From: Richard Gold
Columbus
On the evening of Oct. 25, on the one hand we have school board candidates Whittney Loyd, Leigh Britt, and incumbent school board chair Nicole Wheeldon at GirlUP!: SHEroes of STEM -a BCSC event celebrating and encouraging young women to advance a STEM education – the foundation for innovation, technological progress, and American economic advantage.
These community-invested, accomplished women understand the power of young women to learn and lead. Whittney heads a critical human services agency, Turning Point, leading the battle against domestic and dating violence. Leigh is a committed and lifelong educator. Nikki is a Cummins plant manager overseeing more than 1,000 people turning out engines 24×7 for the Stellantis Ram truck.
They are the choice of teachers, community leaders, former school board members. They are moms and their kids go or have gone to BCSC schools.
On the other hand, on the same night, we have three other candidates attending a fundraiser for themselves featuring an embattled and reprimanded attorney general and a lieutenant governor candidate who is not even the choice of his own running mate.
Ignore for a moment, but no longer, that all school board elections in Indiana are non-partisan by law to focus on the educational benefits for our children and therefore not run by politicians for their own self -aggrandizement.
But don’t ignore the fact that these are the same politicians who are staunch supporters of school choice which is code for reducing funding for all public schools. They advocate using your taxpayer funds intended for all of us in public schools to subsidize payment for those who choose private schools for their kids. These private schools do not have the same accountability for performance, nor do they have to accept all who apply.
Today parents have full control over the reading matter of their children. A simple conversation with a BCSC teacher, administrator or librarian gets the job done. Period. Those politicians fundraising on Oct. 25 want to make that choice for you. How about letting each parent make that call and parent their OWN children. That’s the existing approach.
So we have three candidates who are being funded by those who would divert public school funding. That funding supports school safety and the retention of our teachers and staff – the absolute lifeblood of BCSC. I wonder if the funds weren’t diverted whether we would even have needed a referendum.
The choice is simple. Vote for those whose roots in community service are deep and seek to serve all. Vote for those who have clear qualifications to lead and help solve the challenges of public schools. Vote for those whose behavior is what we want to model for our children and our community. Vote for the right to parent your own child. Loyd in District 3. Britt in District 5. Wheeldon in District 7.
Keep our community moving forward.
Editor’s note: This letter is paid political content. Political endorsement letters are published with a $25 fee. They may be submitted to [email protected].
