February 14th, Oklahoma will vote on school board races across the state. February you say? Isn't that a fairly cold month here in Oklahoma - making any but the firmly ideological and/or patriotic sure NOT to go to the polls? Of course! Partly because of this factor, school board races tend to suffer from lack of turnout, at times causing school board seats to turn on less than 60 votes.
Unfortunately, school board races aren't deemed ‘sexy’ by the media. School board elections rarely gain much media attention and usually fly so far under the radar that many citizens have no idea a school board race is even ensuing in their neighborhood (district) at all - ever.
ROPE has recognized these frustrations from our beginnings. Last year we assisted both Piedmont and Edmond with school board candidate forums, in attempt to bring light to the process.
This year, we would like you to be aware of a particular school board race here in Oklahoma City. It is the Oklahoma City School Board seat in district number 4 previously held by Steve Schafer. Here is the map you can use to determine whether or not you reside in district 4.
As you can read in this article from the Oklahoman covering a recent candidate forum held by Friends of Egemere, there are three candidates running for this particular seat; Patrick Gaines, Laura A. Massenat and Crystal Hodges. As you can imagine, we have done a bit of research on these three candidates and we are happy to share that information with you.
All three candidates are registered with the County Election Board as "Republican", so this should be a very difficult race to judge, right? Well, not so fast. There are, some could say, EXTREME differences among the three Republican candidates in this race.
Let's start with Patrick Gaines.
Mr. Gaines is the owner and proprietor of Gaines Government Services, LLC - a local lobbying firm. Mr. Gaines is a registered lobbyist in Oklahoma for medical and insurance providers. He has a candidate Facebook page where he can be seen with Representative (and candidate for SENATE) Al McAffrey. Mr. Gaines also has an Al McAffrey For Senate sign in his front yard as can be evidenced here:
Here is a screen shot from the Al McAffrey For Senate webpage:
While Al is "FIGHTING EVERYDAY FOR OUR PROGRESSIVE VALUES", ROPE continues to fight AGAINST his progressive values – particularly in education.
Please also note McAffrey’s voting history, where he voted AGAINST preventing the use of Sharia law in Oklahoma court cases (against the will of 70% of Oklahoma voters) and the repeal of collective bargaining requirements for cities (which continue to cost Oklahoma taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars OUTSIDE what we pay for public services themselves.)
I don’t know about you, but my momma used to tell me, "You are known by your associates".
Yes, we should be cordial to all people and definitely attempt to hear all sides of an issue. Yes, school board races are considered non-partisan (which is how Progressives took control of school boards under the radar long ago). However, when one person says one thing, “I’m a Republican”, and acts another way by promoting the candidacy of a PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT, (outside his job as lobbyist which requires him to elicit support from both sides of the isle) while also publicly appreciating that PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT’S support for his campaign, ALL voters should be concerned.
In that case, we can glean the following about Patrick Gaines:
- He is a registered Republican backing a Progressive Democrat for Senate.
- He has had this self-same Progressive Democrat at one of his fundraisers as evidenced on his school board candidate Facebook page where he is happy to tell the world that this Progressive Democrat supports his school board candidacy.
- Patrick Gaines is a lobbyist. “To lobby”, according to Merriam-Webster, is: to attempt to influence or sway (as a public official) toward a desired action.
Thus, we could conclude that Patrick Gaines will lobby the Oklahoma City School Board (as a board member) toward more Progressive Democrat ideals.
Let's now turn our attention to Laura A. Massenat:
Mrs. Massenat has, to her credit, been very active at the Oklahoma City School Board meetings where she frequently “lobbies” for more nutritious lunches. Mrs. Massenat is also registered with the County Election Board as a Republican and also has a candidate Facebook page where she appears with Al McAffrey AND Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid at a recent campaign fund raiser.
For the uninitiated, Ed Shadid has been one of the more ‘controversial’ councilmen on the Oklahoma City Council. Though he has thankfully attempted to stand firm in the face of the cronyism that IS the Oklahoma City Council, he is also on record as a supporter of Agenda 21-based incentives such as “preventing urban sprawl”. In a blog written last June, he states,
“As social beings we are designed to function “as part of a herd” as my mentor, Dr. Billy Stout, frequently reminds me.”
WHAT?! Sorry, I don’t baaaa during any part of my day thank you, and I am – like a lot of you – more likely to kick the sheepdog as run with the pack away from him!
What about Mrs. Massenat’s ideas on school function or programming? A recent poll posted to her Facebook page can give us some idea of her thoughts.
Granted, the poll was peopled with votes from Facebook ‘friends’ and certainly can’t be construed as a statistical poll of any kind, but if her constituents are more concerned about school lunch choices than how often kids are tested and to what/for what result, how will actual issues dealing with the education (or un-education) of Oklahoma City district 4 kids fit into her agenda?
This question, combined with the issue of her political supporters, certainly raises a lot of concerns. Thus, we would be unable to consider Laura Massanat’s candidacy for the position of school board member.
This leads me to Crystal Hodges, who, as you might imagine, ROPE endorses wholeheartedly for this seat.
Crystal is a former Navy Nuclear Electronic technician who received a degree in Elementary Education following her honorable discharge from service. She and her husband Peter have 3 children whom Crystal schools at home. You can read more about Crystal’s thoughts and qualifications on the “about me” section of her candidate Facebook page.
Not unbelievably, concerns have been expressed about the legitimacy of Crystal’s candidacy simply because of the fact that Crystal chooses to school her children at home. In fact, it has even been posited that Crystal should not be ALLOWED to sit on the school board in her district for this reason. Please, allow me to make a few points here:
· Home schoolers (such as me) often choose to opt their children out of public school for religious reasons. Many of us prefer to school our children using a Biblical world view which, sadly, has not been available in public schools since 1965.
· Many home schoolers (such as Crystal and I) often either have education backgrounds themselves, or take part in a co-op or other program to assist in the schooling of their children (our family, for example, participates in a local Classical Conversations program).
· Many home schoolers (such as Crystal and I) have advanced degrees - as evidenced in a very large study done on nearly 12 thousand home school families in 1998.
· Like my own sister, and others who choose parochial and/or private schooling, home schooler’s PAY PROPERTY TAXES TO FUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS in their neighborhood and across the state of Oklahoma though they do not use the services for which they pay. To say that a home schooler can NOT occupy a school board seat in their district is tantamount to consigning these individuals to TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
· Home schoolers are often more aware of the issues surrounding public education than those parents whose children attend public school simply because we have studied the issue prior to choosing a method of schooling for our children.
Consequently, due to Crystal’s outstanding qualifications and experience – and the obvious concerns about her opponents – ROPE has chosen to endorse Crystal Hodges for the Oklahoma City Public Schools District #4 Board of Education seat.
We ask YOU to do whatever you can to support her as well!
Nutruition is a major issue in the State of Oklahoma. For a State with such high rates of obesity, hypertension & diabetes, nutrition should be a top concern in the public schools, as so should Physical Education & safe body mechanics. Oklahoma has a high rate of prescription narcotic consumption. Back injuries & chronic pain are high. Perhaps Oklahoma should stop focusing on Bible and Spanish classes, and instead focus on Nutrition & Phys.Ed./Body Mechanics instead. An obese, diabetic, population with hypertension & sciatica that knows the Bible & speaks Spanish is pointless.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Heckle, but we must disagree.
DeleteNone of the categories you mention is/are the job of the taxpayer to 'fix' - either federally or as a matter of the state - ESPECIALLY in a public school setting.
In fact, none of these issues are even 'fixable' excepting by the individual (like smoking or drinking or drug use - try to force an addict of any of these things to simply quit - it won't happen), and no one should be forced (through taxes) to pay for the consequences of the behavior of another INDIVIDUAL.
ROPE supports the ideal of personal responsibility - that each individual must be responsible for their OWN behavior.
In this vein, it is the job of the parent to provide health, nutrition and other welfare necessities for their child - not the state (unless, of course, the child IS a ward of the state).
Yes, you will remind me how many parents today abdicate their parental responsibility, leaving children vastly under-parented. Of course, I would have to agree.
I would argue, however, that parents abdicate responsibility for their children, in part, because they can. If you have a child, but can't pay for its support, the state subsidizes your childcare, nutrition, housing, education and health care. What, actually, is the incentive to prevent pregnancy by possessing the self-control necessary to abstain from behaviors that cause pregnancy?
Today, instead of churches and private organizations caring for parents/children with economic/parenting difficulty, the state threatens taxpayers with prison if we don't pay the taxes to provide these services. I am not even allowed a 'return' on my 'investment' because MILLIONS people in America today who go on the public dole will never leave the system - never become a productive member of society. I will be forced to provide for these people in perpetuity because there is simply NO incentive for them to learn appropriate, healthy, behaviors, support themselves, and leave the system.
