By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, April 4 at 6:43 AM
The day is here and the sample ballots are out.
The St. Louis Teachers Union is putting out a sample ballot for the two SLPS parents running in today's election. Local 420's ballot features photos of Peter Downs and Donna Jones (courtesy of PUB DEF) and a long list of elected officials, organizations and community leaders that have endorsed them.
The teachers' ballot also encourages voters to vote against the proposed Charter amendment that would make it more difficult to recall elected officials. Click here to see a photo of the ballot.
The sample ballot supporting the two incumbents is paid for by a political action committee called "People Working for Excellence in Public Education." Tom Schlafly is the treasurer of that organization.
It has no photographs of the candidates, but presents their names enlarged and circled over a list of other candidates. The circle seems to cross out the name of one of their opponents -- Peter Downs.
The handout states that Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford are "committed to supporting new Superintendent Creg Williams and his planned reform of city schools." Click here to download a photo of this ballot.
UPDATE: There is another handout appearing at polls around the city. This one is also paid for by "People Working for Excellence in Public Education." It does feature photos of the two incumbents -- plus a photo of Superintendent Williams. "The Real Team," it says.
The flier also carries a quote from an endorsement by The St. Louis American. "The community can best support the vision and competence of this energetic and able superintendent by voting for Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford," it says.
5 Comments:
So based on the sample ballot soundbites, it comes down to a choice between parents and superintendent-backers.
Ideally, I wish there were parental candidates that also backed Williams. But given the choice, I'll vote for the candidates willing to support our new superintendent. In other words, I'll vote the issues (the state of our schools' future) over the candidates' demographic status (having school-age children).
8:06 AM, April 04, 2006
Anyone who thinks that the parent candidates don't back the superintendent has chosen not to be well informed. They want him to succeed and have said so, including the time when they were directly asked the question at the forum held at Metro. That doesn't mean blindly rubberstamping everything he says, which seems to be the majority's viewpoint on support. Dr. Williams has a lot of energy and for my children's sake I hope he makes a positive difference in our schools, but one person alone isn't likely to think of all the angles to a problem or foresee all the results of proposed actions. Parent input is crucial. To suggest that the parent candidates don't have the desire to ensure a good future for the schools their own children attend makes no sense.
8:56 AM, April 04, 2006
Anyone know where the Watch Party is for Clinkscale and Buford? And Joe Clark?
9:36 AM, April 04, 2006
You know, anonymous, if you are going to vote the issues, it is usually a good idea to know where each candidate stands on those issues from more than just a campaign flyer. I'll bet you buy certain product brands because of the slick commercial jingles, too. After all, it's just too much work to attend a candidate forum to get the real facts. That would be like checking with the BBB or Consumer Reports for your product information instead of just believing Madison Avenue.
Darnetta Clinkscale and the other 3 on Slay's slate are the reason that some of the superintendent's "new inititatives" sound new to the uninformed voters. They eliminated many of the programs that are now being touted. Were you aware that there were ninth grade centers and alternative schools before Slay's slate hired the corporate turnaround firm to run things? If they had supported the superintendent back then, we wouldn't have lost so many accreditation points. These people learned about education on our children's time and we can't get those years back.
9:51 AM, April 04, 2006
Sorry, but I only like commercial jingles slightly more than sample ballots or glossy campaign literature, which I don't care for. I have personally heard Downs speak and read his blog multiple times. I don't know how more informed I could have been to know NOT to vote for him. Only poor Jones lost my vote from guilt by association (with Downs).
10:00 AM, April 04, 2006
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