School Board Candidates Answer PFLAG Questions

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974772333292976719.post-27897066924561016742008-03-12T12:56:00.006-05:002008-03-13T16:36:05.714-05:00School Board Candidates Answer PFLAG QuestionsPFLAG of the Greater Oshkosh Area, Inc. has released the answers to the questions it gave school board candidates. There are no real surprises other than Ben Schneider's open homophobia and his obvious lack of language skills. I'm not Grammar Girl, but a quick glance at Schneider's page of short, confusing answers to difficult questions showed at least 8 punctuation and grammar mistakes. I wish he'd stop reminding people that he's the product of the Oshkosh school system; he's making teachers look bad and scaring parents. Is it really too much to ask that a school board candidate be able to write better than a fourth grader? Or, despite his personal opinions about LGBT issues, that he would be minimally diplomatic about student organizations in public schools? In one of the questions, PFLAG asked, "Federal law establishes the right for students to form GSAs in schools. Do you know if there are any GSAs in the district? Have any students attempted to form a GSA? If yes, what happened? What was/is your position?" John Lemberger responded that he knows there are no GSAs in any of the Oshkosh High Schools, but he is aware of a "community-wide, grass-roots GSA" and he would support efforts to form a GSA in the district. Tom McDermott reported that he couldn't find a GSA on the high school websites and thinks that's either because the kids aren't interested or "that the students who might feel the need for such an organization may feel intimidated have not come forward." Michelle Monte said that she heard "Superintendent Heilmann claims to have founded such a group in the high schools. I do not know if that is true." She adds that she would "have no problem with a GSA in our high schools" if they follow school district procedures for student groups. All three gave thoughtful answers to the question. Ok, Monte should have probably known that Heilmann can't start a GSA because he's not a student and McDermott shouldn't have had to look on the web to see if there's a GSA, but at least they put some effort into it. Here's Ben Schneider's entire answer as written: "Yes, I am. My position is; it is something I don't personally agree with." Let's review. The questions were; "Do you know if there are any GSAs in the district? Have any students attempted to form a GSA? If yes, what happened? What was/is your position?" "Yes I am." What? Huh? Also, what does not "agreeing" with the formation of a GSA mean exactly? Would he try to prevent the establishment of a GSA? Would he violate the federal Equal Access Act? Someday, hopefully soon, our high schools are probably going to have GSAs because arrogantly ignorant people like Schneider make them necessary. He's going to have to make a decision, if re-elected, about whether he's going to put the school district at risk for potential legal liability or if he's going to put his religious beliefs aside in order to obey the law. Oddly enough, the Equal Access Act was the result of intensive lobbying by religious groups who wanted to make sure that Christian students could form clubs in schools. I'm assuming those are groups with whom Schneider would personally agree. From my review, it doesn't seem that any school board candidate has a realistic grasp on the issues facing LGBTQ students or staff members in Oshkosh schools. Granted, it's difficult to estimate commitment to diversity based on a few questions from PFLAG and I understand that candidates have not heard the complaints from students that I have heard. John Lemberger seems, to me, to have the best handle on the issues and I was somewhat relieved to read some of Michelle Monte's responses considering she has aligned herself with Schneider. Tom McDermott honestly admits that he should be better educated about PFLAG concerns and I think that's a great start. Ben Schneider? Perhaps he would be better suited for a position on a parochial school board and a good candidate for a refresher course in grammar, punctuation, and comprehensive reading skills. The candidates' complete answers to PFLAG can be found here:<a href="http://www.oshkoshsofa.org/school_board_candidates_answer_pflag">http://www.oshkoshsofa.org/school_board_candidates_answer_pflag</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6974772333292976719-2789706692456101674?l=www.mainstreetoshkosh.com'/></div>Kay Springstrohnoreply@blogger.com36