Here are the paper's endorsements for the Kern High School District race.

The Californian editorial board endorsed Bob Hampton and Chad Vegas, the incumbents.

Columnist Lois Henry endorsed Anyone But Chad.

What are your endorsements? Who are you planning to vote for and why?

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A Call for Educa~.doc

Here is the sixth in a series of Kern High School District candidates that will appear on the ballot November 4.

If you have not registered to vote, go to this Web site to print out a registration form and mail it in on Ocober 20.

Also, if you want to see all blog posts on the KHSD election, click at the bottom of this blog on the words KHSD race to see all the stories.

The candidate profile will run Saturday for Chad Vegas. You can read the full story here.

Also, attached to this post is the plan Chad Vegas and Joel Heinrichs have created to reform the school district.

Age: 35

Board meetings attended last year: Almost all

Regular voter? The Kern County Elections Division shows he voted in 14 out of 14 elections for which he was eligible since 1996.

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ALL CANDIDATES (LIGHTLY EDITED):

1. What is the first thing you’d change about KHSD?

I would rethink the philosophy of public education. I think choice and competition is necessary. I would want at least three academic pathways that allow students to pursue college, advanced technical training or vocational training leading to employment upon graduation.

I would add charter schools, online school options, partnerships with community colleges, expanded career technical academies and home school partnerships.

2. Describe a board decision you’ve disagreed with.

I agreed with a majority of the decisions. I thought we should vote to support Proposition 8.

3. Twelve of the district’s 16 comprehensive schools did not meet all requirements of No Child Left Behind. What can the board do to help meet these guidelines?

We should increase the number of students we place in “academic boot camps” and improve our English Language learner programs.

Also, we need to recognize NCLB is flawed, especially as it assesses high school students only once and after only 14 months of high school.

4. Do you think the board has spent too little, too much or an appropriate amount of time and energy on religious and cultural issues?

The right amount of time is being spent. I think we have talked about two of these issues in four years.

5. How do you plan to stay connected with teachers, parents and students?

By serving on the board and through my full-time pastoral ministry.

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I just realized I forgot to post the candidate profile for Larry Bly that ran Monday. Read the whole thing here.

Age: 55

Board meeting attended last year: None

Regular voter? The Kern County Elections Division shows he voted in 9 out of 9 elections for which he was eligible since 1998.

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ALL CANDIDATES (Lightly edited):

1. What is the first thing you’d change about KHSD?

I would propose a bylaw amendment to prohibit the board from supporting or opposing any proposition or ballot initiative that does not directly affect the district.

2. Describe a board decision you’ve disagreed with.

Proposition 8. No issues – other than issues that deal directly with education, funding or the operation of the school district – should be discussed, opposed, or supported.

3. Twelve of the district’s 16 comprehensive schools did not meet all requirements of No Child Left Behind. What can the board do to help meet these guidelines?

I recommend pre-testing every student at the beginning of each semester. Then, self-paced individualized materials can be developed. By focusing on each student's deficiencies rather than making every student study everything on the tests, students will not be bored and frustrated.

4. Do you think the board has spent too little, too much or an appropriate amount of time and energy on religious and cultural issues?

The board only meets once a month and too many hours have been spent discussing those issues. More important issues are the student dropout rate and test scores. Also, offering a wider variety of vocational education programs should be the highest priority.

5. How do you plan to stay connected with teachers, parents and students?

My home phone number will be available to anyone who wishes to talk to me. Currently, I am an adviser for the Key Club at Bakersfield High School.

After getting one of those pesky colds here (which I still don't understand how that is possible in 80-degree weather), I am back at work and ready to blog.

At the Kern High School District Board meeting, they approved a pilot program to allow drug-sniffing dogs into schools. The dogs can sniff for drugs in lockers, desks or vehicles on campuses and district-sponsored events.

To avoid any legal issues, the dogs cannot sniff near any students. The pilot program is set to start in the 2008-09 school year. Bob Hampton is the only trustee to vote against the proposal because he thought it would hurt the trust in the schools.

Do you think this is the best way to keep drugs out of our schools?

Also... I've been looking around to see some of the education issues other states are dealing with in the upcoming election.

In the most contentious state for education ballot measures, Oregon voters will decide if  teachers salaries should be based on performance instead of seniority. Also, they will decide whether schools will limit the amount of time English learner students can be taught in a language outside of English.

In my home state of Missouri, they are debating whether to increase the casino-gambling tax for a new elementary and secondary education improvement fund.

If you are a political junkie, you might find the rest of this chart of ballot measures interesting.

On Saturday, a story ran in the paper about whether the Kern High Teachers Association reached out to all seven candidates. Here's a portion:

After re-checking addresses, the Kern High Teachers Association is insisting it sent interview invitations to all high school district trustee candidates before endorsing two of them.

Chuck Cournyea, Robert Frank and Chad Vegas said they did not receive an invitation. Charles Rodriguez did not respond to calls.

The group endorsed Bob Hampton and Bill Perry. It said it only considered those two and Larry Bly because the others didn't schedule an in-person interview. More...

Candidate Chuck Cournyea sent me a response on Saturday evening to the story:

The recent article in today's paper: "Group insists it mailed invitations," is a slap in the face of all Kern High School District voters. 
 
