Don’t forget to vote TODAY in your School District elections
Yep - it is important. All elections are important because those who show up make the difference. Polls close @ 9:00 pm
So whether it is a Fire District election or a Presidential race - your vote does matter.
Which brings me to the D&C Editorial board and their syrup covered waffle this morning. I guess they are saying show up and vote but be careful.
This editorial mirrors the coverage of the schools - a recent article questioning the training school board members receive and if they are even qualified.
One of the persistent fears in a democracy is that a minority elite will control decision-making, leading to policies that serve the particular or special interest over the general. And that, as the Framers knew, is the path to tyranny.
Oh those tyrannical schools.
Keep that danger in mind today, when school districts around the Rochester region and in all of New York vote on proposed budgets for next year and candidates for school board.
Budgets where some of the funding sources are not known because school budgets are in May and County and State budgets are in October.
Voting isn’t merely about upholding the highest standard of democracy. It’s about protecting your interests. As the school budget goes, so goes the biggest chunk of your property tax bill. Some districts have kept spending under the inflation rate; some not. Your task is to determine whether the budget justifies the taxes that support it.
It’s important, too, who serves on the school board. It’s a hard job, one that takes intellect and wisdom. It’s no time for random selection.
Yep, intellect and Wisdom but let me ask this question - what coverage did local school board candidates get in the largest paper (by local circulation) that serves Monroe County? I read the paper on a regular basis and don’t recall endorsements or discussions of where candidates are on various issues.
It’s no time for random selection.
Yep, no time for random selection. The media is part of the process that helps prevent random selections - by detailed and repeated critical analysis of issues and candidates. Got that? Detailed and repeated critical analysis to help create an informed public.
So before we implore the voters to do their job, let’s provide them the tools, via the D&C and the rest of local media, to help them.
Absolutely! Thanks for the reminder.
So before we implore the voters to do their job, lets provide them the tools via the D&C and the rest of local media to help them.
How many people will be going to the polls today because of RT? Nicely done.
i hear some school budgets are constructed assuming the fair plan goes the way of the schools. i would be extra wary of those areas because you never know…..
Maggie Brooks as much as admitted on XXI this afternoon that the county wasn’t likely to win on the FAIR plan.
Most honest thing I think I heard her say.
Most of the rest of the show amounted to “boo-hoo–hoo– the state and schools are picking on me”.
Voted this morning in Henrietta. Much to my surprise, they were requiring ID to vote. I don’t recall this ever happening before. The acceptable ID was drivers license, non-drivers ID, or voting card. Seems to me they changed the rules and didn’t tell anyone.
So I called the Board of Elections, and they informed me that they don’t control school board voting; but they did helpfully tell me that for general elections (like in November when we vote for President), you don’t need ID. They said I should talk to the school district, and gave me the number of the person in Henrietta in charge of elections. I called her, but she was not in her office, so I have no answer from the school district at this time.
However, I can’t see the need for stricter security on School Budget elections than you have for Presidential elections. And I cannot recall being informed of this requirement to have ID. Sure, my memory isn’t perfect, so I dunno what is going on. Seems to me like they changed the rules and never told anyone.
School district elections are not conducted by the Board of Elections. I believe I’ve always had to show an ID unless I was recognized. My name was cross referenced off of a list.
ID is required under some circumstances with elections conducted by the BOE but not required.
I heard back from the school board in Henrietta. The woman said the rule was first put into place last year after a vote by the School Board, and there were many problems, people showing up without drivers license, etc. (Yeah, apparently people go out and drive without their drivers license.) The woman said it had been publicized (I guess I missed it, I obviously watch too much ESPN and FoodTV). However, if you don’t have the “required” ID, you can still present a utility bill, which would meet the ID requirement, even though the signs at the polling place don’t say you can do that; and failing that, you can sign an affidavit at the polling place that says you live at such-and-such address, and then you will be allowed to vote.
The woman who called did not know why the School Board implemented this policy. Which I guess is the only remaining unanswered question, why would a school district go through the effort of creating all this bureaucracy, when general elections do not?
My guess is that the BOE sign-in book of registered voters has your signature that you are expected to match. Voters in a school district do not have to be registered, subsequently there is not book. Officials need some form of proof you live in the district.
Dennis: Pittsford isn’t making that assumption, but they did send out a communication that showed what the difference would be in the budget if FAIR is rejected.
Paige: The “vote” signs for Pittsford also note that id is required, FWIW, but yeah, it’s silly that they are requiring ids for these tiny turnout elections.
i hope you all have fun since i don’t get to vote for my school budget. we can’t be trusted with the future of our community in the city.
I have to note this. My husband, daughter and I just returned from voting. Since my daughter only turned 18 in late March, this was a totally new experience for her. As we were leaving the school, she gave a little skip and said, “That was so much fun — I have a voter’s high!” This from the kid who ran cross country for years and never once had a runner’s high… I think she’s got the bug. She’s been all over Obama since last year and eventually talked me into supporting him. We have a new activist in our ranks.