Election takes ugly turn with help from Facebook

I rarely, if ever, weigh in on a school board race in Sikeston. That has been my policy for as many years as I can count.

The same goes for city council races.

My attitude has been consistent -- if someone, anyone, is willing to commit their time and make the necessary sacrifices to take on one of these often-thankless jobs, then more power to them.

Just like you, I may well favor one candidate over another for a variety of reasons. But I am reluctant publicly to support or oppose someone for an unpaid, volunteer sacrifice of their time away from their family.

But by any measure, this year's school board race in Sikeston is unusual.

Four highly-qualified and passionate individuals are seeking the two seats available on the Sikeston school board in two weeks.

Any time you have contested seats, there is often a spirited campaign. Having monitored and reported on just such contests for over 40 years, I have always enjoyed the lively give-and-take of these campaigns.

But this year's race has taken a somewhat ugly turn.

Perhaps given the passion and the stakes involved this year, I shouldn't be surprised.

But I am.

And much of the blame for this increasingly partisanship is the result of social media.

I'm told that the advent of Facebook has ushered in a new level of nastiness and bitterness that is both troubling and counter-productive to our community.

The candidates themselves may not be completely blameless, but it appears that supporters of the various camps are using social media to reduce this election to a mud-slinging slugfest.

My assessment of this campaign may not be completely accurate but it appears to me that two candidates come from the "establishment" wing of the education community while the remaining two come from the "outside."

The two "establishment" candidates hope to improve communications (always a recurring theme) and work with the remaining board to expand and improve the relationship between administrators, teachers, parents and the remaining community.

The two "outside" candidates see fundamental flaws of transparency and accountability within the school system and believe firmly that there is an orchestrated movement to undermine their efforts.

It was always my assumption that the controversial Common Core proposal was at the center of this massive divide.

And although Common Core remains front and center in this race, the issue of transparency and favoritism is increasingly becoming a central theme as well.

Coming on the heels of the failure of last year's proposed $32-million school bond issue and the emotional issue of Common Core, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that the race this year is reaching such partisan heights.

Regardless of the election outcome, the school system must assess its standing within the community. It must honestly recognize the reasons for the bond issue setback. It must assure that the board actions are open to the public without artificial barriers. And it must improve the dialogue with the community.

The school board election -- much more than most -- should not be a popularity contest but one based on your personal assessment of the candidates and the skills and positions they can bring to our community.

And we need to leave the ugly, partisan and sometimes personal attacks to the national political scene where it belongs.