LTUSD candidate controversy

Two incumbents and four challengers are vying for three seats on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District's board of education. The email below was sent to me and others this week. The daily paper in town ran a story today that didn't mention this controversy. It merely wrote about what former union prez Mike Patterson fed them. No need for me to vent about what's going on with the deliveryof news from Harrison Ave. And by mentioning all of this, I'm not taking a stand one way or the other or for particular candidates. I've already voted. But for those who haven't, I think they should have access to as much information as possible.

Here's the email:

You should know that 2 candidates for LTUSD school board (Kemper and Green) plagiarized large parts of their Personal Statements on the ballot.

The ballot is attached. Here's what Kemper said:

Nobody knows better than parents what their children need. Nobody works harder than teachers to prepare our students to meet the challenges of tomorrow. We can only improve our schools if parents and teachers have a seat at the table where decisions are made. As your school board member, I will build a team to make partnerships, not politics, a priority. I will bring people together , not pull them apart – teachers, students, parents, administrators, and the school board. We need a school board that models the behaviors we want for our children; a board that respects teachers, parents, and students, and works with them to make the best decisions about our schools.

Here's what Green said (the underlined material is the same as Kemper's):

Nobody knows better than parents what their kids need. Nobody works harder than teachers to prepare our students to meet the challenges of tomorrow. As your school board member, I will build a team to make partnerships a priority, bring ing people – children, teachers, parents, staff, administrators, community members and the school board. We need a school board that respects teachers, parents, and students, and works with them in partnership to make the best decisions about our schools.

Did you see Kemper even has the nerve to write: "We need a school board that models the behaviors we want for our children."

Yeah, right. She'd make a great role model for our kids - a plagiarist. If our kids did what she and Green did, their teachers would flunk them (as they should!). I don't want my kid "modeling" her behavior, do you?

This is not a trivial matter, or a simple mistake. Kemper and Green plagiarized the very statement that is supposed to communicate to you why you should vote for them. Their actions make a mockery of our schools' academic disciplinary policy. It would be an embarrassment to have them in charge of our schools.