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
