EDITOR: Has anyone noticed that the only ones dissin' me are the current Jefferson School Board trustees? Perhaps they are fearful that I might rock the boat. In her endorsement letter to the editor published in Sunday's Tracy Press, current board member Debbie Wingo stated that my wife made assertions about current board members in her own letter to the editor, when in fact, Anne did no such thing. Anne merely posed a rhetorical question.
Mrs. Wingo, who as a current board member oversees the education of several hundreds of children, is also directly responsible for the education of several others as she is also a schoolteacher. One would therefore expect a level of attention to detail, especially as she has previously suggested that as a quick learner she rarely needs to read things twice. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wingo not only falsely accused Anne of making these assertions; she also apparently did not notice the E on the end of Anne's name. I won't even go into the dangling prepositions.
Further evidence that Mrs. Wingo may not be paying attention is when she states that music is alive and well in the district. That is very true for some – especially due to the excellence provided by band director Roy Troglia. Unfortunately, for over half of the district students – for over half of their nine years in the district, participation in band is not available. As this is the only music program funded by the board, our trustees have thus dissed hundreds of children. When we ask our own two children this year when they get music in the classroom, the answers are 'not often,' and 'I don't remember.' More than one classroom teacher has admitted, "They don't teach music in the classroom. They don't have time. I don't have time." While there may exist a curriculum for primary music, it apparently rarely actually gets taught. This is directly correlated to the lack of funding for it.
Finally, Mrs. Wingo is correct about not having a million dollar surplus. According to the most recent budget numbers I have, as of 9/30/02, that surplus stands at $845,000 – with an ending balance of nearly $3.3 million. The surplus difference appears primarily due to a fund transfer out of this account in the amount of exactly $143,152, whose resolution was adopted by the board at the meeting on October 8. Mrs. Wingo goes on to say that a majority of the grant money the district has received has gone toward facilities – but I have to ask – isn't that supposed to already be paid for by Mello Roos taxes and developer fees? Mrs. Wingo is correct that I have a great deal to learn about school funding operations, but as it is evident that our district has yet to achieve perfection in that arena, it is safe to assume that we could all stand to learn a thing or two.
I'm not going to make endorsements. But I do ask you to vote on Tuesday, and to vote for the candidates that you think will best serve you and your children.
Dan Wells
Tracy