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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."