A Question of Judgment
Please vote for Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, & Ford next Tuesday.
Two weeks ago I shared my picks for the upcoming school board election: Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, and Ford. With exactly one week until election day, let me share the single biggest reason why I'm voting for these five: It all comes down to judgment.
Judgement is partly about independence. One thing I like about all five of my picks for school board is that they are each running their own independent campaigns. And they have been sharing their own, independent, ideas with voters. This is reflected in the fact that they all have their own yard signs, and all maintain their own candidate pages online (see Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, and Ford). By contrast, their opponents have run as a single bloc rather than as individual candidates, issue joint statements rather than individual ideas, and rely a single political action committee (PAC) for reaching out to voters.
My picks for school board are also non-partisan; they include both registered Democrats and registered Republicans. Call me old fashioned, but I think a non-partisan board is a stronger, more responsive, and more community-oriented board. And I'm not alone. According to a massive 2021 study by More in Common, 67% of us can be classified as part of the "exhausted majority," who are tired of the political polarization and want political compromise. Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, and Ford are working together across party lines. By contrast, their main opponents are endorsed by the Lehigh County Republican Party bosses, who also support candidates in other districts running as the only "true" Republicans and who have established purity tests for what it means to be in one party or another. I hope the "exhausted majority" in East Penn will show up to the polls to reject this kind of nonsense.
Judgment is also partly about experience. One thing I learned from my own time on the board was how important such experience is to making good school board decisions. There's a steep learning curve for being an effective board member. The state and federal laws surrounding schools are complicated. And the issues facing our schools are complex. So I appreciate that both Josh Levinson and Jeff Jankowski are experienced board members already.
Judgement involves speaking clearly and concretely about where one stands on the issues facing our school district too. Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, and Ford have all done this regularly over the last several months, each with their own take on different issues. For example, Klotz shared a direct video message with voters on March 26th about book banning, where she clearly states her position:
"I don't agree with book banning...If you don't want your child or anybody in your family to read a book, that's fine; that's absolutely your prerogative. But don't tell somebody else what their student or their family can't read."
Shonta Ford has been very clear about her concern for marginalized people in our community; Tim Kelly has articulated specific questions about school technology and its impact on our kids, as well as his support for a concrete proposal to increase the number of special ed teachers in the district. By contrast, most of what their opponents have shared are vague statements that say very little. "[W]e understand how critical and valuable culture is to the success of any organization," they say in describing 'what we stand for.' Judgment requires being clear about one's policy goals, not bland and general truisms.
Experience, community engagement, non-partisan common sense, integrity, and transparency are all important qualities in school board candidates. But much of this really boils down to good judgment. That's why I'm voting for Levinson, Jankowski, Klotz, Kelly, and Ford for East Penn School Board. And the contrast in judgment between candidates is even more clear when you start looking a little more carefully at their opponents. I'll share THAT tomorrow.
Take care,
Ziad
If any of this was valuable to you, would you please forward it to two or three others? I'll bet you have family, friends, and colleagues who care about our schools and want to stay informed, but don't yet know where to get clear and easy to use information.
If you want to learn more about the candidates, here are some places to start:
The League of Women Voters' guide to all candidates in the race
And here are some previous posts I’ve written on the issues raised here: