Frequently Asked
Questions


What other political aspirations do you have besides the school board?

None. Notta. Zero. Zilch.


I am not a politician. What you see is what you get with me. I have no desire to run for any public office other than the school board.

And in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm pretty sure my wife would never support a run for any other office anyway.




Why do you want to run for the school board?

Because I think I can add value and help ensure that our community is able to keep our schools strong.


Since my son first started in kindergarten I have been involved with the schools, whether it be volunteering at the school, being a member of the PTO board, being on the School Improvement council, or most recently serving as a Co-Chair of the successful "Keep Our Schools Strong" Bond Referenum Committee.

I have met many great people along the way, and learned a lot. Fellow citizens, other parents, teachers, administrators, board members, county council members, city & town council members, and many more great people have helped form my views on our school district. I am fortunate to call most of them friends now.

My children have attended elementary school in one of the most diverse and financially challenged areas of our district, as well as one of the most affluent areas of our district.

Despite being the number one district in the state, we have many challenges. In order to maintain the quality we have today we are going to have to change and adapt as a district. Both our massive growth and the significant financial challenges we have will necessitate changing and adapting just to maintain the quality we have today. But I think we can do even better.

I don't have all the answers. I don't even have all the right questions. But the great thing is that's not what is going to make a great board member for our school district.

I have the willingness and ability to learn, the ability to debate and challenge, the ability to listen to other viewpoints, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to understand that a group of minds working together to find solutions is far greater than one mind.

That's why I want to run for the school board, and why I think you should vote for me.

Can you tell me your position on arming teachers?

I have yet to meet an educator who thinks this is a good idea.

Gun ownership rights is understandably one of the most polarizing issues in our political arena. But in my view the issue of arming teachers is about student safety, not our second amendment. Over the past year I have discussed this topic with no less than 20 professional educators from across the state and with varying political backgrounds. None of them thought arming teachers was a good idea.

I am a firm believer in the theory that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But I have to put some common sense clarifications on "good guy with a gun." Most importantly, I believe in order to do more good than bad, it must be a properly trained individual, particularly if we are counting on them to protect a large number of people.

I have many good friends who are educators, and many good friends in law enforcement. To be a great educator requires an immense amount of dedication, theoretical background, constant continuing education, and passion for making our world a better place. To be a great law enforcement officer it requires all of those same qualities.

Being a teacher and a law enforcement officer are perhaps two of the most challenging professions in our society today. My grandmother used to tell me that respect is earned, not given. In my view anyone who choses to go into one of those professions has instantly earned my respect. The idea that we would ask someone to effectively perform both of those positions I believe is disrespectful to each of them. Regardless of the many logistical concerns around a teacher carrying a gun, I don't think it is reasonable to ask an individual to ensure they are doing what it takes to continue to be a great educator while also doing what it takes to be properly trained to operate in a stressful situation with a gun.

The core of my belief in the role of a school board member is that we should challenge our administration to ensure all options have been considered and then support their recommendation on how we should proceed. This, however, is an issue that I do not believe there is a reasonable discussion or argument that could make me support arming our educators. To be honest I'm a bit concerned with having private security guards in some of our schools as opposed to government based law enforcement officers.

I would however support a district request to increase the number of School Resource Officers in our schools, and I think we should continue to work with our local governments to find creative ways to increase this presence in our schools. While it isn't cheap, having two or more law enforcement officers in every school would be a significant deterent as well as a much more effective way of providing a safe, worry free environment for both our students as well as our teachers, administrators, and staff.
For more information, email:
andrew@markners.com