Letter: A better option for school board

Dear Editor:

A group of ultra-conservative Republicans has mounted a campaign to take over the Carlisle Area School Board. That turns this election into a battle for a partisan school board, which it hasn’t been in recent memory. The letters to the editor written by these candidates sound reasonable for the most part, but they use code words and phrases about “trendy philosophies,” “trendy social agendas,” the “ideologies of the day” and “sexual identity politics,” which they claim are being taught in our schools. Their message seems to be aligned with that of groups such as “Moms for Liberty,” which supports banning books, curtailing the teaching of accurate history regarding race relations, and discriminating against LGBT students, among other things. In other words, they’re bringing the culture wars to the school board. We don’t need that.

Fortunately, there’s a better option. A well-informed group called Citizens for Carlisle Schools (citizensforcarlisleschools.org) has adopted goals to put students first, respect parents and teachers, and unite the community. Those candidates are Paula Bussard, Bruce Clash, Joe Shane and Jon Tarrant. Joined by current board member Gerald Eby, these dedicated candidates will continue the policies that support our school system, which is held in high regard, is recognized as a community asset and is run very well in a nonpartisan fashion. All five candidates are cross-filed to appear on the Republican and Democratic ballots. I will be voting for Bussard, Clash, Shane, Tarrant and Eby on May 16. I hope you will, too.

Tom DeWall

Carlisle

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