I was recently informed about the shocking details of the Student Government (STUGO) election at Wildfire Elementary, where my children have attended. Imagine your child decided to run for STUGO and received 59.8% of the student vote and the runner-up received 30.4%. What an accomplishment, right? By all accounts, a landslide victory!
Student A Votes: 110 of 184 = 59.8%
Student B Votes: 56 of 184 = 30.4%
Well, not so fast... You see, Wildfire allows staff to vote in Student Government elections, and 9 of the 14 staff votes voted for the runner-up. Those 9 staff members overruled the will of the 184 students and selected the runner-up to be the STUGO President. You might wonder, like me, how could this happen? Not only does Wildfire allow staff to vote, but their votes are weighted far greater than a student. Instead of adding their votes to the student vote, the staff vote received a 50% weight, dropping the top student vote-getter from 59.8% to 40.6%. Essentially making the student vote meaningless.
Staff Votes for Student A: 3 of 14 = 21.4%
Staff Votes for Student B: 9 of 14 = 64.3%
Student A total voting percentage is 40.6%
Student B total voting percentage is 47.35%
Mathematically, Wildfire's corrupt elections would allow staff to overturn a student government candidate that received up to 99% of the student vote.
If that wasn't bad enough, the runner-up is the child of the principal's administrative assistant. I spoke to the principal and asked him if his administrative assistant voted in the STUGO election, he said he wasn't sure, but he thinks she did. This is an obvious issue of conflict of interest.
Even worse, the student that won the student vote was told to keep quiet about the election results.
It is disappointing that the school allowed the staff to vote in the student government election. Perhaps more disappointing, is that the principal didn't step in to make this situation right. Situations like this corrupt Wildfire STUGO election continue to erode trust in the community.
Oligarchy is defined as a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.
Sadly, this story doesn't really surprise me. I have heard many stories about how differing voices of teachers, parents, PTO participants and those looking to serve in the United Parent Council (UPC) are silenced and ostracized. The scales are tipped to protect the status quo oligarchy that has been failing our students.
District committees that influence important decisions in the district, like school closures and curriculum are composed of district union reps, administrative personnel and questionably selected UPC reps. Objective voices and the public have long been shut out of these important committees and their meetings.
I am running for the School Board to bring positive change to PVSchools. I will rebalance the scales of justice and continue to shine a light on corruption and root it out.
In the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
In order to make meaningful positive change, please vote for these 3 candidates for school board.
Eddy JACKSON
Nichole KLOOTWYK
Susan WINDER
Eddy Jackson
Candidate for Paradise Valley School Board
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