Democratic School Board Mailing

Like many others, I recently received another mailing from the Radnor Democrats. Being somewhat familiar with the issues, I continue to be disappointed by the degree to which issues are distorted and misrepresented in these mailings. 

Under the heading “leaders for Radnor Excellence”, the school board candidates profess to support fiscal discipline. I have written many times about this but regardless of your position on Full Day Kindergarten, that decision making process remains a stark example of poor governance and a lack of fiscal discipline. No rationale to justify the expense has ever been provided by any of these candidates.   

The candidates also profess to be in favor of transparency but a very recent example would suggest this is also not the case. At the most recent board meeting, just before Dr. Kelly was introduced as the new superintendent, I suggested that it would be helpful to have his resume and employment contract so that taxpayers could develop their own informed positions on his candidacy. This is just basic stuff. Yet, after requesting this information, board members Armstrong and Solomon sat quietly, neither offering an explanation nor requesting the material be made available.

An isolated incident? Not at all. This has been a consistent pattern with both board members for as long as I have been focused on these issues. 

And sadly, this is a pattern in other areas as well. Whether it relates to fiscal issues, student achievement, seeking input from the public, transparency or a documented curriculum, there is a very significant gap between what Board members Armstrong and Solomon say they have done and what they are actually doing. 

Radnor taxpayers have every reason to expect more than this. I and my fellow candidates (Susan Michaelson, Jim Link and Dave Falcone) will be writing and speaking more on each of these other issues in the months to come.