) the “push back” that Pandora mentioned; (4) involvement from the various Democratic officials (as you said).
Poor Skip!! First he bought into all the Ed reform stuff and after he got used, now shes showing some independence and nerve for real reform. Too little too late.
The Voices $ Education mailers were horrible. They wasted $$$ and were outmaneuvered by DSEA and company.
The first step toward meaningful school reform would be for Markell to tell Skip Schoenhals to go fuck himself.
I’m interested in what Pandora thinks about this. The Governor and people at the state have been playing footsie with this Rodel crew for awhile. I’m not clear on the real relationship, but I wonder two things:
1. Where’s the political pressure that might be brought to bear out of this to stop playing games here and just focus on educating our kids? Because if there is a time to get them to hear a message loud and clear, it is now.
2. Any guesses on what the Rodel folks will do next? Because you know they won’t go away.
Will
Skip
Fuck
Self?
Even with passage of House Bill 300 the likelihood is that the gross sums of Voices money — expenditures — will probably show on the end of year PAC report of the Voices 4 Education PAC … The 501-c-3 or 501-c-4 may ultimately file IRS 990 annual forms … But cionsider the fact that neither organization has filed its application yet for tax-free status with the IRS. They have 27 months from commencement of activity to do so.
The contributions likely will have been made to the 501-c-4 and thus, forever shielded from public view..Under DE election law, the 501-c-4 can transfer their funds unlimitedly to the PAC without sourcing//itemization.
Will we ever know the contributors or size of their contributions … Tax-free contributions?
Will we ever know who constitutes the members of the c-3 or c-4 organizations boards of directors — other than William Keenan or Sylvia Banks — or their addresses/employers?
These strike me as the lingering, important questions remaining after this election. … Answers that the citizens of our state deserve.
Will
Skip
Foster
Solutions?
Will
Skip
Find
Schools?
Will
Skip
Fund
Students?
Will,
Skip
Fuck
Sylvia?
Three Ways to Save
I’m tempted to copy and paste my previous post My Thoughts On Tomorrow’s School Board Election because I think I actually nailed it.
You’re way too modest. You need to start taking credit for what you do..
Btw, thanks for publishing the comparisons of the two yearly totals.
And to save space for someone else’s comment, I’ll just add this on here.
With Skip, we are making a monster out of … nothing really… Go back and look over his statements and imagine you, in that same position, highly concerned about the direction Delaware education was leading our kids. and having his resources to do something about it.
I read the letter and the questionnaires. I see plenty of unsophistication all through them, making it hard for me to see this as a full fledged threat. It appears to be more of a feeble attempt perhaps made with full innocence of making a difference, but i’m beginning to think more likely, it was just the first attempt to probe our defenses for weaknesses. We’re just lucky we didn’t fall with the first onslaught.
From what Steve has said, I really think that Joanne was simply selected by Delaware4Change only because of how she answered the questionnaire provided. Had it been a different way, no candidate would have been supported and perhaps a closer race might have ensued.
Today we celebrate, as we should. We did survive and that always feels good. But we also showed our hand. Next time, bigger money, can do 8 mailers. Bigger money can buy full page ads, every damn day, in the News Journal, Bigger money can swing dialogue on talk radio by first giving, then withholding advertising dollars.
This was really just a first strike. A raid on Dieppe. Expect the Normandy Invasion to follow in two years.
We can change that future if we vote for Senatorial, and Congressional candidates who pledge to reverse Citizen’s/United, and we increase our number to bolster our defenses, making ourselves a stronger force when countering this next onslaught.
So, celebrate, but none of us should be cocky. In fact we should be afraid, very afraid. We have seen a tiny fraction of the forces against us, and understand now, what it is capable of.
So with that said and done, time to celebrate…
Wimpy
Skip
Fries
Self
🙂
To clarify, Kavips. Joanne was endorsed by Voices before the survey, which was emailed to both candidates on April 13. Steve and I believe Joanne was endorsed more as in opposition of RCEA’s endorsement of Kenny than anything. Cynical? You betcha. But look at the rest of the Voices-supported slate.
Who is behind these organizations? What is their ‘real’ agenda? For anyone interested, get a copy (available) of the charter school hearing held at Legislative Hall on the evening of Tuesday, May 1st. Listen to the three minutes of chit-chat from Charlie Copeland. His perversion of statistics was comic relief but then he dead-panned the fact that there will be — according to Chas — four charter schools with 2,000 students going into the forfeited (donated) Bank of America building on Rodney Square.
