More 4/18/07

From the Flint Journal on 4/17/07
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Flint field is jammed
Three 4-year school board seats draw 13
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITIONWednesday, April 18, 2007
By Melissa Burden and Bob WheatonJournal Staff Writers
[For the complete article see
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1176907815212530.xml&coll=5&thispage=1
Here it has been edited down... to the GSI endorsed candidates by Bankert]
FLINT - It's the largest field of contenders and the one with the most potential to affect the Board of Education for years to come.
Voters on May 8 will decide which candidates they want for a trio of four-year terms on the nine-seat board.
....
Many newcomers, also not surprisingly, say it's time for changes.
...
"Considering the number of people that are running, I think that's reflective of some things that the board may or may not be doing," said newcomer Antoinette Lockett, 46, a cosmetologist.
...
Outgoing Superintendent Walter Milton Jr.'s reform plan is in its first year but has dramatically changed the district by integrating middle schools into high school buildings and dropping the popular Challenge Program, magnet schools and the Help One Student to Succeed reading/mentoring program.
... John L. Topping Jr., 62, said they hope to restore HOSTS.
Topping, an attorney with a daughter at Central Academy and whose wife is a teacher in the district, also would like to see the magnet and Challenge programs restored.
....
Fred W. Bashir, 68, a retired GM supervisor, said most current board members seem to be "rubber-stamping" proposals.
"On a scale from one to 10, I'd grade them about a five, maybe a four," he said.
Bashir is the brother of Linda Thompson, the district's executive director of school transition. He said it would create no conflict if he served on the school board because he'd make a reasonable decision on anything that affected her department, just as he would with any matter.
- - - end
Posted Here
4/18/07
by Terry Bankert
attorneybankert@yahoo.com
http://bankertsvoterguide.blogspot.com/

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