John R. Berg's Fireside Chat

There are 1,477 school board directors throughout the State of Washington, more than any other class of elected official except for precinct officers  of the major political parties.

Being on the school board provides an opportunity to give back to the community and make a difference in the lives of our children, who are the future of our community and nation.

In our election system, the only way to vote against someone is to vote for someone else.

The South Kitsap School Board typically meets twice a month on Wednesday evenings for 2 -3 hours each.  

In addition to the two evenings per month for Board meetings, there are many more hours in other activities and preparation for the meetings.  Six to ten hours per week would probably be a minimum.  Currently half of the  Board members are retired and the other half work full-time.  Two years ago, only one of the five Board members was retired.

For those Board members working full-time, they may need some flexibility in their schedues to allow for activities outside of the regular Wednesday evening.  If any Board members are unable to attend any meetings or activities, a majority of the Board can proceed without them.  If they happen to be out-of-town, thay may be able to participate in meetings remotely.

Under State Law, school board directors may receive $50 per day for each day that they attend official meetings or conduct official business.  Just visiting a school would not count.  Directors may decline that compensation.  (I personally received $1,800 in 2020 and $3,500 in 2021.)

There are many other hours in preparation for meetings and other activities that are not compensated.  Attendance at conferences such as WSSDA are paid for by the District.

Often school boards are composed of professional educators or their family members, since they already have an interest and knowledge of the school system.

The purpose of the school board is to represent the parents, taxpayers, and community in managing the schools.  All must be represented on the Board.  Professional educators and their family members may have a bias in favor of the interests of the district employees rather than the interests of the voters.    

Of the current Board, all but one are either retired professional educators or immediate family members of District employees. In fact, two are both retired SK teachers and immediate family members of SK employees.

Before I ran for the Board, I attended nearly all of the meetings for two full years as on observer.  Unfortunately, some run for the school board without ever having attended a single board meeting.  They need to know what they are getting into.

The Washington State School Directors' Association (WSSDA) provides training and resources for school board directors.  They conduct in-person and remote training for new and prospective board members called Board Boot Camp.  Their website lists training publications, including a flyer on What Makes a Great School Board Member?

This website and the South Kitsap School District Website also provide information on what is happening here in the South Kitsap School District.  The District's BoardDocs contains minutes, agendas, and videos of past Board meetings.  My own comments on Board meetings is also on this website with links to minutes and videos.

The Kitsap County Auditor's Office has election and candidacy information.

There are five director districts and each director must live in one of those districts.  Check the map to see where you live.  The positions for director districts 1, 2, and 5 will be up for election in November of 2023.  These positions are currently occupied by Directors Espy, Berg, and Daily.  Filing for office will be the third week in May, 2023, with May 19, 2023 being the deadline.  There is no cost to file.  The following Monday will be the last day for a candidate to withdraw.  

Candidates will also need to file campaign disclosures and personal financial information discourses with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC)

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is difficult to define in 2021 because it did not have a single point of origin and has been evolving since its origins in legal and academic circles in the 1970s.  It has been described much differently by its proponents than by its opponents.  This lack of a clear understanding of exactly what CRT is has lead to much controversy, with some insisting that it must be taught in the schools while others demand that it must never be taught in the schools.

While originally addressing only the issue of race, its proponents have expanded it to include all other oppressed minority categories.

For purposes here, CRT will be defined (in an admittedly biased manner) as a set of beliefs based on the propositions that (1) the laws, customs, and institutional practices in the United States are inherently racist and maintained as such by those with the power at the top of the hierarchy, specifically white males, or more specifically, strait, white, older, Christian males of European descent; (2) all other individuals are oppressed by that system based upon their specific traits or characteristics such as race, sex, expressed gender, ethnicity, religion, body shape, etc., and the more of those characteristics they have, the more oppressed they are and the more entitled they are to consider themselves victims; (3) those at the top of the hierarchy should feel guilty for the sins of their ancestors that put them there and should make reparations to those below them.

The problem with criticizing CRT is similar to defending oneself against the charge of being a witch.  The accused would be drowned as a test.  If they survived, they were a witch and were burned at the stake.  If they drown, they were innocent, but still dead.  The very accusation became a death sentence.  To some, for a white male to deny CRT is actual proof of its validity.

