Has there been a huge turnover of teachers and administrators at the Amarillo Independent School District? Are our children failing to achieve? Do buildings need constant repair?
No on all counts. The 30,000-student AISD is running well. The incumbent trustees seeking election should return to the job.
AISD voters will choose from six candidates running for four full terms on the board of trustees. Incumbent Anette Carlisle is running unopposed for an unexpired term.
Linda Pitner is the current president of the AISD board; James Allen is the longest-serving trustee among those running for these full terms on the board; and Mary Faulkner is seeking election to her first full term, along with John Ben Blanchard, the board's newest member.
Pitner has long been involved with education. She currently manages KACV-TV, the Amarillo College public television station, and has worked tirelessly with Panhandle Twenty/20 to address the district's changing demographic patterns.
Allen has a lengthy history of involvement at the community and neighborhood level and has earned his spurs serving on the board.
Faulkner's background, in her words, as the daughter of a "farmhand and a housewife" provides her with a unique perspective on the board that gives her a keen understanding of the value of a good education.
Blanchard, a managing partner of a large Amarillo law firm, has a lengthy history of civic involvement that will serve the community well as he continues his service on the AISD board.
All four candidates are worthy representatives for Amarillo's public school system.
Voters will get to cast their ballots in a "cumulative voting" plan, which allows them to cast more than one vote for a candidate, as long as the total number of votes doesn't exceed four - the number of seats being contested.
But when the votes are counted, AISD residents should hope the incumbents finish in the top four among the vote-getters.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.