David K. Taylor Campaign Letter

My name is David K. Taylor and I am running for a seat on the Oyster River School Board. The election is March 10th at Mast Way in Lee, Town Hall in Madbury, and ORHS in Durham. After reading this letter, if you trust I can do the job, then please support me with your vote.

The most important issue in this election is the overcrowding and accreditation problems at ORHS. There are 2 bond articles on the ballot for March 10th for classrooms, a gym, and an auditorium. We need both of these bonds to pass. They represent the cheapest and best solution to these problems. Passing these bonds this year will allow our district to complete a decade of wrestling with these problems. We could finally get these issues behind us. Most importantly, passing these bonds this year will avoid much worse degradation to the quality of education at ORHS. Waiting even 1 year may seriously impact what courses students can take and how well they can learn.

This issue is particularly frustrating for me because I believe the voters in ORCSD strongly support education. ORCSD was formed in 1954. For 35 years our voters have supported the budgets and bonds to build and maintain strong schools. This support has drawn other families - like mine - that are looking for good schools. But, the support at the polls, particularly for bonds, has been very thin, by 4 or 7 votes on recent bonds. I think part of that is concern about the specifics of the proposals, but I think a big part is that many people simply don't vote. As a result, we often wait, paying more for less school, and then paying still more again to add on soon thereafter. That's what we did when ORHS and Moharimet were first built.

I find some opponents of the bonds to have an ironic position. In one breath they say the current proposal spends too much and then in the next breath they say we should build a new school. $15.55 million is a lot of money. But it would cost at least $21 million to build the same school from scratch. A comparable school in Maine is $24 million. I don't think we can afford a new school, nor that a new school would be $6 million better than what is proposed. This is a good school at a good price.

The problem won't just go away. We are already overcrowded and the ORCSD Long Range Planning Committee, Strafford Regional Planning Commission, and the NH Office of State Planning all project continued growth. The cost to do the same project next year will cost a lot more. The cost to do less next year will cost comparatively more, and when we need to add on more a couple years later, it will cost yet more again. We must solve this problem, and the cheapest way to solve it is to pass these bonds this year.

One of the nicest side effects of passing these bonds this year, is that we will be done with it. For a decade, we have been struggling to handle the projected overcrowding. We have considered numerous proposals and bonds, and we have fixed the problems at the elementary and middle schools. All we have left is to finish the job at the High School. If we pass these bonds this year, then we can turn our attention to other issues like curriculum, the teacher's contract, and technology among others. Of course, if they pass, we will need to work hard to be sure we get what we pay for and that we maintain a good education for our students while their school is being rebuilt. But, if the bonds fail, then instead we will have to spend another year trying to find an alternate solution.

I am running for School Board from a sense of duty and a feeling of frustration. I feel a strong sense of responsibility for my children as their father, and for our community as a citizen. I always want to feel productive; that I am helping to solve problems. I thank my parents and my training as an Eagle Scout for my sense of duty.

My frustration is with how solutions to our problems seem to be lost in partisan conflict. We focus too much on conflict and not enough on education. This partisanship turns off voters and costs everyone in the end. I have worked through Oyster River On-Line to cross partisan boundaries and give all people the detailed factual information they need to make informed decisions and feel confident about their votes. I hope to continue that work as a member of the School Board.

To put this another way, I want to work to heal our community after a decade of strife. I want to listen to all views and to seek dialog with people on all sides of the issues. I want full disclosure of all public information. My goal is to publish, including on the Internet, all public information as soon as it becomes public. I want the public to be aware of issues before they are decided so they can affect those decisions. I think Oyster River On-Line has been a first step in that direction, but there are many more steps to go.

I want to work to improve the quality of life of everyone in our district. Instead of viewing schools and taxes as opposing forces, I prefer to view both as factors in the standard of living of our community. Our schools affect the quality of life of our kids today and in their future. The tax burden affects the quality of life of all tax payers and all the members of their families. We must strive to find what's best for our entire community.

I have worked and studied computer technology for about 20 years. Most of that time I have been a software engineer for various businesses. This experience has given me a good understanding of what computer technology can do, but also a good understanding of the difficulties that computer technology brings. For example, it initially costs more to add computers instead of saving money. But, every one of our kids will be working with computers in one way or another in the future global marketplace. I hope this experience will be particularly useful as our schools deploy computers and the Internet.

The primary role of the School Board is to make decisions on behalf of the voters. I hope that my willingness to listen and understand all sides will make me better able to represent the voters. I will do my best to give the issues thoughtful consideration and to be fair. I hope to help the School Board as a whole give all issues timely consideration and make timely decisions.

My fiscal decisions will be based on these principals. We must fulfill our commitments and responsibilities. We must stay focused on education. We must not tolerate waste. We must live within our means.

I am a strong supporter of public education. Every child deserves the best education we can give them. Every child has individual strengths that the school should develop, and weaknesses the school should overcome. Every child should be able to master the core curriculum.

Public education is a partnership between teachers and parents. The teacher in the classroom is crucial to a good education. But, one of the strongest factors in a child's education is parental involvement. Our schools should work to strengthen that involvement.

Public education has a particular responsibility because by the force of law our government compels our children to be educated and it compels us to pay for it. In turn, these laws give educators the obligation to be sure our children receive a good education and we only pay what is needed. I hope that I will be able to fulfill this obligation as a member of the School Board.

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Last update on 29-Mar-99 at 9:26 PM.

http://www.orol.org/district/elections/1998/taylor_letter.html

This page is edited by David K. Taylor. Please send questions or comments to editor@orol.org.