Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Don't Stop Now

Let me begin by thanking everyone who supported my campaign for Superintendent of Schools. Conventional wisdom held that 51 votes would be enough to win the republican primary in Choctaw County. I got 58 votes. That’s 35% of my race, which was 4% and 8% higher than the 2nd and 3rd place finishers got in the democratic primary. Moreover, I heard time and time again that many voters concerned about our schools would have voted for me if I had run as a democrat, but they felt compelled to vote in several hotly contested democratic races. While I’m not foolish enough to believe there would have been enough democratic votes for me to have won as a democrat, I do feel I did pretty well for an "outsider."

What pleases me most is that more than 40 people voted for my ideas and positions. I doubt they voted for me because I’m an opinionated ex-yankee. Moreover, I asked my church members not to vote for me so that they could support candidates from my congregation who were running as democrats. Other than my congregation, I haven’t got much family in Choctaw County. Given those who said they’d have voted for me as a democrat, and the votes I did get, I believe there are a good many people in Choctaw County who want to see the kinds of changes I’ve been advocating. Changes such as recruiting widely for teachers and administrators, using stakeholder input to insure the best applicants are hired, putting an end to hiring less qualified people just because they know somebody, improving classroom instruction, empowering teachers and treating them as professionals, giving parents a bigger say in their kids education, etc.

If you’re one of those people who would have voted for me if I ran as a democrat, I would encourage you to vote for Donna Nail in the democratic runoff election. She has most consistently supported these views. I worked closely with Donna last year and I believe she will do her best to bring about these kinds of improvements. In addition, she is one of the most professional, dedicated educators I have ever worked with. Moreover, everyone else in the election is running on experience. I believe that experience as part of a failed system will just perpetuate our problems, not solve them..

In closing, let me say that I have been encouraged by the number of people who want to fix our schools. Let me assure you I will not give up the fight. For starters, I intend to keep this blog going in a revised form. I’m trying to find a blog site that will allow the public to add their own articles to keep the conversation going. I will edit my campaign articles to remove any partisan politics and repost my suggestions on the new site. I’ll also be changing the blog address to reflect that it will no longer be mine, but will belong to the people of Choctaw County who are committed to improving our schools.

