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 got fewer votes. (But thank you to the thousands who did vote for us!) So the new school board will consist of Jennifer,Continue reading “The conclusion”
Category Archives: Ernest for Caledonia Community Schools 2022
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 itself a “a bi-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization supporting quality choices in public education.” In fact it is a highly partisan, billionaire-funded lobbying groupContinue reading “Why is GLEP promoting your opponents?”
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 to choose between two polar opposites in answer to every question. No thanks. One of the greatest minds in the Western tradition isContinue reading “Are you a liberal or a conservative?”
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 address and find candidates who will be on their ballot. Here are the answers that I have provided.
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 talking about the roles of parents and reachers in our kids’ education.
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 where we disagree. Let me know what you think.
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 necessary to do both, but a couple of people have suggested to me, in different ways, that I’m spending too much time onContinue reading “What are your thoughts on the REAL questions?”
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 to avoid taking responsibility for that they are saying. It is a subversion because it undermines the usefulness of language.
Verba Sparsa 