How in the world is that situation equitable to the taxpayer or instructive for a parent or child?
The answer simply, is that it is not. And yet, because I am deemed to have the money to pay for the consequences of others' behaviors, and those for which I pay may not, I am even demonized for saying as much and ridiculed in order to somehow SHAME me into paying my taxes, supporting the behaviors and shutting up about it.
Schools are to be SOLELY in the business of teaching children history (preferably the FACTUAL kind), math, science and reading.
If a school board wants to institute Bible teaching or foreign language, band, sports, etc., that's fine - as long as those that fiscally support the district agree. The rest of the nonsense is simply a waste of time and taxpayer dollars - especially when we haven't been able to graduate children who can read or do math well enough to enroll in college without remedial courses, in decades.
Part of the great thing about the American experience is that you, Heckle (and others of same mind,) can go forth into the state and/or country and work to create non-profits to provide programs for the nutritionally challenged (for example) to change their behaviors and produce healthy, productive individuals and members of society.
Taxpayer money should provide students in public education with those basic subjects which will allow them the best opportunity to be successful in life. All the rest should be left to non-profits and PARENTS.
An individual cannot "fix" the above mentioned categories (HTN, diabetes, obesity, chronic pain due to injury, etc) if said individual does not have the knowledge to "fix" let alone prevent said categories. So if parents were never taught how to keep themselves from developing obesity, diabetes, HTN, etc, said parents cannot teach their children, and a continuous cycle of unhealthy & afflicted citizens persists. If ROPE supports the idea of personal responsibility, then do away with Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Too many citizens continue to utilize medical services & drain taxpayer funds with afflictions that could have been prevented or reduced with public education. The "basic subjects which will allow them the best opportunity to be successful in life" would be the same above mentioned categories that Medicare & Medicaid end up paying for later. Everyone is going to be taxed. Current educational funds spent on educating a population to prevent/reduce them from chronic afflictions draining Medicare & Medicaid is money better spent than on foreign religion or language. So this leaves the citizens at "square one," use current funds to prevent later expenses, or have Spanish and Bible class, which later yield nothing.
DeleteSee? You're getting it Heckle! You are right! Many people - because of our poor education system that tries to fix every social ill to the point that it forgets to actually spend adequate time teaching reading and math (for example) - and our welfare system that provides no education as to why that person (or generation of persons) has been/is on welfare but just plops money down in an outstretched hand - many people do NOT know how to 'fix' their ills.
DeleteThat is where you come in! You coalesce a group of people (from either the private or religious sectors), get financial and other backing and produce a non-profit organization to provide education on the concepts of health and nutrition! I'm sure you know that there are MANY nutritionists out there who have hung up a shingle to do just that! Work with them to provide services through corporate and private donations to those that can't afford the cost of private services!
I also totally agree with your position on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid Heckle! We SHOULD do away with them all! So awesome that we're on the same page here!
Once the safety nets are removed and the public returns (we actually once were a basically self-sufficient people who actually HATED getting hand outs, us Americans, before the influx of social programming) to the ideals of its past - that WE CAN DO IT spirit - America will once again be able to make a budget and stick to it and do away with trillions of dollars in debt, our children will be finally educated and we'll become the powerhouse in the world we once were. Best of all, government will return to its actual, rightful, Constitutional place in our lives where it takes care of its Enumerated Powers and leaves the rest to aspiring, creative individuals like you!
Best of luck in your endeavors!
A bit of information germane to the topic....
ReplyDeleteNearly Half of U.S. Households Receive Government Benefits
The pool of Americans relying on government benefits rose to record highs last year as an increasing share of families tapped aid in a weak economy, says the Wall Street Journal.
Expanding government programs combined with the worst downturn since the Great Depression have led to an explosion in the share of Americans relying on outside help.
Some 48.6 percent of the population lived in a household receiving some type of government benefit in the second quarter of 2010, up a notch from 48.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Census data.
To combat prolonged economic weakness, Congress extended unemployment benefits to a record 99 weeks (up from the normal 26-weeks offered in most states).
The food stamp program was tweaked so it was more generous.
Americans flocked to Social Security disability, a last bastion of support for some of the long-term unemployed.
The largest chunk of benefits flowing to families came from means-tested programs.
In the second quarter, 34.4 percent lived in a household benefiting from food stamps, subsidized housing or Medicaid, among others.
