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Our Priorities
Supporting students and educators, not banning resources
The current school board voted to ban content from PBS, the Smithsonian, the Anti-Defamation League, Learning for Justice, and even Sesame Street. The list of banned resources includes the biographies of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony. The board’s vote also prohibited hundreds of innocent children’s books and even listed certain categories of banned books. One category is "characters of color." It includes 27 children's books. Another category is "authors of color." It includes an additional 19 books. With the current board in charge, apparently those things are enough to get a book banned.
This discriminatory ban has embarrassed our school community in front of a national audience. It has been criticized by Fox News, CNN, The Hill, The New York Times, The Washington Post, York Dispatch, York Daily Record, ABC 27, CBS 21, FOX 43, and many other outlets. After extreme public pressure, the board reluctantly moved to lift the ban temporarily and introduced a timeline that allows them to reinstate the ban after the November 2 school board election.
We deserve a school board that spends more time supporting students and teachers and less time banning award-winning works of film and literature.
Prioritizing school performance, not political agendas
While the current school board has been focused on banning innocent children’s books, our school district’s county-wide ranking has plummeted. When the current board members were elected in 2017, Central York was ranked at or near the top of the county in every available performance measure. But after four years of distractions and picking political fights, our district is now ranked ninth out of 16 in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report rankings for York County.
During that time, the board voted to block four curriculum proposals and a math program that teachers and district administration said were necessary to improve student performance. As a result, our students and educators now lack the resources they need to be successful.
We believe curriculum and program proposals should be read carefully instead of ignoring or politicizing them. The board should listen to and utilize our district’s professional educators as a resource instead of attacking them. And most importantly, they will always put our children’s education first instead of using them as pawns in a political game.
Tax policy: Working for you, not special interests
We support the Act 1 Index, which limits the taxing authority of local school districts. Seniors and working families should not face undue financial pressures from local property taxes because of lackluster school funding efforts from Harrisburg and Washington.
Proven educational strategies to enhance student learning
Research has consistently found that teacher quality is the number one school-based factor that influences student learning. We believe in networking with teacher preparation programs at the college and university level in order to more effectively recruit the best teachers for Central York School District.
In recent years, district leadership has placed an enormous emphasis on delivering instruction through computerized and online technologies. While we believe that instructional technology should play an important role in the learning experience, we also want to ensure that students and the interactions they have with their teachers and peers remain at the center of instructional design.
Strong schools to increase property values for district residents
Strong schools have been shown to increase college acceptance rates and future earning potential for students, but better schools are also good for district residents who don’t have school-aged children. School quality is one of the biggest influences on local property values. We recognize that home resale value is a critical aspect of financial wellbeing. They will strive to ensure our school quality indicators help to promote high property values for community members.
Commonsense curriculum to ensure college & career readiness
School board members should be vigorous advocates for a student-centered school system that promotes academic and self growth by addressing the individual needs of every learner. One way to achieve this outcome is by focusing on the underlying goals of the new Future Ready PA Index. This system’s predecessor, the School Performance Profile, graded schools by relying heavily on their standardized test scores.
While the new system still considers testing data, it also awards school districts points for metrics related to career readiness. For example, it evaluates how successful districts are at helping students transition to postsecondary schooling, the military, or the workforce. Helping students to make this transition smoothly should be the primary focus of every school district because it moves us one step closer to ensuring each student’s long-term success.
Community engagement to improve transparency
Board members should be accessible for our questions and responsive to our needs. Sometimes it seems like the public comments at school board meetings fall into a black hole. We also believe in utilizing parent and community survey data to make informed decisions and ensure they are communicating with the public effectively.
The current school board voted to ban content from PBS, the Smithsonian, the Anti-Defamation League, Learning for Justice, and even Sesame Street. The list of banned resources includes the biographies of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony. The board’s vote also prohibited hundreds of innocent children’s books and even listed certain categories of banned books. One category is "characters of color." It includes 27 children's books. Another category is "authors of color." It includes an additional 19 books. With the current board in charge, apparently those things are enough to get a book banned.
This discriminatory ban has embarrassed our school community in front of a national audience. It has been criticized by Fox News, CNN, The Hill, The New York Times, The Washington Post, York Dispatch, York Daily Record, ABC 27, CBS 21, FOX 43, and many other outlets. After extreme public pressure, the board reluctantly moved to lift the ban temporarily and introduced a timeline that allows them to reinstate the ban after the November 2 school board election.
We deserve a school board that spends more time supporting students and teachers and less time banning award-winning works of film and literature.
Prioritizing school performance, not political agendas
While the current school board has been focused on banning innocent children’s books, our school district’s county-wide ranking has plummeted. When the current board members were elected in 2017, Central York was ranked at or near the top of the county in every available performance measure. But after four years of distractions and picking political fights, our district is now ranked ninth out of 16 in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report rankings for York County.
During that time, the board voted to block four curriculum proposals and a math program that teachers and district administration said were necessary to improve student performance. As a result, our students and educators now lack the resources they need to be successful.
We believe curriculum and program proposals should be read carefully instead of ignoring or politicizing them. The board should listen to and utilize our district’s professional educators as a resource instead of attacking them. And most importantly, they will always put our children’s education first instead of using them as pawns in a political game.
Tax policy: Working for you, not special interests
We support the Act 1 Index, which limits the taxing authority of local school districts. Seniors and working families should not face undue financial pressures from local property taxes because of lackluster school funding efforts from Harrisburg and Washington.
Proven educational strategies to enhance student learning
Research has consistently found that teacher quality is the number one school-based factor that influences student learning. We believe in networking with teacher preparation programs at the college and university level in order to more effectively recruit the best teachers for Central York School District.
In recent years, district leadership has placed an enormous emphasis on delivering instruction through computerized and online technologies. While we believe that instructional technology should play an important role in the learning experience, we also want to ensure that students and the interactions they have with their teachers and peers remain at the center of instructional design.
Strong schools to increase property values for district residents
Strong schools have been shown to increase college acceptance rates and future earning potential for students, but better schools are also good for district residents who don’t have school-aged children. School quality is one of the biggest influences on local property values. We recognize that home resale value is a critical aspect of financial wellbeing. They will strive to ensure our school quality indicators help to promote high property values for community members.
Commonsense curriculum to ensure college & career readiness
School board members should be vigorous advocates for a student-centered school system that promotes academic and self growth by addressing the individual needs of every learner. One way to achieve this outcome is by focusing on the underlying goals of the new Future Ready PA Index. This system’s predecessor, the School Performance Profile, graded schools by relying heavily on their standardized test scores.
While the new system still considers testing data, it also awards school districts points for metrics related to career readiness. For example, it evaluates how successful districts are at helping students transition to postsecondary schooling, the military, or the workforce. Helping students to make this transition smoothly should be the primary focus of every school district because it moves us one step closer to ensuring each student’s long-term success.
Community engagement to improve transparency
Board members should be accessible for our questions and responsive to our needs. Sometimes it seems like the public comments at school board meetings fall into a black hole. We also believe in utilizing parent and community survey data to make informed decisions and ensure they are communicating with the public effectively.
