Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Education / Politics / Woods School Board Member Karen Johnson Says She's Under Pressure to Vote Based on Race
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 7:58 AM
OK, this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say we ought to disband the school board. It started with blogger Kay Brooks criticizing board member Karen Johnson for saying she wondered if a white guy could run a diverse school district like Nashville's. Johnson was talking about Jesse Register, our soon-to-be new superintendent.
Then Johnson, who actually wound up voting for Register, defended herself in a comment:
"What most people don't understand is the constant fire I am under by a small group of people who want to paint me as being against my own race. I am not against anyone and the wall that I was up against at this meeting I am not going to go into. The fact is I was told that here you go again, voting for someone who is a white male versus the black candidate. I was accused of this for the vote I made for the chair giving my vote to David Fox. I was accused of being against blacks by the rezoning vote, and now I had accusations around this situation. I was told 'we are watching to see if you do the right thing this time.' The fact is that my vote is not based on race 'ever' but I did have to lay it out there what I was challenged with."
Now, I ask you again Dear Pith Reader, is this any way to run a school district? It's like we're talking about the Italian parliament here. That Johnson's under pressure to vote based on her race is bad enough. But it's no worse than the Chamber of Commerce giving great wads of campaign cash, then bullying board members to vote for a student rezoning plan to remove inner-city black kids from Hillwood. Johnson may have resisted pressure from black constituents when she voted for the rezoning plan, but did she knuckle under to the Chamber, which funded her campaign?
Switching to an appointed board with mayoral control wouldn't entirely stamp out interest-group politics like this, but it might help.
h/t Kleinheider
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
Karen Johnson's vote actually allowed him to be the candidate to extend the contract to. Dr. McEwen votes were "Kindall, Gentry, Porter, and Brannon" Don't you think she was supposed to join them in the vote for McEwen?
Dr. Registers votes were "Fox, Coverstone, Glover and North.
Now you decide where she really should have voted.
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As an italian in Nashville, I'd like to point out that the school board has still some way to go before it reaches the italian parliament's demanding standards (the scenes below occurred few months ago when the parliament voted out of office the previous government):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-3fzrJfJhc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7mJNMdJu0&feature=related
Education has nothing to do with ethnic background. However the system is structured for a two parent child to educate and stats reveal one parent children hence our system needs restructuring. Glenda
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=64637
McEwen’s answer was defended by Porter, as well as by board member Ed Kindall.
Fox, for one, said he is “mindful” of the “ongoing, productive relationship” between Smith and Register, a relationship that could prove “useful” to MNPS. And board member Karen Johnson said she liked what Register had to say about the state contributing as a partner to the leadership of schools.
Ms. Johnson votes her conviction and spin all you like, she is a good person. Her vote for rezoning she explained numerous times and like it or not it was the black female which on her blog I believe was a Cheryl Mayes who she appointed to the task force that had alot of influence on her vote and her own analysis not the chamber, so drop it.
"Her vote for rezoning she explained numerous times and like it or not it was the black female which on her blog I believe was a Cheryl Mayes who she appointed to the task force that had alot of influence on her vote and her own analysis not the chamber, so drop it."
Let's just hope you're not an English teacher in Metro.
Jeff, we used to have an appointed school board.Was it any better? Nope. Have the mayor appoint the members? Recall the mayors of Nashville in the pre-Bredesen era.
Well Henry,
As a student of Nashville history, you should know that we had an appointed school board until the segregationists changed the Metro charter to try to stop busing. I'm surprised to find you defending this relic of segregation.
This school board member is doing what she feels is right for ALL students. Adhering to some outside group's agenda does not necessarily serve the children, but it does seem to favor one group at the expense of another. This political pressuring has nothing to do with education, and everything to do with the destruction of the white race, its traditions, and its legacy. You can debate whether the white race is worth preserving, but I can tell you they do have the right of self-determination, and some blacks are ready to live and let live.
