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Warning, this is an old site and really uncool
Warning, this is an old site and really uncool
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This site is a historical artifact in the new medium of the Internet. I am sure you came here through your own excavation. Enjoy learning about my run in 05.
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I want to bring reform to the Toledo Public School Board. I will implement my ABC plan to improve TPS.
A-Stands for Accountability
I will bring financial and community accountability back to the Toledo Public School (TPS) System.
B-Stands for Better Schools
I will make TPS more competitive with charter schools and other districts. TPS needs to compete, not complain.
C-Stands for Community
I will bring the community back into schools, not use them only when they are needed.
For more information about me and my campaign, visit the "About" link on the right.
Do not forget, I need your help. Volunteer or donate to my campaign, because Toledo cannot wait for reform to occur on its own.
For archived statements, see "News by topic" link on the left
It is still not late to donate. Click the button on the lower left hand corner of the screen and donate NOW. Your support will help bring the change needed to the Toledo Public Schools. |
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What is this site?
I don't want to create a blog, yet, I do want a place to centralize what I do at the district. As you have noticed, I am adding items about my TPS efforts, because I don't know about keeping it as an election site or not. |
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Christopher Myers ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Toledo Public School Board in November as a "Three for Change" candidate. The financially-strapped board could vote to give Sanders a contract buyout costing taxpayers at least $50,000. "They are going to have to answer to the taxpayers why all of a sudden they have money now," said Myers.
I cannot find the original WTOL article, here is the archive of it (press read more if you are reading this from the home page). Please forward me the WTOL link if you have it.
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Posted by chris_myers on Thursday, August 17 @ 00:38:55 EDT (302 reads)
(Read More... | 3694 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Only two elected, but 3 for Change still hopeful
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Toledo Board of Education members-elect Darlene Fisher and Robert Torres said they believe voters fell one candidate short of a mandate.
"With a five-member board, had all three of us been elected, we would have had the majority to lead the direction of change," Fisher said. "That was really the selling point."
Both Democrats, Torres captured 25,246 votes, while Fisher won 24,709 votes. The third candidate, Republican Christopher Myers, finished fifth with 15,163 votes. The 3 for Change candidates shared common platforms as well as resources in their mutual support. They share the opinion that, perhaps, voters missed the message they tried to convey.
Fisher said the people she talked to during the campaign showed excitement over the idea, realizing the three candidates "were real people wanting real change." The results told a different story, possibly because of the political divide between Democrats and Republicans. The concept of 3 for Change ignored party lines, which appeared to draw some criticism from their respective camps.
Read the entire article at the Toledo Free Press at: Here
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I have continued my education discussions at http://www.toledotalk.com . Why? Because it is a neutral forum. If I continue to discuss things here, people may say it is biased. I can answer questions directly and see what people are saying. I may post one or two things here or there, or update my activites with the district, so feel free to stop by. Please enjoy and browse around.
It is now a historical artifact in the vast spance of the Internet.
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I posted this on ToledoTalk.com this morning:
WTOL is now reporting 94% on the school board race. I am 10k below the other two. It appears straight ticket voting was the way things went. Since I was not on the official D ticket, I did not get the votes. The school board will not doubt have some interesting dynamics now. There will be 3 groups, Sykes & Barnett, Torres & Fisher, and Steel. There will need to be more consensus, which won't be a bad thing. While I would have preferred to be the third person, if I did not get it, I personally would prefer Thomas to get on, he is a really nice person. I believe he listened to Sykes too much, and that really hurt his campaign. He was nowhere on the campaign trail and the election history is littered with appointments that took the campaign trail for granted. I think Sykes told Thomas you don't need to work for it, and Sykes put his foot in his mouth...again. I went through the interview process for appointment and it was clear the board wanted someone that would tow the line, so Thomas was this person. I wanted to thank all of you that voted for me. I did work hard, stood up on the issues, but did not come up on the winning side. I am disappointed in my showing, but hey this is what elections are about. 2 out of 3 is not bad.
Thank You
Some people I need to thank (forgive me if I spelled your name wrong):
Amanda Ashbaugh - Tremendous Help
Tyrone Sturdivant
Steven Flagg, Bob Sopher, Bob Brundage, Twila Paige, Alicia Murphy, Charles Taylor, Rawhee Shuman and the rest of the group
Caron Van Denter & Joanne Wac
Arron Cromley
Maggie Thurber
Sam Thurber
Dave Ruble
Arnie Elsie
Bill Delaney
The Republican Party and everyone else that contributed
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All of the work has come down to tomorrow. I (and my volunteers) have knocked on close to 7000 doors, distributed 20,000 pieces of lit., met thousands of people-all for tomorrow.
I am optimistic of my chances as well as the other 2 candidates (Torres and Fisher) and now only time will tell. Almost 24 hrs from now we should begin to get a clue.
If you have not voted yet, PLEASE VOTE 3 FOR CHANGE, MYERS FISHER TORRES, and tell your friends!
I hope I will see you out at the polls tomorrow! Thank you everyone for your support. Just one more day!
