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Tim Kinkeade wrote:
> I am interested
in the agenda of my opponent in Tuesday's
> school board election.
Unfortunately that agenda has yet to
> be made clear. I encourage my
opponent to make his positions
> clear on the issues we face, including
configuration,
> facilities, budgetary matters and erosion of
enrollment.
This from today's LM Tribune. For
copyright reasons, I'm only using a few excerpts. The entire
article can be found in today's paper. This is Beaucamp's stated
agenda:
[Kinkeade] wants to improve communication between the district and
the community and "begin dialoguing on the issue of eroding
enrollment."
[Beauchamp] says the exodus from the public schools is no
mystery and accuses his opponent of insipid "Dilbertisms" that make no
sense.
An example:
"We need to know why our district has suffered
loss of students and we need to begin a discussion on how to stabilize and
rebuild the enrollment," says Kinkeade, owner of Advantage America Mortgage Co.,
in a news release.
"I'm surprised there isn't already a task force out
there charged with, 'Where are they going?' ... and how can we market ourselves
as a positive educational experience for all children?"
That's the kind
of statement, says Beauchamp, that shows his opponent is big on platitudes but
not fit to represent the community on the school board.
"I'm not making a
mockery of the system," Beauchamp says, "but I certainly am thinking this is a
really funny debate.
"I can't believe that Tim would just open himself up
like that saying we need to know where our students are. ... If they're
(Kinkeade and the school board) honest with themselves they know where the
students are -- they're in other schools!"
...
Kinkeade, who is active on a number of
community committees and task forces, says he is convinced the quality of
education at Moscow is top-rate, proven by students' grades and test
scores.
...
Beauchamp, on the other hand, says
public schools have a monopoly and an unfair advantage over private schools that
must fund themselves without tax dollars.
"And yet (public school)
population is declining and enrollment in these other schools is
increasing.
"There are lots of different reasons, but it's mainly because
of the quality of education."
If he were elected to the school board,
Beauchamp says, he would begin by asking parents why they have taken their
children out of public schools.
"I'd like to find out why these other
schools are flourishing so well and why people are going to them.
"There
are lots of other services offered to the world that are market-driven in a
market-driven society. But even when the product is free (as in public
education), people aren't going to it.
"On the other hand, people are
going to Logos (a private Christian school in Moscow) even if they have to pay
for it."