Thursday, December 10, 2009

WHO SHOULD FILL THE BOARD VACANCY?

I wish I had the answer to that question. I don't feel like there is enough information about the applicants and what their views on the major issues are. Only Mr. Lowenstein gave any indication of where he stood on the issues. I hope the board plans to interview these candidates to obtain more information. I am torn on applicants who are not interested in running for a seat on the board. I just can't decide if that is a plus or a minus. I am pleased that most of the applicants seem to genuinely care about the students and aren't trotting out the "no taxes" mantra. From what has been presented so far, I think any one of the candidates would be a more positive force on the board than some previous or current members.

So what do you think?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is this?
Can you share any insight on the 5 volunteers for the Board vacancy?

Teresa Thiel said...

Sorry about that /////// I've removed it, i didn't realize it had turned into a post---I was distracted and accidentally hit the "/" key and somehow posted it. Sorry---I changed it to my post. I really don't have insight on any of the applicants, I don't know any of the and don't know anything about where they stand on the major issues they will face (except Mr. Lowenstein's support for small class sizes and SAGE, which I'm sure everyone knows I support. So I guess for that reason Mr Lowenstein tops my list at the moment.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Lowenstein supports small classes but doesn't offer a position regarding school closings. (as far as I've read or heard) You and I both know that while it is important to keep tabs on class sizes it is equally important to create schools which function effectively, optimally with more than 2 classrooms at each grade level. Why he doesn't acknowledge that is questionable.

Further, it is unusual that we'd have 3 university employees on the board should Mr. Lowenstein win a seat.

Teresa Thiel said...

I had the same concerns you did regarding school closings so I asked Mr. Lowenstein some questions on his blog --- if you click his name on the post he has on this blog it will take you to his blog. I am pleased that he acknowledged my questions, I am still concerned about the whole "neighborhood schools" issue, but so far from what I have heard about who is running, there doesn't appear there will be any candidates who aren't in favor of "neighborhood schools" whatever that means exactly --
I believe the deadline for turning in papers for the school board is Jan. 5th. Thus far I have heard that Mr. Lowenstein, Mr. Becker, Mr. Dedow and Mr. Daggett.

As for your comment about 3 University Employees on the board, Mr. Lemberger and Mr. Lowenstein would be two, who would be the third? Mrs. Bowen is not running for the board. The remaining board members: Schneider, McDermott, Wiedenhoeft, and Becker are not University employees to my knowledge.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I must be misremembering Ms. Bowen's term. Is it up next year?

Teresa Thiel said...

There are three seats for the board in this election (April 6 2010):

Mr. Becker's - he is running again

Mrs. Bowen's - she is NOT running

Mrs. Monte's - this seat will be filled by the candidate who comes in third and they will serve for only 2 years - the first and second place finishers will serve for 3 years.

Anonymous said...

I never thought I'd vote for John Daggett but the pickings are looking slim.

;)

Teresa Thiel said...

I couldn't bring myself to vote for the man but if he were to get elected then that is what this community deserves... I'll be looking to move to a different community should that happen because I don't want to live in a community that values education so little as to elect someone who knows nothing about our district and can't string two sentences together that make sense.

Anonymous said...

Teresa would you please list the candidates for the 3 positions.
There is Becker, Lowenstein, and Daggett. Do we have a 4th option?

Teresa Thiel said...

According to the Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 Northwestern the candidates for school board are:

Dan Becker - incumbent

Steve Dedow, former president of the Winnebago County Labor Council

Steve Eliasen, a self-employed advertising photographer

Karl Loewenstein, an associate history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

John Daggett - Oshkosh resident

There is some information on Dedow, Lowenstein and Eliasen at the northwestern site (since all 3 applied to fill Ms. Monte's seat)- sorry I don't know how to make it a link, you'll have to cut and paste (I also don't know how long the information will be available):

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912190437

Stephen Dedow said...

Hello, I am Stephen Dedow and I too am running for the School Board.

The short version of why I am running: The current Board (in my opinion) has been floundering for the past few years due to lack of leadership and direction, the biggest waste of money for the tax payers is lack of data collection prior to making decisions on long term planning, the current long term plan is seriously flawed, I am for SAGE programs and neighborhood schools, energy conservation programs, and alternative costs saving ideas.

I am a father of 3 and the former president of the Winnebago County Labor Council.

I have additional information about the reasons that I am running on a facebook page at the present.

S. Dedow

if you have questions: stephendedow@gmail.com