Local decision making.  Those would be the three words I would use to sum up the philosophy behind the platform for my campaign for the District 5 school board seat. 

I am opposed to Common Core because its four parts together – nationalized standards, aligned curriculum, high-stakes testing and data mining – are the antithesis of local decision making.  Common Core was put in place by the state and school board without having had an honest-to-goodness public hearing. My opponent in this campaign has stated it is too late to stop Common Core as that “train has already left the station.” I disagree that it is too late.  Fortunately our Florida Legislature and several states which have opted out of Common Core agree that it is certainly not too late to derail this coming train wreck.  This past session the legislature passed a bill giving local school districts more curriculum control and another to limit personal information that can be “mined” from students. More needs to be done, but our local school board working with our state board and legislature–along with a sustained public outcry–can make a difference for the sake of our children’s education. Our local state representatives and our school board need to be on the same page in opposing Common Core. 

I am in favor of increased financial transparency.  One of the best examples of local decision making was the cooperative effort of local business groups, foundations and the school system in having an in-depth analysis made of our school system in 2012.  This MGT Efficiency and Effectiveness Review gave our school district overall very high marks. However, there were still some recommendations made for improvement. One recommendation was for “a budget document that provides information readily understood by the public.” We parents and residents of Sarasota County are the “stock holders,” so to speak, of the largest employer in the county with 4,800 employees serving 41,000 students in 50 schools with an over-$700-million dollar budget.  As such, the public deserves better clarity about the finances.  The better the public understands the finances, the better decisions we can make about how our money is to be spent and what to expect of our school board in overseeing it.

Visit my website at www.randymclendon.net to find out more about Common Core.  I ask you to please consider these issues and vote for me on August 26.

Randy McLendon is a candidate for Sarasota County School Board District 5