That number is up from 32.8 percent a year ago (when a total of 46.8 percent of the population lived in a home receiving benefits).
The biggest increases came from an uptick in those turning to food stamps and Medicaid.
Nearly 15 percent of Americans lived in a household receiving food stamps in mid-2010; almost 26 percent had access to Medicaid.
Only a small share of the population accessed cash welfare benefits as the 1990s overhaul made it more onerous in many cases to receive and maintain those payments. Some 1.9 percent of the population lived in a household that received welfare in the second quarter of 2010.
Source: Sara Murray, "Nearly Half of U.S. Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefits," Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2012.
For text:
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/01/17/nearly-half-of-u-s-lives-in-household-receiving-government-benefits/?KEYWORDS=health+overhaul
For more on Tax and Spending Issues:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=25
And yet another... Maybe Heckle should work with one of the non-profits that work to maintain families! In fact, according to this article, that should REALLY do the trick!
ReplyDeleteFamily Fact of the Week: Marriage’s Sobering Effects
Sarah Torre
January 18, 2012 at 1:44 pm
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/18/family-fact-of-the-week-marriages-sobering-effects/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
The benefits of marriage are numerous, with advantages extending across social and economic situations. Marriage even positively affects married individuals’ health. From decreasing depression to lowering mortality risk and reducing smoking habits—areas where policy remedies are sought but ill-suited to the need—marriage provides a civil-society inoculation far more effective than government intervention.
Tying the knot can also guard against heavy alcohol use, with decreased rates of binge drinking among married individuals. Marriage’s effect on drinking habits may be especially important in light of a recent government report showing increased binge drinking among U.S. adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report last week showing that more people participate in binge drinking than researchers previously thought. The report found that one in six U.S. adults binge drinks about 4 times a month—that’s more than 38 million people.
Fortunately, marriage appears to have a positive effect on both men’s and women’s relationships to alcohol, with a decline in alcohol problems among couples who have tied the knot. As FamilyFacts.org reports, marriage appears to reduce alcohol abuse and the frequency of binge drinking. The instance of binge drinking declines by 11 percent among recently married men, and marriage seems to also reduce the number of women who report binge drinking by 20 percent.
College campuses have become notorious sites for alcohol abuse. According to data on FamilyFacts.org, two in five young adults (age 18 to 25) binge drink, and one in seven reports heavy alcohol use. Yet even among this younger cohort, marriage still appears to reduce heavy alcohol consumption. Research compiled for the Department of Health and Human Services demonstrates that even among young adults in their 20s and 30s, a marked decrease in the likelihood of binge drinking appears in the two years surrounding marriage.
In contrast to marriage, the loose bonds of cohabitation—an increasingly favored option among Americans—do not seem to have the same effect on alcohol consumption. Cohabiting couples actually tend to report a higher instance of alcohol problems than their married or single peers and are most likely to be current, regular drinkers when compared to married, divorced, single, and widowed individuals.
The benefits of marriage extend beyond the institution’s well-documented economic and social advantages. As policymakers and national leaders seek to promote healthy choices and react to social problems like binge drinking, they should consider the many ways marriage can encourage a healthier lifestyle.
Posted in Family and Religion, Featured
I already "work to maintain families" not in the form of handouts, but in the form of education for self improvement & health maintenance. Handouts are fruitless, education is empowerment. However, it seems my point is being missed here. Public schools provide education to the public, & applicable education would provide more of an impact on a populations GDP than a Bible or Spanish class. Without an educated public, certain problems will persist. If you are happy with Oklahomas current rate of obesity, prematurity, diabetes, hypertension, skeletal injuries & prescription narcotic consumption, then by all means continue to allow stupid decisions such as a Bible class, mandatory Spanish, & no PE to be enacted. I am convinced providing education where education is lacking can make a difference. There are not enough non-profits to impact an entire State. And as the gap between the "Haves" and "Have-nots" widens, fewer resources are donated. The Public Education System can be used for actual progress, but some religious agendas must first be set aside.
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who did not recieve a thorough education in the Sciences, Anatomy & Physiology are Human Science classes. These would include; Nutrition (your body is not atomically powered)and Body Mechanics (your body is made of bones, cartilage, etc. If you do not operate your body in a safe manner, bad things will happen, & you will be eating Lortab the rest of your life, possibly paid for my Medicare or Medicaid).
ReplyDelete