Last week, I was pleased to see a full spread in the Jackson County Advocate on the upcoming school board elections in the Hickman Mills School District. I appreciate the Advocate providing this information to area residents. I was very glad to read the candidate responses, in their own words - - or at least, it was supposed to be in their own words. As I began to read through their answers, I kept getting a strange sense of deja vu. Mr. Anderson, Ms. Forte and Ms. Graves seemed to have a remarkable similarity in some of their answers. It seemed clear to me that their answers were copied directly from another document.
In regards to the recent audit, Mr. Anderson responded, "The district needs to ensure that the board is properly trained with regard rules and procedures." Ms. Forte responded, "The district needs to ensure that the board is properly trained with regard rules and procedures." Ms. Graves responded, "The district needs to ensure that the board is properly trained with regard rules and procedures." Is there an echo in the room?
In regards to the influence of Freedom, Inc., Mr. Anderson responded, "No interest group will dictate how I am going vote on the Hickman Mills School Board. I feel that political organizations have no place in the business educating children...." Ms. Forte responded, "No interest group will dictate how I am going vote on the Hickman Mills School Board. I feel that political organizations have no place in the business educating children..." Ms. Graves responded, "I feel that political organizations have no place in the business educating children..." At least with this question, they each added a few of (I hope) their own thoughts beyond the parroted portion I copied here.
I don't know if it is Freedom Inc. or a new organization with a new name, but clearly someone IS directing the thoughts and actions of these three candidates. This is not what our schools need. We need people on our school board who can answer a questionnaire without a cheat sheet.
