Interest in Write-In Candidates?

It appears by comments on the last blog entry that there seems to be some interest in having a write-in candidate in the upcoming School Board election in May. Discuss.....

It's official

Dr. Randy Davis is the new MPS superintendent.

Reposting blog entry from "Somber Reflections"

I am re-posting an excellent blog entry from "somber reflections".  As the blogger mentions towards the bottom of their post - Get Involved!  If you care about the future of Marshall Public Schools, speak up, contact the board members and let them know who is best to be the next MPS Superintendent.

Good point! This is the real world. We have unrealistic expectations of the superintendent and the school board. Reading in the paper how excited they got over some cliche answers from the candidates reminds me how out of touch our board members are. I am not saying their responses were bad, but any teacher would expect such responses and they are no big deal.

I do not expect the board to be experts in all areas of education but I do expect them to make a good faith effort to work with the teaching staff and do their best to learn what goes on and why? They have not done this very well, if at all. Joyce Phillips turned out to be arrogant, self-serving and of limited competence in managing the school district. She made many mistakes and made no attempt to improve or work effectively with the staff. She failed, period! She was not always honest and did her best to cover her mistakes. Many think she had even worse intentions, I do not know. Nobody feels she truly carried about the Marshall schools in any way, probably not even the board thinks anything good about her any longer. 

What next? If we are lucky the next superintendent will be an improvement. Probably not great, but probably not worse. Expectations do need to be lowered. The Marshall schools do not have the reputation they once had. Enrollment and budgets are in decline. Many of the best teachers have retired or moved on. We have lost about 2,000 jobs in Marshall the last few years. It may be a long time until things get better. 

As best you can everyone who cares should get involved. I agree, drop trying to hold Joyce accountable- it is not going to happen. Those who support her and protect her dominate the board and have very wealthy supporters backing her. That is simply the reality of this tragic situation. 

Maybe, just maybe, things will get a little better next year. The victims will not be helped in this matter, they are out of luck. Life goes on. Life is not fair. Things are bleak and the sky is still very cloudy. At least try to find a superintendent who has been a building Principal and knows how to effectively work with the staff. That should at least be a bare minimum standard.

Discuss....

We know that members of the Marshall School Board frequent the blog. Let them know what you think of the final two candidates.

Bruce Burger - Morrice Area Schools Superintendent

Randy Davis - Athens Area Schools Superintendent

Dave Watson, Headmaster of Howe Military School was dropped from consideration. Thank you Mr. Watson for putting yourself out there during this process. We wish you much success in the future.