Until next time, may God bless you and your children.
Bob Mamrak

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Teacher Empowerment

Note: This is an ad that ran on August 1st



ATTENTION TEACHERS
As we enter the last week of this campaign I would like to ask every teacher in Choctaw County to reflect upon the issues facing our schools and each candidate’s specific plan to address those issues before you decide who to vote for. Once you get in that booth it’s between you and your conscience. I know you care about our schools. I hope you care enough to find out what each candidate’s position is. You may find that most candidates don’t really have a position on anything of substance. One candidate’s primary position seems to be that he’ll “dress appropriately.” Another’s is that he “loves the children.” I can promise you that I also love our children. As far as dressing appropriately, I’ll continue wear whatever my wife lays out for me. Beyond that, however, I’ve also stated specifically, and in great detail what I see as the problems facing our schools and what I’d do to fix them. It’s all available for your consideration at http://bobmamrak.blogspot.com. Now, I’d like to address two more things.
TEACHER EMPOWERMENT
In my 20 years as a Choctaw County classroom teacher my morale experienced many high and low points. Most highs took place when everyone got out of my way and let me design and deliver quality, creative lessons that my kids enjoyed and learned from. The lows invariably came when an administrator treated me like a hired hand, ordering me to do this, that, or the other thing when my experience and training told me it was a waste of time (or worse yet, bad instructional practice). In the past few years our morale has often been challenged when we see inexperienced, less qualified personnel promoted because they were somebody’s friend or relative.
I promise you, as superintendent, I will put a stop to this nonsense. I pledge to empower teachers to be directly involved in hiring, curriculum, and instructional decisions. Furthermore, I will see to it that teachers no longer have to work the gate, ticket booths, etc. at extracurricular activities unless they volunteer and are paid for their time. Other districts have long since stopped this practice in order to treat their teachers as professionals and not hired hands. You may be unaware that the ticket sale money made at athletic (often thousands of dollars) and other events are part of the activity fund that an administrator can spend at his discretion. Districts that respect their teachers as professionals pay teachers or parents who have volunteered out of those gate receipts.
OPEN, TRANSPARENT DECISION MAKING
I also pledge to you that as superintendent I will keep nothing secret from teachers or parents. The week of March 12th through the 18th was National Sunshine Week in America. Sunshine Week’s name comes from the “sunshine laws” each state in our nation has enacted to insure that local and state government bodies keep their meetings and records open to the public. To kick the week off the Clarion Ledger ran a series of editorials, one of which said, “If you're a parent, you need to know the decisions and policies of school boards that affect your children's education. Concerned parents too often, however, are shut out of the decision-making process in Mississippi.”
Ironically, the same week the Choctaw Chronicle ran this headline on the front page: “School board meets behind locked doors.” The article stated that, “The board met for three hours in the county office while citizens tried to enter the meeting. The citizens were told that there was no meeting in progress. So the question remains why were the doors locked while a public meeting was being conducted?” Why indeed. While it is true that public bodies may go into “executive session” to discuss certain issues defined by Mississippi’s Open Meeting Act, the law enumerates specific procedures that must be followed before going into “executive sessions.” My concern is not just that the law seems to have been ignored in regard to the meeting in question, but as the Clarion Ledger pointed out, parents “need to know the decisions and policies of school boards that affect your children's education.”
Secrecy in our school district is not confined to meetings. This January our district received a report from the JBHM Education Group entitled, Organization and Performance Evaluation of Choctaw County Schools. This 51-page document reportedly cost taxpayers around $25,000. I’ve been told by parents who have requested a copy that none were available for them. What’s even more disturbing is that when copies of the report were distributed to school administrators seven pages had already been removed. According to the report’s Table of Contents those pages contain evaluations for each of our schools’ principals. Surely parents have a right to know what kind of job those entrusted with their children’s futures are doing. According to Mississippi’s Public Records Act taxpayers have a right to see that report. I don’t know about you, but if I can’t see the whole report I’d like my share of the $25,000 back.
As superintendent I will never conceal information or a decision making process that pertains to the running of our schools. If you are supporting other candidates, ask them if they are willing to pledge the same. If they’re not, I hope you’ll have the good sense to look for another candidate. It is time for the public to take back our public schools. Progress requires change. Vote for Bob Mamrak.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

It's Time for Solutions

Note: This is another ad than ran on August 1st

As we enter the last week before the election we hope that all voters are aware of the serious nature of the superintendent’s election before us. Our county schools operate on an annual budget of around 16 million dollars per year. That’s a lot of tax dollars that have come out of our pockets. That’s a lot of meat and potatos that will never make it onto our families plates. I hope you’ll all be concerned you’re getting your money’s worth.
Condider that ast year Choctaw County’s schools ranked somewhere in the middle of Mississippi’s schools. Mississippi’s schools rank #48 of America’s schools. America’s schools rank pretty low down the ladder of the industrial nations of the world’s schools. Looking at those facts, we have to believe we can do a lot better by our kids.
The first step is to get all of us, the parents and grandparents of our kids to care enough about our schools to cast informed votes in the superintendent’s election. Find out what each candidate says he or she will do as superintendent. If a candidate has no specific ideas to improve our schools, there’s very little chance he will improve them. If a candidate is running on the great job he did as an administrator in our schools, why aren’t our schools in better shape than they are now?
Putting up the most yard signs and handing out the most cards are not part of the superintendent of school’s job description. Being able to identify problems in our schools and fix them is. Saying, “I love our kids, the children are the future, and our kids deserve the best,” is not enough. Every candidate feels this way, but those positive feelings aren’t enough to fix our schools. Every voter owes it to the children of Choctaw County to elect the superintendent who has the courage to identify the problems in our schools and the knowledge to fix them.
Please take the time to find out what the candidates’ ideas are for fixing our schools. You may find out your favorite hasn’t got any idea. You can find out very specifically what Bob Mamrak plans to do at http://bobmamrak.blogspot .com. If you prefer, call him at 285-3633 and he’ll explain his ideas over the phone or send them to you in writing. We’re convinced that if you truly want a superintendent who0 can improve our schools you’ll vote for Bob Mamrak.
Paid for by the committee to elect Bob Mamrak.