Spring Elections

 Spring Elections Matter

Do your homework

 

Our Spring Elections are April 5^th. They are for supposedly non-partisan races like judicial, county, municipal and school board officials. Unfortunately, even these local positions have become politicized in our polarized political climate. 

 

Groups of moderate conservatives have stepped up to serve on local school boards in recent years, beating back the more vocal and radical elements in our communities more concerned about the culture wars than actually educating children. Battles over non-existent issues like Critical Race Theory, Social Emotional Learning and curriculum battles over gender identity make for interesting campaign slogans but ignore the real issues facing public education such as adequate funding, needs of special needs kids, respect for educators and inclusivity. 

 

Nowhere is this more evident than here in Kewaskum where gubernatorial wannabe, state Representative Timothy Ramthun and his hand-picked protégé, Bradley Peterson, are running to keep seats on the local school board.

 

Ramthun has distinguished himself by jumping into the GOP primary for governor on a platform of the impossible, decertifying the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election and switching our votes in the Electoral College to the former president. Upset with the rejection of his plan by the Assembly GOP Speaker Robin Voss and being thrown out of a meeting by Voss, Ramthun took to YouTube wishing he had punched Voss in the nose and told him to “pound sand. At the same time, he runs for a seat on our school board raising the clearly crazy notion that special education may be a plot to force students into special needs classes to gain more funding and to perhaps control students and parents. One must wonder if he is truly suited to serve on a school board, much less become Wisconsin’s next governor. 

 

Peterson has been noticeably silent on all of this, apparently content to ride Ramthun’s coattails with the alt-right conservatives in our community who buy into Ramthun’s conspiracy theories. 

 

In stark contrast, stands Rhett Engleking who is making his first run for public office. Rhett is the son of educator parents and his father, Ray Engleking, served on the Kewaskum School Board with distinction. Rhett promotes a positive view of our schools and the impact they have on our community’s children. He believes in collaboration with all those involved in educating kids who want to achieve the best outcomes. He is reaching out to people in the school district in person and by phone willing to listen to concerns about our schools. He is not afraid to engage people with opposing views. Have a look at his Facebook group for more. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1104147717042837/

 

In West Bend and other Washington County communities, moderates who have been managing public education effectively continue to be primaried by extreme conservatives seeking to impose radical views on students and give voice to parents concerned that ultra conservative values are not being taught at school. 

 

Paul Fischer and Erin Dove are running for re-election to the West Bend School Board. Both are smart and involved in their community and have learned the complexities of school finance and budgeting. They have no personal axes to grind and seek to serve those in our schools. They have served well and deserve re-election. 

 

Melanie Ehrgott is running for the West Bend School Board as a staunch conservative opposed to having public schools deal with the emotional needs and social actions of students, believing that is best left to parents. Her position paper on the district website uses the hackneyed buzzwords signaling she stands with those who would dismantle public education by reverting to a Three Rs curriculum. Her social media pages echo the usual anti-CRT and “traditional family values” themes often used in these elections. Her Facebook page tells the story. https://www.facebook.com/MelanieEhrgott4WBSB?ref=py_c&_rdr

 

John Donaldson has been less vocal than Ehrgott, but his social media postings are just as telling. He too is running as a staunch conservative echoing themes rejected when Randy Marquardt and Dave Weigand were booted from the School Board years ago. For more see, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077428396313

 

Neither Ehrgott or Donaldson appear to offer anything positive to advance public education in West Bend and make it a better learning environment for students. They want to move public education back to a simpler time that no longer exists. 

 

We need to take a serious look at our local elections and choose people willing and able to serve all the people in our communities, not just those with the same political or religious views. Modern society is complex and diverse, and the old ways no longer work to meet the competing demands presented. 

 

In our information age, it is easy to find out what people running for office think and believe. We just need to do the homework.