By james art 
Raul Zubia | Scottsdale
A recent American University study examines the costs school districts face due to the ever-increasing manufactured culture wars and politicization of our neighborhood schools.
Governing boards oversee the superintendent, the budget, and guide the district’s priorities. They also set the tone as the public face of the district. Their words, behavior and interactions with the district and community affect how people view our schools. Current SUSD board members Amy Carney and Karin Werner are abusing their positions to sow mistrust by falsely claiming the district is withholding information that records consistently show they are receiving. Unfortunately, their supporters repeat their lies, spreading even more negativity.
When people threaten and harass school staff, the district needs to hire extra security. To combat misinformation and smear campaigns, the district needs to hire additional communications staff. Due to the multitude of requests for information and litigation, legal and administrative costs skyrocket, and the cost of training new teachers increases as they tire of the constant baseless attacks.
SUSD spent a staggering $1.6 million last year to deal with such unnecessary conflicts, and the number grows every year. That’s $1.6 million that should have been spent on teacher salaries but was instead spent on dealing with vandals.
Carney and Werner proved to be disruptive during their time on the board. SUSD can’t afford to give them the majority on the board. It makes no sense, both morally and fiscally, to choose more expensive destroyers on our board.
I urge our community to elect Mike Sharkey, Donna Lewis and Matt Pitinsky. Their experience and desire to support our schools contrasts sharply with the other’s desire to destroy. Our schools deserve adults invested in positive change, not chaos. Our board majority should be made up of those who want the best for our schools, not a stage for their political agendas.
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