Hosmer is Top Pick for School Board

Tuesday is an important election. No, we aren’t voting on our nation’s President nor for our State’s Governor. We are voting on school issues, our children, which is at the heart of our country’s future. It is a powerful thing to have a free election and voting on a bond issue and on three school board members can change the face of education in Springfield.

There are five persons running for three positions to the Springfield School Board. Those candidates are (in alphabetical order):

Kris Callen
Roy Holand
Andy Hosmer
Gerry Lee
Bruce Renner

MY SUPPORT
I have read the Springfield News-Leader’s coverage of the candidates and I support Andy Hosmer for school board member. I knew of the Hosmer family when I worked for The Marshfield Mail newspaper. When I started working for Disability Connections, I spoke several times with his brother, Craig Hosmer, during his tenure in the House of Representatives.

Hosmer has made three major specific statements that set him apart from the other candidates:

1. Springfield School District must establish and implement a long range, 20-year-plan to address systemic school issues. The City of Springfield has done the same and our city has seen great improvements on streets, drainage, and light signals. This was supported by taxes because the public understood the need and could see the plan in writing. Hosmer insists that the school district must do the same, and I find that insight to be a good clue on the seriousness with which he approaches this position. He goes further to talk about the inclusion of the community in this long rang plan including representation from: parents, teachers, administrators, citizens, Missouri State University, Drury University, the City and the County. This type of inclusion is what will secure the community’s support for projects, issues and funding.
2. Children should be reading and also be read to. You might be amazed to know that many teachers do not read to their children anymore. Curricular requirements are become ever more strict and teachers are struggling to make sure their students are good test takers rather than independent thinkers. Hosmer states directly, that students should read (or be read to) every single day. As a future teacher, this resonates with me. I find it disgusting that some teachers do not make time for reading in the classroom. I can tell you now, I believe in reading and will insist upon it when I am teaching and I want the support of my school board behind me when I make that decision.
3. Salaries of Springfield teacher’s should be in line with other teacher’s salaries throughout Missouri. Springfield teachers make, on average, $1,500 less than others in the state. Yes, this does mean money. But if it is part of a long range plan that is developed with input from the community, then this community will support that.
4. The school board should look at standardized testing and determine what is being lost when the focus is on test taking, rather than teaching students how to be independent thinkers. I support standardized testing as I think Hosmer does as well. My personal believe is that the problem comes from when teachers, out of frustration, constant change and lack of support from administration, move into emergency teaching modes and simply teach how to take tests. In his own words, Hosmer stated in the news-leader: “I think we spend too much time and effort training our children to be good test-takers instead of teaching them to be good thinkers. I firmly believe that we succeed in educating our children if we simply teach them to read well, to write well and to speak well. If we do that, everything else falls into place.”

Andy Hosmer is committed to the Springfield community and has a history of service to this community and to the world. An attorney who has a child who will enter kindergarten next year, Hosmer joined the Peace Corps and went to Romania from 1996-1998. While others abandon Commercial Street, he has served on the Commercial Club of Springfield and also the Commercial Street Farmer’s Market. There are many groups to join in Springfield if you want political clout and be seen for the sake of being seen. Neither of these groups fall into those categories.

The Hosmer family was raised to be community-minded, volunteers. I think this is evident. Hosmer is concerned about the whole of education and the health of our school district. After all, a good school district will bring in more families. His inclusion-focused long rang plan is something this district has needed for a long time. We have a new school superintendent, which was sorely needed. Our district is in disrepair and I think Hosmer is one to work with the community first, teachers second and the board last. That is something we have not had in a while.


MY OPPOSITION
Roy Holand is a former member of the House of Representatives. He was ousted due to term limits. He was my personal Representative and I must confess that he is a very nice man. He always took time to speak to me and to listen. However, he did not listen enough to support positive legislation for people with disabilities. He headed the campaign to close Regional Centers, which is the state agency for persons with disabilities. I support privatization of many government agencies. I do not support total privatization and closure of state agencies, when dealing with the United States largest minority population: people with disabilities. Specifically, persons who have developmental disabilities (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Fragile X for example) are this state’s most vulnerable population. Predators will seek out those persons because they make for perfect victims. Closing the Regional Centers only serve to deregulate those services, lower investigators of abuse and neglect and create environments where abuse is unchecked. Holand, however, supported this very strongly and quietly and succeeded in moving this forward. We have positively implemented some privatization of case management services. But the movement to close Regional Centers is gaining steam among conservative legislators. It is all about saving money on the backs of those who are most vulnerable. I can’t help but think that Holand will be Hell-bent on cutting many very needed services, just for the sake of saving some tax dollars and not for the benefit of the school district itself. Holand does not have children in our district and never has. You can see that as he simply left that area blank on his news-leader survey.


MY INDECISION
I have not yet made up my mind on the other three candidates: Kris Callen, Gerry Lee, and Bruce Renner. Two of these members are up for re-election (Callen and Renner). Incidentally, both Callen and Renner have experience with persons who have disabilities. Callen has a child with a disability and Renner was a teacher in Special Education, but neither experience is an absolute that they will support good disability policy. In fact, I can say with confidence that Springfield Public Schools has the worst special education services of almost any district in the area.

THE BOND ISSUE
I support the bond issue. Regardless of the controversy surrounding the smaller school closures, the proposed bond issue is a good thing. Let’s be real. How many of us would be supportive of our employer cutting off our air-conditioning at work. Maybe the employer does it to save money or maybe it’s because it is now determined that we can work just fine without air-conditioning.

It’s a ridiculous idea. True, my grandmother didn’t have air conditioning in her school and neither did my Dad. Actually, I didn’t either. I wasn’t reading full sentences in kindergarten and taking MAP tests in first grade. The brain power required of children is much higher than ever before. The entrance requirements for college is much higher than in year’s past. It is a good thing to air condition my school. It will benefit me as a home owner. Better schools mean more people want to go to your school. Demand increases price. Yes, I may pay more in taxes, but I will also make money when I sell my home later.

Springfield’s debt service levy is so much lower that other school districts. Here is the debt service levy of many of our area schools:

Currently in Springfield: $.33
Springfield if Bond Passes: $.51

Ozark: $1.09
Nixa: $1.06
Logan-Rogersville: $.86
Willard: $.69
Branson: $.70
Strafford: $.70
Republic: $.55

What is happening in those districts? Families are moving there so their child will have a better education. If we don’t fix and repair and upgrade our schools now, then things will just get worse. Our buildings will deteriorate and education will take a back seat. We will ultimately pay much more later.


YOUR INPUT
So how do you feel? Do you agree with my support of Hosmer and my opposition to Holand? How do you feel about the other candidates? I would like to hear your rational and thoughtful comments about our school board members and the bond issue.