See also Montana State Attorney General's opinion on Critical Race Theory.

Governor Jay Inslee signed into law SB 5044 which mandates training for school staff and includes the purpose of "dismantling institutional racism" through training in topics such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural competency.  The bill addresses training of school staff and school board directors, not what is to be taught to the children.

The bill did NOT mandate teaching CRT, although "institutional racism" is one of the basic components of CRT.  This has led many to believe that the bill thus mandated teaching CRT in the schools.

The specific training in the South Kitsap School District will be subject to oversight by the School Board, with input from the community, and that oversight will determine what will and will not be taught.

Related to CRT and often associated with it is The 1619 Project.  The 1619 Project is easer to define than CRT because it has a single point of origin, being first published in August 2019 in The New York Time Magazine which "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative." It was a collection of essays rather than a single article.  It has been the subject both praise and of scholarly criticism. Some of the original facts and claims have been revised.   [source] 

Institutional racism or systemic racism refers to factors that have become inherent in our society and laws that tend to foster racism.  For example, if a prestigious college that previously admitted only white students, but now admits all students regardless of color,  continues to give an an admission preference to children or grandchildren of prominent alumni, that would constitute institutional racism because the children of older alumni would be predominately white.

An example of institutional sexism would be a hospital that had urinals in the restrooms labeled "Doctors" but only stalls in the restrooms labeled "Nurses". 

A previously common practice among real estate brokers was known as a "pocket listing", where a seller would list their property with a broker, and the broker would only circulate that listing among known buyers within that broker's own circle, rather than circulating the listing with a multiple listing service.  This denied the opportunity for a more diverse population of prospective buyers to even become aware that the property was for sale.

Institutional racism in the schools might occur when assumptions were made about whether a new student would want to be on the varsity basketball team, base on that student's height and color.

Please provide in the comments button on the lower right corner any examples of specific practices in the South Kitsap Schools that are inherently and systemically racist and should be addressed.

Statistics alone do not prove racial discrimination. For example, statistically speaking , motorcycle owners have more motorcycle injuries than non-motorcycle owners.  It is the ownership alone that causes the injuries?  I have three sons, two of whom owned motorcycles and two of whom rode motorcycles, but they they were not the same two in each category.  It was not the ownership of the motorcycle that increased the risk of injury, but the actual riding of the motorcycle, not to mention the manner in which it was ridden.   Statistics can be misleading.

My post-graduate studies in statistical research have led me to believe that statistics, when properly applied, can be helpful in learning something, but they too easily prone to being distorted and manipulated to be relied upon when someone else is trying to cite them to prove anything.

Most people tend to interpret facts and events in a way that reinforces their pre-conceived beliefs and opinions.  

I heard a story about a man who sat on the outskirts of his village.  When a traveler was coming to the village and asked what the people were like in that village, the man would ask, "How were the people in the last village you visited?"  The traveler would respond that they were good, or indifferent, or kind, or mean, or whatever.  The man answered, you will find them the same here.  And he was always right.

While some people are actually racist, some people are just jerks, inconsiderate or unpleasant people.  If someone offends me, I can just assume that they are thoughtless or inconsiderate jerks, or I can take it personally and consider they the were mean to me on purpose for a specific reason.  If I have been taught to believe that I am oppressed and discriminated against because of some trait of mine, then I would interpret any offense as proof of discrimination based on my particular trait and that would continue to reinforce my belief that I am oppressed.

A wise man once said, "If you receive things in the spirit in which they should have been intended, you will not be offended."

As stated, some people are racist.  Some people are homophobic, Some people are sexist.  Their improper actions need to be addressed.  But not all offenses are based on anything other than the fact that the offender is a jerk.

