In 2022 I ran for school board in my hometown. I had a campaign website at https://ernest4calschools.org/ (no longer active). Here is an archive of my posts to the blog on that site.
Posts
The conclusion
The voters of the Caledonia Community Schools district have chosen Jennifer Nichols, Tim Morris, and John Brandow as trustees for the district’s board of education. Mary Anne Timmer, Eric VanGessel, and I…
Why is GLEP promoting your opponents?
Always read the fine print on advertisements for candidates. Recent mailings for candidates John Brandow, Tim Morris, and Jennifer Nichols are paid for by the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP). GLEP calls…
Are you a liberal or a conservative?
Liberal or conservative? Can I buy an “and” to replace that “or”? The most tiresome and discouraging thing about the current political mess in the USA is that we are supposedly compelled…
My answers to vote411 / mlive
The League of Women Voters invited all candidates to provide answers to several questions. Mlive included these answers in an online article that was posted yesterday. At vote411.org, voters can enter their…
Info on all the Cal candidates
Sources of information on all the candidates for school board in the Caledonia Community Schools district in Michigan for November 8, 2022
Do you support parental rights?
Of course I believe in parental rights. But I see a couple of big problems in how this phrase is being warped and weaponized. There are more positive and helpful ways of…
Why do you oppose vouchers?
I am hearing some confusion in current local discussion of vouchers (diversion to private alternatives of revenues meant to support public education). I have drafted thirty theses to try to find out…
The real questions: special education
Here’s why increasing our support for special education needs to be a high priority for Caledonia Community Schools.
What are your thoughts on the REAL questions?
Here’s the biggest problem for me personally in this campaign: how much time to spend on the real concerns, and how much time to spend countering distractions and disinformation? I think it’s…
What do you mean when you say someone is “speaking in code”?
Some critics of our schools, including some candidates for school board, speak in code. Speaking in code is an evasion and a subversion. It is an evasion in that people do it…
How does our election relate to what’s going on elsewhere?
The contest is not between conservatives and liberals. It is between people who think school board is a place for jumping in with a political agenda to try to take over and…
Why did the Caledonia Education Association endorse you?
Why did the CEA endorse you, Eric, and Mary Anne? The CEA gives its own reason in its own announcement: they regard us as pro–public education candidates. They are right. We are.…
What is your position on the swimming pool?
Someone writes: Can you tell me the plans for the pool in the community? And your support or nonsupport for this? Thanks for writing. The Community Center (with pool) is currently scheduled…
Why don’t you have more signs up?
Anyone driving around Caledonia will see many signs for Brandow, Morris, and Nichols. You’ll see far fewer signs for VanGessel, Ernest, and Timmer. Some people speak to us with some concern about…
What is your position on vocational-technical education?
Schools should train all students for citizenship. Some for further academic training. And some for further vocational and technical training. We need shop class.
Isn’t “culturally responsive learning” just code for CRT?
Once again bogus complaints about CRT in Caledonia schools are being used to get votes. So here’s one more explanation.
What should our schools teach about American history?
Schools should form good citizens, and forming good citizens includes fostering patriotism. You form patriots by letting students see all that has been done and form their own judgments about what was…
What’s most important in the school-board election?
Let Caledonia be a place where students learn not only how to make a living or go to college but also, especially, how to uphold life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, justice, the…
Why is patience necessary for a school board trustee?
I have been writing about the values listed in lank 6 of my platform. Today the fourth: patience. An older word for patience is longsuffering. It’s closely related to enduring, or persevering.…
Are you just going to agree with the superintendent and other board members all the time?
Agreement is not a presupposition; it is a goal. Disagreement is not a negative unless it is the manifestation of entrenched hostility. When it is responsible and constructive, it should be a…
My answers to the CEA questions
The Caledonia Education Association invited candidates for trustee on the board of education to appear in a video interview to respond to questions. They sent us their questions ahead of time so…
Should we elect school board members who will protect Christianity?
Why the question about religion? Last Sunday and this Sunday, I am setting Sunday as a day to talk about how Christianity relates to the upcoming school board election. This is because…
What about school safety?
School safety is a serious concern these days because of the shocking school shootings that are too often in the news. A Wiki scorecard lists 68 incidents in the US in the…
How does Christianity relate to school board?
I am, among other things, a Christian theologian. How do I think my Christian faith should affect what I do as a school-board trustee? You have a right to know. I’m writing…
Why do I want to focus on the local?
It’s good to pay attention to what’s going on around the world and around the nation, but praying and donating to good orgs and voting in national elections are about the only…
What are history teachers up to?
History teachers help students come to terms with our nation’s history. This is vitally important work. An interactive article from the New York Times opens a window into the classrooms of several…
Platform (for the 2022 school board election)
1. We must give our young people the best possible Education. Education is how we pass on knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next and equip them to surpass…
Why speak up?
[Originally published on my school-board campaign blog.] I am running for school board because I feel a responsibility to speak up. This will take some explaining, including a walk down memory lane, if…
Why speak up?
I am running for school board because I feel a responsibility to speak up. This will take some explaining, including a walk down memory lane, if you will indulge me, but I…
What is your position on masking?
What is my position on masking? As a school board candidate: I do not have a position on masking. Decisions about whether and when kids and teachers are asked to wear masks…
How can I learn about CRT?
Two ways of learning about CRT.
Why are you running for school board?
Why am I running for school board? What do I think a school board trustee is supposed to do? Here is one of my answers to this question: a school board trustee…
Are the new Caledonia textbooks full of CRT?
One hears a lot these days about critical race theory (CRT) being taught in public schools. Some people have said that the new social studies curriculum just approved at tonight’s school board…
Vote V-E-T!
THE V-E-T CANDIDATES Two other candidates and I have found that, although we have differing political views, we have important commitments in common. (See our shared platform below.) We will be voting…
Defend institutions
OK, you want to know why I’m running for school board? I’m not lacking things to do with my time. I am not bored. My day job in academic book publishing is…
Verba Sparsa 