Letters to the editor regarding school board election
Vote for Kenney Enney for Paso Robles School Board
– Kenney Enney is committed to parental rights, academic performance, safety, and accountability. Kenney is speaking truth to the powerful education bureaucracy, and they are spewing lies, engaging in character assassination, and spending upwards of $20,000 to defeat him.
A coup was orchestrated by the education establishment to vacate the legal appointment of Mr. Enney from our Paso Robles school board. It was a disgraceful power grab that is forcing the district to pay for a special election at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Money that is coming out of the PRJUSD’s general fund, money which would otherwise be spent on our students.
Join me in supporting the exceptionally well-qualified retired Marine Lt Colonel Kenney Enney for Paso Robles School Board.
Dorian Baker
San Miguel
Charter schools do not take funds out of our public school system
– There is a good deal of misinformation being spread around about how charter schools are funded, some of it by well-intended and well-informed people.
Ms. Zelenski & Ms. Lacey suggest in recent letters that charter schools would allow students and parents to opt out of the PRJUSD by taking their share of public-school education dollars to use them in whatever school-type system they want.
That is not true for charter schools. Under the law of the CA Charter School Act, funding is provided according to Ed. Code §47651 defines two funding methods for charter schools – direct and indirect. A “direct” funded charter will receive its state funding directly (usually through the county) (Ed. Code §47651(a)(1)), while an “indirectly” funded charter will receive it on a pass-through basis through the sponsoring school district.
Unfortunately, as with many issues in our local community, partisan politics by both candidates and parties is preventing voters from making fully informed decisions based on civil discourse. Voters deserve better than that.
PS. It’s worth noting that the concept of Charter Schools was introduced to California by Democrat Governor Jerry Brown, first as Mayor of Oakland, and his support continued as Governor!
Clive Pinder
Templeton
A good leader focuses on relationship building, not division
– I want you to take a minute to think about your favorite boss. What did this person do that made them your favorite? Did they ask you for your opinion? Did they listen to you? Did they empower you to make decisions? Did this person make you feel valued? Did you want to spend time with this person? Were you able to work together in a team environment to achieve great things? Would you work for this person again without question?
Now that you’ve got that person that you admire for their leadership skills in mind, contrast those memories with the boss you worked for that you liked the least.
What did this person do that made you dislike working for them? Did they discourage you from offering your feedback? Did they make you feel like you were replaceable? Did they attack your experience or your expertise in a subject matter you know a lot about? Would you want to work for this person again? Would you be interested in seeing this person again?
Now, think about our school board in this context.
Most of our trustees are new as of a few months ago and they’ve been working well together, the meetings are productive, and they’re discussing things and making better decisions collectively, as they should! I’ve heard people say we need a change, um, this is a big change! Maybe we should give them a chance to fix the problems they inherited from the previous board?
Who else was a part of the dysfunctional board that was more interested in chasing down distractions like litter boxes in bathrooms rather than addressing real issues like test scores?
That’s right! Your “big changes” candidate. I mean, really? If he is so concerned about test scores, why wasn’t he trying to address that when he was on the board?
When I see his campaign material which is full of pictures of German Shepherds and exactly zero students I really wonder what his intentions are.
Pay attention to who these candidates really are. Look at what they say and how they work with others.
Who would you trust your children with? Who do you think has more passion about education? Who is going to find solutions and work collaboratively with others?
And finally, who do you want to work with?
Tracy Dauterman
Paso Robles
Editor’s note: Opinion pieces and letters to the editor are the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Paso Robles Daily News or its staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.