Much of the history of the United States has been impacted by race. Not only were slaves imported from Africa to work the plantations in the South, but indigenous people who were here before the European immigrants (or invaders, depending upon your perspective) were slaughtered or relocated and robbed or their lands.  After the Civil War, laws and practices continued to oppress Black Americans.  Each new wave of immigrants was discriminated against by those who were here before them.  Chinese were brought over to build railroads, then oppressed.  Laws were passed to restrict immigration with racial quotas (after the "Give me your tired, your poor" inscription was placed on the Statue of Liberty.)  Japanese Americans were relocated against their wills during the Second World War.  I have three grandchildren living in the United States whose mother is Japanese and they experience overt discrimination even today.

We have been making progress over the past century in this country.  A race massacre occurred in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921 but we have not seen such things recently.  We have a had a Black American elected President.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2018, the number of black immigrants living in the U.S. has risen 71% since 2000.  Blacks are moving here, not leaving a supposedly oppressive racist county.  (President Obama's father was from Kenya.)

History needs to be taught factually and address both sides of each issue.  That is the only way to avoid repeating the errors of the past.  I visited my daughter living in Germany and outside of her apartment were markers replacing some of the bricks or stones in the sidewalk.  Each one had the name and other information on a person who was taken from that location by the Nazis and never returned. Denying the Holocaust is illegal in Germany.  Teach the good and the bad, but don't dwell on the bad, there is still much good in this country.

Barriers to any child's opportunities for success need to be removed and they need to be taught that they all have equal opportunities for success.

The term equity can simply mean fairness, or it can be used in two different ways.  One is equity of opportunity, or equal rights under the law.  The other is equity of outcome, meaning everyone gets the same level of success, prosperity, or whatever.  When anyone argues for "equity" there should be an understanding of which meaning in intended.

If someone is a proponent for "equity", that does not mean that they necessarily are a proponent of CRT.

Most of us have known people whom I refer to as "professional victims".  All of their woes and troubles supposedly are the result of the offenses of other people and the victims themselves have no control or responsibility for their situation and constantly need rescuing.  They will often go from one acquaintance to another seeking assistance and rescuing, then go on to another acquaintance when the previous rescuer becomes burnt out.  When they work their way through their list of rescuers, they go back to the top of the  list.

I have had similar experiences when inviting homeless people to live in my home. (With some, but not all.)

If people are taught and convinced that they are victims, they will never take responsibility for the circumstances in their own lives.

The same government that posts signs in the National Parks advising us not to feed the bears because they will become dependent upon handouts and become unable to sustain themselves nevertheless encourages the expansion of assistance programs for the poor.

While students facing disadvantages and obstacles to their success need encouragement and assistance in order to achieve their full potential, teaching children that they are victims of a system and need to be rescued will not promote their assuming personal responsibility for their own actions and decisions.

The famed Statue of Liberty has a bronze plaque pictured above, inscribed with the following;

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

Irving Berlin put the latter portion to music. See also a Choral arrangement  of the same.

With the Board's defeat of the June 16, 2021 resolution on Critical Race Theory, the issue has not been settled.

The state guidelines to be used for the school board training have not yet been developed.  When they are developed and reviewed the Board will have another opportunity to revisit the issue.

The voters' hold the School Board accountable for what is taught in the schools, not only to the staff but more particularly to the students themselves.  While the Board must operate within the laws and state regulations, they do have some discretion as to how and what is taught.

I have heard from other Districts that some teachers are signing petitions stating that they will teach Critical Race Theory to their students "regardless of law or policy".  This may be only a "shot across the bow" and  does not have any specificity as to exactly what they consider to be Critical Race Theory.  While their have free speech rights to sign petitions, they are still employees of the District who are hired to teach the curriculum adopted by the School Board.

The Board governs through adopting policy that provide the parameters within which the Superintendent operates the schools.

I personally attended the training provided to the staff and supported policy amendments appropriate to assure that what is taught in the schools is in conformity with the values of the South Kitsap community.

Director Diehl and Director Berg drafted amendments to Board policy, specifically Operational Expectations 10 - Learning Environment/Student Discipline, that, when properly interpreted, will preclude the teaching of the deleterious aspects of Critical Race Theory.  That amendment was adopted on October 20, 2021, with Directors Diehl and Berg voting in the affirmative, Director Sebren voting in the negative, and Director Daily abstaining.  The policy as amended is shown below