It's amazing to me that Jan Graves found the time to call and verify what my address was but did not believe, as she stated, "it is not the association;s responsibility to chase down candidates."  She was quick to call me when news broke they did not mail out invitations to the other candidates.
 
No one asked them to "chase" anyone done.  A phone call would have done it.  They made sure some people were there but not the rest. Why?  Because their mind was already made up as to who they were going to endorse.  Their actions speak louder than any words -- for the group's integrity and their endorsements are now in question.
 

What do you think? Is a mailed invitation enough? 

The Kern High School Teachers Association announced Wednesday it’s endorsing incumbent Bob Hampton and candidate Bill Perry for the Kern High School District board.

The board only considered Perry, Hampton and Larry Bly for endorsement because the other four candidates did not arrange for an in-person interview.

Charles Cournyea, Chad Vegas and Robert Frank said they never received an invitation. Charles Rodriguez did not return a call Wednesday evening.

Teachers Association President Mitch Olson said the group got addresses for all seven candidates from the Kern County Elections Division and mailed them an invite.

“We believe we notified every candidate,” Olson said.

Cournyea said he is disappointed to not be considered.

“Believe me, had I got an (invitation), I would have been right on it. I’ve received other surveys from other groups and always responded to them,” he said.

Vegas said he is not surprised to not be invited.

“The fact is the union decided who they were going to endorse before this all started,” he said.

Perry said the endorsements are important for his campaign because the teachers are a large and important group in the district.

“People will look at it and say ‘OK, they are endorsing them,’ so I’m going to vote for them,” he said.

Olson said the association likes Perry’s background in public education. It also appreciated Perry’s interest and attendance at most board meetings.

“He is walking the walk and talking the talk,” Olson said.

The association endorsed Hampton because he has fought hard for teachers’ issues while on the board.

“Teachers really feel that he tackles the meat and potatoes issues like health benefits, insurance and the conditions teachers work in,” Olson said.

Hampton said it has always been beneficial to get the support of teachers.

“They’ll talk to their neighbors, and it’ll get a lot of votes out there,” Hampton said.

Today, District Attorney Ed Jagels said his office would not file charges against KERN 1410 talk show host Scott Cox for the signs he took last week.

Also, after scouring the law, his office is just as shocked as everyone else that charges cannot be filed, he said.

Because the office cannot prove that Cox planned to take the signs permanently, he did not commit theft, Jagels said.

"A person must have intent at the time the item was stolen to permanently deprive the owner of that property," he said.

Chad Vegas said the attorney's office has gone soft.

"Bottom line, our district attorney is not as interested in justice as he is in public opinion," he said. "That is the stupidest line of logic."

So what do you think? Was this theft? Did he steal or just borrow? Can anyone think of another situation in which this could possibly occur? 

Operation “Rolling Thunder” Truancy Sweep in Shafter resuted in 15 citations for truancy, according to the Kern High School District Police Department.

The multi-agency sweep focused on students from Richland School District and Kern High School District.
 
Check the breaking news blog for more results of the sweep.

Also, I should know around 5 p.m. who the Kern High Faculty Association plans to endorse for the board race.

This endorsement is important because:

- They extended an invitation to meet with all the candidates individually before deciding.

-They are educators and know the problems facing the district.

- With seven candidates, any extra endorsements will probably be important.

I'll blog and twitter once I know who they pick so make sure you keep hitting refresh on your browser.

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If KHSD is not the school board race you are most interested in, do not fear. We will also have stories on the elections for Rosedale and BCSD coming up.

Also, if you are more of a tweeter than a blogger, check out our new Twitter feed at The_Grade.

And not to be repetitive, but I just sent my absentee ballot back to Missouri, since that is where I'm still registered. You should send in your voter registration and postmark it by October 20.

And here's the fourth KHSD candidate profile - Bill Perry. Here's the summary or read the whole thing here.

Age: 68

Board meetings attended last year: Almost all

Regular voter? The Kern County Elections Division shows he voted in 18 of 18 elections for which he was eligible since 1992.

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ALL CANDIDATES (LIGHTLY EDITED):

1. What is the first thing you’d change about KHSD?

The board’s propensity to become involved in noneducation issues.

2. Describe a board decision you’ve disagreed with.

I strongly disagreed with the decision to allow board members to sit in on administrative interviews.

3. Twelve of the district’s 16 comprehensive schools did not meet all requirements of No Child Left Behind. What can the board do to help meet these guidelines?

Put as many resources at the teachers disposal as possible so that we can meet the standards.

4. Do you think the board has spent too little, too much or an appropriate amount of time and energy on religious and cultural issues?

I think the board needs to avoid religious and cultural issues mentioned. Those issues belong in the home and the church.

5. How do you plan to stay connected with teachers, parents and students?

By listening and being available.

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Since I'm new to Kern County and there's 47 districts, I need some help figuring out what people care about in each district.

We are going to be doing profiles on at least some of the following school board races: Rosedale Union School District and Bakersfield City School District.

What are your questions for the candidates? What concerns do you have as a parent? What does your child complain about? 

Thanks for the help.