Anonymous wrote:Politics over education.

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Anonymous wrote:To vote in the caucus you have to sign a loyalty pledge to the Democratic party. That’s way too strange for me.

It is, but I do it anyway. The caucus IS the SB election for all intents and purposes.

Remember that something like 805 of Arlington residents don't have children in the school system. They'll take the sample Dem ballot and vote straight ticket. It's unfortunately why John Vihstadt lost his seat on the CB a few years ago in the blue wave. He was the only non-ACDC elected official on either the CB or SB.

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Anonymous wrote:I watched part of the meeting. Some of the comments are really unbelievable. One guy said that if the ACDC doesn't tell people who to vote for, the people of Arlington "might accidentally elect a conservation school board member."

Another went on and on about how progressive Arlington is with mentions of school name changes, an equitable calendar, focus on SEL, and something about transgender students, while throwing in a token partial sentence about "rigorous academics," which many people would argue should be the primary focus on public school.

Basically, ACDC has no trust in anyone but themselves and the few people able to caucus to decide who "should" be elected to the schoolboard. It is all about power and control. These same folks complain about voter suppression in other contexts, but they are fine with their current system.

Be that as it may, no one really cares and when the next election rolls around Arlington will just vote in whatever candidate the handful of people in the party want.

I think if this issue really mattered to people, they simply would not vote for whatever candidates that ACDC puts forward and would pick those who run independent.

That's not feasible when the only challengers are lunatics like Audrey Clement and Mike Webb. The Republicans and Independents need to start putting up some real candidates.

Really? That’s your best excuse for continuing to support such a terrible process?
Does it even really matter if there is one or two lunatics on the Board? The board votes on nothing, they challenge nothing, they barely have any interest in education. A couple lunatics on the Board aren’t going to sway anything anywhere.

I didn't say I support the process. I don't. But the question was why not just vote for the non-ACDC candidate. That's why -- there haven't been any better candidates. I have, in fact, voted for Clement in SB and CB races knowing she wasn't going to win anyway. But no way in hell would I vote for a true whacko like Webb. He is legitimately mentally ill and needs professional treatment. Clement would at least ask some questions and spark some potential conversations and debates. Someone like Webb would merely waste everyone's time. Absolutely irrelevant to the ACDC caucus question.

+1 and there aren't normal candidates because they know they don't stand a chance against the ACDC-endorsed candidate. If the drop the caucus, a few democrats could run and we could really let Arlington residents decide how lefty they want to go. The school board is supposed to be independent, so it's outrageous that ACDC has so much control (and then feigns like ANYONE else can run as an independent).

Anonymous wrote:To vote in the caucus you have to sign a loyalty pledge to the Democratic party. That’s way too strange for me.

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Anonymous wrote:I watched part of the meeting. Some of the comments are really unbelievable. One guy said that if the ACDC doesn't tell people who to vote for, the people of Arlington "might accidentally elect a conservation school board member."

Another went on and on about how progressive Arlington is with mentions of school name changes, an equitable calendar, focus on SEL, and something about transgender students, while throwing in a token partial sentence about "rigorous academics," which many people would argue should be the primary focus on public school.

Basically, ACDC has no trust in anyone but themselves and the few people able to caucus to decide who "should" be elected to the schoolboard. It is all about power and control. These same folks complain about voter suppression in other contexts, but they are fine with their current system.

Be that as it may, no one really cares and when the next election rolls around Arlington will just vote in whatever candidate the handful of people in the party want.

I think if this issue really mattered to people, they simply would not vote for whatever candidates that ACDC puts forward and would pick those who run independent.

That's not feasible when the only challengers are lunatics like Audrey Clement and Mike Webb. The Republicans and Independents need to start putting up some real candidates.

Really? That’s your best excuse for continuing to support such a terrible process?
Does it even really matter if there is one or two lunatics on the Board? The board votes on nothing, they challenge nothing, they barely have any interest in education. A couple lunatics on the Board aren’t going to sway anything anywhere.

I didn't say I support the process. I don't. But the question was why not just vote for the non-ACDC candidate. That's why -- there haven't been any better candidates. I have, in fact, voted for Clement in SB and CB races knowing she wasn't going to win anyway. But no way in hell would I vote for a true whacko like Webb. He is legitimately mentally ill and needs professional treatment. Clement would at least ask some questions and spark some potential conversations and debates. Someone like Webb would merely waste everyone's time. Absolutely irrelevant to the ACDC caucus question.

Anonymous wrote:What if they just get rid of the loyalty pledge and let losing candidates from the caucus enter the general election if desired?

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Anonymous wrote:Second, our schools are not served well by filling the Board with party insiders looking to use the school board as a stepping stone in a bigger political career. .

Well, this is laughable. Name one School Board member in the last two decades that has used it as a stepping stone to a bigger political career?

Libby Garvey—former school board member who oversaw the decline of APS and wasteful spending (eg HB building) while not building enough seats. County board member for years now who thinks we don’t need actually seats because everyone will learn virtually. James Lander is another school board member who tried to use it as a stepping stone to county board (his Kojo Nnamdi interview tanked him).

Barbara Kanninen also has had her sights higher than SB and has run for CB, probably looking to run for a State level seat when opportunity seems favorable.

I really don’t think the CD is “higher office”.