Breaking Through the Wall of Humbug

I have offered many reasons why voters should vote for me:

• The elementary school Math curriculum is flawed.
• The elementary school English Language Arts curriculum is flawed.
• The Connected Math curriculum in middle school is dumbing down math.
• Our schools are mismanaged when you compare them to our neighbors.
• I have demonstrated the Board of Trustees is not providing the oversight they should.
• I am better qualified than any member on the board to help fix curriculum problems.
• I have identified a Tutoring Divide in Plano that needs to be addressed.
• I have a vision for combating cheating with the Pledge to Justice.
• I have identified problems with the 4x4 curriculum being pushed by our legislators.
• I have identified problems with the "growth model" of grading proposed by the PISD Administration.
• I have a vision for goals of education to help guide our district to greatness: the Texas Ascendant Campaign.

But I still get asked this question: "Yes, but why should I vote for you?"

Obviously I think I can work to solve the problems I have identified. So what is it that I am not getting across to some people? Communication is not that easy.

Here is something I have not said yet that some voters might be waiting to hear: You should vote for Robert Canright because I will break down the Wall of Humbug that surrounds the PISD administration.

Here is a link to a description of what happened years ago when Timothy Soh presented his findings to the Board of Trustees that PISD was possibly spending money it did not need to spend: Trustee Gary Base refused to even consider the facts. I have found the same facts true today, years later. The Board has erected a Wall of Humbug to protect the Administration from any need to improve its performance.

After I presented data showing the Allen, Frisco, and Richardson ISDs outperform Plano ISD, the Administration published a very nice article on their website about 42 of the Plano schools receiving high ratings from a group called "Just for the Kids". (If the PISD website does not have the link I referenced, try here at this link.) That sounds great, almost like saying my data is wrong. Well, the TEA data has 47 Plano schools rated Recognized or Exemplary: 47 from the TEA is better than the 42 from Just for the Kids (69% vs. 62%). But Allen ISD has 90% of their schools rated Recognized or Exemplary, and 90% is a lot better that either 69% or 62%. Yes, I understand the Administration feels defensive, but it is still humbug to pretend there are no problems at PISD.

The Board and Administration are not the only ones creating the Wall of Humbug. The local papers also are part of the Wall of Humbug. Here is a link to a good article about the election that you can read in a periodical called My Crescent. Think about it. The Dallas Morning News does not have this article, and neither do the Plano Star Courier nor the Murphy Monitor. But as a testament to the greatness of America we have new source of news in Plano from a man to traveled across the ocean to seek the American dream of starting his own business. This is the true glory of Capitalism: that competition can improve our lives and our society by providing competition in delivering news to our community.

The establishment newspapers are part of the Wall of Humbug, so I am relieved that Capitalism is alive and well in Texas, providing competition for the existing papers.

Vote for Robert Canright and you can have an honest two-way communication with a member of the Board of Trustees instead of running into the Wall of Humbug.