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The 3 for change slogan has penentrated the Toledo dialog more than I expected. Last week I was at Leverette MS in North Toledo and a parent referred to the 3 great principals up there as "their 3 for change". Out in the neighborhoods and talking with people at events I have noticed a large percentage of people saying they have heard of this. Our message of change has gone beyond the political junkies and has entered the wider public domain. Now we will see if this turns into votes. After last year, I am careful to predict elections, but things look bright. A candidate can always get mislead because people that don't like you won't say they don't like you, and you can become victim of only your supporters saying you are doing good (look at what Opal said at the mayoral debate regarding her contesting the fact she only got forty some votes). The fact is, I think there are many people not satisfied with the pace of change. We have presented a plan and have committeed to speeding up the pace of change. While some may doubt we can actually do this, look at what we have done so far and multiply this once we get on the board.
It would be interesting to see if the Blade has taken a poll of the school board race. Their polling (late this year) is done, it would be interesting to see if the school board race was on the list of questions.
On another note, the appointed candidate raised 24k and spent 21k. How this could have happened without making a splash is beyond me. Hey, if I had 24k or if the 3 for change did, the race would be over right now. I guess this is an example of the poor spending decisions in the school system as a whole. Plus, since this candidate is getting lots of political advice from Larry Sykes (he has endorsed the appointed candidate), I guess this makes lots of sense.
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Myers not the only one questioning TPS
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David McClellan, president of the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel, also wonders what is going on with TPS. In the October 21, 2005 TAAP Newsletter he states, "TAAP's advice to the Administration and the Board is tell the community the unvarnished truth, stop spinning, and trust the judgement of the people." This levy should have been a slam dunk, but because TPS decided to act like a used car salesperson, they are the ones that will make its passage a tossup. Read the TAAP statement here.
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3 for change: Financial Accountability and Responsibility
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Objective: To transform the way that Toledo Public Schools exercises financial stewardship of taxpayer dollars to assure that adequate funds are available to provide a quality education for every student, that resources are distributed in a fashion to assure that every student’s needs are met, that resources are effectively applied to programs that have the greatest impact on student achievement, that the tax burden on homeowners and businesses is as low as possible while still providing adequate funds for operation, and that the board engages all community members in a process where they can have input and understanding of the district’s financial condition.
Here are suggestions for starting the debate and discussion regarding how TPS can achieve the financial accountability and responsibility objective.
Financial Planning Process
• Develop a financial planning process that is forward looking, driven by data, engrained in the district’s culture and positions TPS to respond proactively and strategically over the long term to invest TPS’ limited resources toward the goals and vision for educating Toledo’s children.
o Establish a benchmarking system that creates standards for all programs to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency.
o Institute a process that continually reviews all programs to allocate and reallocate funds to the most effective programs impacting student achievement. Programs would be reviewed annually and only renewed if material results are produced.
o Construct an easy to read citizen’s score card which reports financial results with regard to TPS’s goals and vision.
• Develop and implement an inclusive budget procedure as part of the financial planning process that begins early in the year and allows citizens and parents to participate through forums and budget meetings in establishing a budget to achieve annual academic goals included as part of the long term financial plan.
• Establish a citizen’s levy review board that is independent of TPS and inclusive of government, business, labor and civic leaders, as well as citizens and parents to evaluate levy requests and determine if a levy should be placed on the ballot.
• Meet regularly with business leaders and owners to share the district’s financial performance and gather ideas for saving taxpayer dollars and improving operations.
Specific cost saving initiatives
• Create a web site where citizens, parents and employees can share directly with the Board, TPS superintendent, treasurer and business manager ideas for saving taxpayer dollars.
• Investigate alternatives for providing health care benefits that preserve the integrity of current benefits but which dramatically reduce the ever growing burden of health care costs.
• Explore ways to use technology such as distance learning and virtual classes to extend and obtain the best value for our instructional dollars.
• Establish teaching chairs sponsored by community members and local businesses to reward innovative and motivated teachers and to free up taxpayer dollars that can be redirected to other programs that can improve academic outcomes.
• Review all labor contracts to identify areas where dollars can be saved and redirected to improving academic outcomes.
• Contact local school districts and in collaboration look for areas where programs and costs can be shared. One example would be regional school transportation system where transportation resources could be shared and stationed strategically throughout the area to reduce fuel costs and the number of vehicles necessary to serve the student population.
• Implement a review of all business and educational areas that would benefit from the use of information technology and automation to reduce overall costs.
• Initiate a complete review of the Building for Success program to determine the status of the program and what issues and challenges confront the district in successfully completing the renovation and rebuilding of Toledo schools.
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After talking with supporters as well as looking at my beliefs I am not comfortable supporting the current numbers, but I am not going to tell anyone else what decision to make. There is now enough information out there for voters to make their decision on the levy. What it comes down to is trust and accountability and what voters now understand is that the current board and the other candidates did not know what they were supporting when voicing support and voting on. While we have come up with different opinions after asking the questions, the 3 for change candidates were the only ones to make TPS accountable, received the evidence and made a decision, which is the responsibility of honest and accountable government officials. Once voters vote on the levy, vote 3 for change and we will earn your trust back and prevent this from happening again.
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