Let’s see, that ‘donation’ was made to the Longwood Foundation. Hmmmm…who controls the Longwood Foundation? Might Charlie be on their board? Who runs that Foundation?
Follow the money…donated, inherited, contributed. Color of the year: green….charter school green.
Can someone explain how donating money for charter schools is somehow a conspiracy??????? If I follow the money, all I find is people donating money for public education, which is a good thing.
Thanks Pandora you did a great job. Keep it going. Former Sen. Charley is in this somehow?
I don’t really know who’s involved, Peep Show.
@Anti-Conspiracy Why would you think a PAC (Voices 4 Delaware) supporting Public School Board candidates in an election is about donating money for charter schools? Was that really the agenda? 🙂
And… how is spending money on political mailers, etc. donating money for education? Educating about the candidates, maybe.
Jack,
Have you got a link to the printed minutes and/or audio to that Charter School hearing?
Pandora, the teachers’ union, which represents teachers, not students, routinely spends tens of thousands of dollars on school board elections. The Working Family Party spent money on the Red Clay race. Yet not a peep of any complaint about them. Folks are all hot to complain when they don’t like the speaker, but if it’s a speaker they like, well, that’s just the democratic process.
As to Charter Schools, last time I checked, NCS, DMA, WCS, are all NON-PROFIT. So if a group that supports charter schools is supporting candidates, maybe its because they believe charter schools help improve public education. I suspect that with over 10,000 kids now at charter schools in Delaware, their parents would agree.
You may disagree and think charters don’t improve public schools, but that’s no reasons to attack in vitriolic terms those with whom you disagree. Moreover, Skip S. has volunteered countless hours to the topic of improving education (I’m willing to bet his hours easily dwarf the time spent by all the bloggers here combined), and he is acting only out of a motive to improve education for students. He gets pilloried, while the teachers’ union, which represents… anyone? anyone?… teacher, not students… gets a complete free pass.
I’m sorry, but it all seems a bit hypocritical to me. Or, as Shakespeare wrote, methinks the lady dost protest too much.
while the teachers’ union, which represents… anyone? anyone?… teacher, not students
what a specious sentiment, and an insult to teachers, who dedicate their profession to kids.
OK–Election over. Now I’m going to say it. Here in Appo we probably had 3 out of the 4 who ran who would have been excellent board members. And one of those did win. What irritates me though to the enth degree was the heightened politicizing that did go on for a very provincial, local seat.
Now follow along–you have at first people screaming because the union is involved w/ their backing–then you people screaming because they have Voices backing. And NOBODY really knows these candidates. It was a body count.
But what really freezes me the most–is ALL THE BACKERS ARE IN BED TOGETHER–so why the heck did it make any difference at all? And it was a major distraction from what should have been a very local decision, and thwarted the correct work of these candidates getting out there to Senior Centers and PTAs and playfields, and civic groups to share their message. The BRANDING took over, and it was unfair. My mind tells me these candidates can’t even fathom the branding they may now be stuck with.
And here is the MOST RIDICULOUS part–of which few probably know, and certainly our candidates couldn’t be expected to know.
You complain about RODEL–you complain about the UNION–but meanwhile you have the VISION 2015 thing going on of which RODEL sponsors, and the UNION happily partners with, eats their dinners, and participates fully as speakers, attendees, facilitators, members etc., etc., etc., !!!
So what’s this now? Fair weather friends? Friends w/ privileges? Two-faced friends? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Keep your friends close–your enemies closer? WHAT?
Don’t you understand? They are both ALLIES of EDUCATION. Why oh why did both commandeer local decision making and force it into the cesspool of a much further removed agenda? In my mind, and reasoning this was a marriage arrangement for an infant. And it was not fair. Not fair for the LOCAL COMMUNITIES of students and taxpayers they represent, and not fair for that board member as they grow and become independent and confident to make decisions for that LOCAL COMMUNITY. They are now branded. And now whatever decision is made, there will always be that looming attachment of…..because of a certain backing….or in spite of a certain backing. Many folks who ran would have made great, solid board members. I’m just mournful the hijacking of local decision making has become the fodder and vitriol of powerhouse institutions of all sides picking off decent, good, community people like gorillas after a nit. I give all these candidates a pass–for the most part, they were naive to a process. But for the rest of us–it has to stop here. Whether they won or lost, we have to let them do this all important job without branding–either at a board table, or a private citizen who really does care about education. Like an acrimonious divorce of two great people–only the attorneys win. Like school boards who could have had some terrific options–the PACs and propaganda printers won. Now let’s get back to creating great schools–there’s room for everyone. Done.