Thoughts, Ideas, Passion. (Warning: Long!) It has been (and will continue to be) an amazing experience to actively participate in the doing of democracy. I believe one of the things that makes our country great is the peaceful passing of the torch from one generation of leaders to another. Government by the people is the foundation of our way of life. While we count votes in one evening from our couches and back yards we are experiencing a marvel that is uniquely American. By participating sincerely and diligently in our own government we honor the sacrifices of the veterans who have protected our way of life over the years, and we honor the legacy created by our founding fathers over 200 years ago. I would like to make known the sense of pride I feel in our community for our collective commitment to democracy, the turnout was good and the interest level was high. I would also like to express my appreciation to my opponent Mr. Schooler and to most of the other school board candidates for running clean campaigns that were a positive reflection on our parish and its people. I could not be any more optimistic as we look forward to the next few years in Calcasieu Parish. We have amazing opportunities along with great challenges. Concerning those challenges I would like to mention a few goals I have looking forward. I dont mean this to be an exhaustive list by any means, just a few specific topics. As always I would like to encourage input from you all on what the issues are and what all the angles affecting those issues are. Here is my list. These will sound familiar if you have been following my campaign. Again, this is in no way an exhaustive list. 1) Teacher Morale. Our teachers are an extremely valuable and irreplaceable asset to our parish. It should be clear to them that the people around them feel that way, meaning their supervisors, the parents of their students, and their school board member. They need to know that we will listen to them. Its no secret we have a shortage of good teachers, the first step towards a remedy for that situation is to ensure that the ones we do have are staying with us. This really applies to all employees of the CPSB, bus drivers are another good example. 2) Facilities Our community is growing. Our schools must grow with it. Additional charters will be the default answer if our school board does not stand up and make some good decisions. We are going to have to look at all the options for funding improvements to our existing facilities as well as building new facilities. This will include taxation, there is no way around it. If our new board can re-establish some confidence in the system I believe the people and businesses of the parish will be more than willing to support the school system with their tax dollars. We are also going to have to make some tough decisions to address crowding issues in South Lake Charles schools, and out-of-zone transfer policies. I dont have all the information or all the answers to this problem, but I promise I will not be afraid to address it directly. 3) Common Core Navigating this quagmire will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge facing this new board. Common Core is a significant problem for our parish and our state. Eureka Math and Core Knowledge have been inserted into our schools with no input from parents, and questionable if any input from teachers. That has caused a wound to our system that we must find a way to heal. I see no way to begin healing while the damage is still being done, so we must immediately act to re-start a curriculum selection process that will include teachers and parents. We have a good starting point already written in the CPSB policy manual and we should begin with that. On the state level, we must be a united parish that will fight for solutions and use the combined influence of 200,000 voices to enact real change. Our board needs to stop the bickering locally, and establish itself as a force that will act decisively to protect the best interests of our children first, and align with state and federal policymakers second. I believe it is now evident that blindly doing what John White says is not an acceptable course of action according to we the people of Calcasieu Parish. We must make our voices heard at the state level by vocally supporting legislators who defend our constitutionally protected right to local autonomy, and by being active at BESE meetings in whatever way we can find. ** Coalition Building ** In order to accomplish these goals we have to fundamentally change the way we work as a board. As representatives of different districts it is our responsibility to bring the unique views of the people of those districts to the board, so that we might consider all angles when evaluating a course of action. It is not our responsibility to battle, to the detriment of the parish, for every inch of ground for our district. I will not make it my mission to battle anything to the last breath, what I will make my mission is to listen to parents, listen to teachers, listen to experts, listen to my fellow board members, and then with all that information try to determine the best path for the future of the children of our parish. That is what we are lacking, a unifying force to say here is the common path, we can all get behind this, lets start taking steps now so that we can get where we want to be tomorrow. That is what I call coalition building and that is what will allow us to accomplish these goals I have lined out, and the many more that will present themselves over the next 4 years. Thank you all for allowing me to represent you as a member of the Calcasieu Parish School Board. I will do my very best to serve with integrity and wisdom, and I will give every ounce of energy I have for the Parish, State, and Country of which I am so proud. This will be my final campaign address to you. This Facebook page will now become the best source for information to keep you plugged in to my career as an official politician! I am Eric Tarver and I am your school board representative!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:04:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015