Ward 4 State Board of Education Special Election

calexander
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Hello Forum-mates!

In case you didn't know, there will be a special election for the Ward 4 seat on the DC State Board of Education on December 4th. Why this race couldn't be settled during the November election is a mystery to me; I believe the Board of Elections is trying to set the record for the lowest election turnout ever.

Anyhoo, there will be a Candidate Forum for this race next week on November 8th at 6pm at Powell Elementary School. The candidates are:

Rhonda Henderson
Elani Lawrence
Frazier O’Leary
Ryan Tauriainen

Refreshments will be provided, so please RSVP on Eventbrite.

Incidentally, my wife and I interviewed three of the candidates recently (Mr. O'Leary had a scheduling conflict and we hope to make his interview up soon). You can check them out below if you'd like to get a feel for them before the forum.

Thanks!

calexander
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Rhonda Henderson:


Transcript
calexander
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Elani Lawrence:

Transcript
calexander
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Ryan Tauriainen:



Transcript

[Admin]: I fixed the video for you.
Anonymous
Thanks! We are Ward 4 and I'm sure we'd have missed this without the post.
Anonymous
What about a video from Frazier OLeary?
Anonymous
Thank You! Makes no sense at all..
Anonymous
I thought it was because the current person holding seat didn’t announce she was retiring until after the deadline. Anyhow, Rhonda Henderson has my vote!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I thought it was because the current person holding seat didn’t announce she was retiring until after the deadline. Anyhow, Rhonda Henderson has my vote!


Yes, the previous Ward 4 State Board member Lannette Woodruff resigned her post effective July 31st which was too late for new candidates to complete required paperwork to appear on the ballot for Nov. 6th. Nobody goofed, it’s just an unfortunate situation of bad timing. Agreed that it will probably lead to lower turnout. The last time there was a special election to fill a vacant seat on the State Board of Education, it was in 2014 for the Ward 8 seat. The winner of that contest had 813 votes compared to 733 for 2nd place. Especially with 4 candidates in the mix, every vote counts for this special election, so be sure to tell your Ward 4 friends and neighbors to learn about the candidates and vote!
Anonymous
my Opinions: right now, not enamored with any of them.

Henderson: seems like a typical DC dilettante, more degrees than actual experience or accomplishments

Taurinian: seems to have the knowledge but comes off a bit smug.

O’Leary: nice guy. I really respect his experience but he seems like one of the types who misses the forest for the trees.

Lawrence: is she just a parent? Kids are in charters? No.
Anonymous
A simple google search is a good idea for this. People spin the truth in interviews and in person. I suggest people copy their names into a search engine. Here is what I found out.

Rhonda Henderson: Currently does finance work for a nonprofit. Has switched between jobs a lot according to linkedin. Some of her work was in charter school operations. President of the manor park neighborhood association.

Ryan Tauriainen: Currently works in early childhood education. Wrote some children's books. Has been a principal and a teacher in DC. He was The Washington Post's principal of the year in 2016. Name comes up as founding an organization called "KinderProgress." Won other awards in education too that I dont want to list out.

Elani Lawrence: Apparently is a realty agent for property in Maryland. Maybe taught in NY years ago. (Where does she get off saying she is an education expert of 22 years?) Did the peace corps. Her brother Sekou Biddle was in local politics.

Frazier O'Leary: Retired DCPS English teacher from Cardozo HS. Coached a lot of sports. Short segment on CSPAN a while ago.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:my Opinions: right now, not enamored with any of them.

Henderson: seems like a typical DC dilettante, more degrees than actual experience or accomplishments

Taurinian: seems to have the knowledge but comes off a bit smug.

O’Leary: nice guy. I really respect his experience but he seems like one of the types who misses the forest for the trees.

Lawrence: is she just a parent? Kids are in charters? No.


Ryan Tauriainen is not smug. He’s the best person for the job. He was my child’s principal and he is the most understanding, knowledgeable and supportive being that will treat you as a person not a statistic.
calexander
Member Offline
Anonymous wrote:What about a video from Frazier OLeary?


He was scheduled, but he had a family emergency on the day of the event. We hope to be able to reschedule the interview before the special election.
calexander
Member Offline
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I thought it was because the current person holding seat didn’t announce she was retiring until after the deadline. Anyhow, Rhonda Henderson has my vote!


Yes, the previous Ward 4 State Board member Lannette Woodruff resigned her post effective July 31st which was too late for new candidates to complete required paperwork to appear on the ballot for Nov. 6th. Nobody goofed, it’s just an unfortunate situation of bad timing. Agreed that it will probably lead to lower turnout. The last time there was a special election to fill a vacant seat on the State Board of Education, it was in 2014 for the Ward 8 seat. The winner of that contest had 813 votes compared to 733 for 2nd place. Especially with 4 candidates in the mix, every vote counts for this special election, so be sure to tell your Ward 4 friends and neighbors to learn about the candidates and vote!

+1
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:A simple google search is a good idea for this. People spin the truth in interviews and in person. I suggest people copy their names into a search engine. Here is what I found out.

Rhonda Henderson: Currently does finance work for a nonprofit. Has switched between jobs a lot according to linkedin. Some of her work was in charter school operations. President of the manor park neighborhood association.

Ryan Tauriainen: Currently works in early childhood education. Wrote some children's books. Has been a principal and a teacher in DC. He was The Washington Post's principal of the year in 2016. Name comes up as founding an organization called "KinderProgress." Won other awards in education too that I dont want to list out.

Elani Lawrence: Apparently is a realty agent for property in Maryland. Maybe taught in NY years ago. (Where does she get off saying she is an education expert of 22 years?) Did the peace corps. Her brother Sekou Biddle was in local politics.

Frazier O'Leary: Retired DCPS English teacher from Cardozo HS. Coached a lot of sports. Short segment on CSPAN a while ago.


I think you’re being too brief on Frazier O’Leary. Search the WaPo articles on him. This is an impressive teacher who clearly has something to teach the DC education machine.

I think it would be great if the Mayor had to get his approval of policies.
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