OPINION: Looking for Leaders in All The Wrong Places

Looking for Leaders in All The Wrong Places

Now that the 2024 election is over, I’d like to offer the following comments:
Regarding the three St. Mary’s County school board district elections, a majority of voters indicated:

• no interest in imposing term limits;
• no scrutiny of incumbents responsible for a failing school system;
• no concern for the age-inappropriate inculcation of children in gender identity concepts;
• no regard for candidates’ qualifications or lack thereof;
• no displeasure with the limited influence and participation of parents in the school system,
• no support for parents’ rights,
• no opposition to ever-increasing school system-driven taxes.

A friend recently stated, “St. Mary’s voters opted to maintain the status quo in opposition to their national vote.”
As a candidate in the 2024 St. Mary’s Board of Education election, I met many voters who were sick of the status quo, many who researched the candidates and voted for change, but it wasn’t enough.

 What could have made a difference in the outcome of our local elections was hearing from our existing elected officials. Please make no mistake: our local elected officials were aware of the need for change on our school board but remained silent on their personal picks. Why? I’ll tell you why: I had personal conversations with some of them. To be succinct, they care more about being popular than standing up for change and the “right” choice for the direction students in our county need. 
Let me put it another way: our elected officials wouldn’t endorse any candidate and for reasons mostly revolving around themselves. They care more about becoming reelected or going out with a high popularity rating than attaching their name to “change agents for better school policies and positions.”
My friend was also correct when he stated, “Attendance will continue to decline, costs will continue to soar, with the same dismal academic performance across the county.”
Still, I suggest that we not forget that the existing people that we’ve entrusted to look out for our best interests did nothing but protect their own.
Reforming the board of education and the school system is a lost cause. The voters have decided to accept this, though the children deserve better.