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What Have We Learned From This Year’s School Board Race?
A perspective from Danielle Price
After the events leading up to this week’s resignation of “Dr” Jennifer Moore, residents of Orange County are left confused, blindsided, baffled, and betrayed.
What have we learned from this year’s school board race? In a nutshell, we’ve learned it’s not about what’s best for schools, students, teachers, or our community. We’ve learned that personal agendas, political agendas, personal relationships, manipulation, and down-right bullying are acceptable and supported when a select few individuals set out to control our school system.
What other embarrassing lessons have we learned? Political endorsements are not researched or vetted. We’ve all been bombarded with endorsements for a candidate whose credentials are now in question, who claims to have earned a PhD and has insisted on being called “Doctor” by her colleagues. Yet there is no proof this person actually ever attended a PhD program. This same candidate who ran on the promise of integrity, honor, and honesty, is now silent and not answering ANY questions.
This same silence is met by the many political figures who endorsed her in this non-partisan race: a senator, a NC state representative, former school board members, current and former mayors, commissioners, a former superintendent, news outlets and current school board members. How did this happen?
More importantly, what are we showing our children who are watching this unfold?
Accountability: We want our students and teachers to be accountable. Where is the accountability in this situation? Jennifer Moore’s own campaign representative told the news “I really do not think you will get a statement from Jennifer in response to your questions.” If someone fakes a degree, are there consequences? If someone lies, do they own up to the lie? Do we expect our students and teachers to be accountable? When we do wrong, should we own up to our actions? Do elected officials not answer to the public? Shouldn’t those who endorsed her “own up” to their mistake?
Integrity: Do we teach our children the importance of being honest? Do we teach them to have a strong moral compass? Or do we show them by example it is acceptable to elect officials who lie about higher education credentials and hide from the public about it when the truth comes to light? Is it right to “push through” candidates who willingly lie only to allow them to step down after the election only to serve our own purposes?
Principle: What is more important—winning, or doing the right thing? Is it more important to win, or is it more important to do the right thing by our students and our district? Do we trust the people who “endorsed” her without doing the proper research and who expect us to blindly follow? How are we supposed to respond when activist Hillary MacKenzie says things like, “she would have the right to the seat for the text term. I’m hoping she would at least be sworn in to elect the chair and vice chair”? We must respond with our actions and do the right thing. We can choose a proven leader who makes choices that are in the best interest of students, teachers, and the district.
Wake up Orange County! Vote for accountability, integrity, and principle; vote for Bonnie Hauser.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
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