Hello, as the son of two teachers, I want to comment on some of the recent flak Jason Conger is receiving for his right-wing social and education views.
While I agree Jason's close ties with a millennialist religious sect are worrisome, realistically, that part of his social message will not be a big factor in Salem. What concerns me more is the intersection of his social opinions, with his education theories, and his insistence on HOMESCHOOLING ALL five of his own kids.Deciding the education budget and its priority in relation to other state programs is one of the fundamental duties of a House member. Simply put: It would be irresponsible of local taxpayers to choose someone, having no family involvement or experience with a modern school system, to represent our own BLP school district within the state government!
On a basic level, I worry about increased taxpayer cost to the district, for the inevitable mistakes and missed funding opportunities, that will result from a representative who only knows about a public school from what he's read or been told. We cannot expect such a legislator to be as effective at advocating for the schools as someone who has sat on the volunteer boards or who has prior government experience.
However I am also worried about the things Conger seems to proactively suggest we do to our school kids. Things like longer bus rides for rural families, or untested outsourcing proposals. Jason's family won't feel the effects of these schemes and they won't be talking about them over the dinner table. We cannot afford a legislator who, by his own design, is SO REMOVED from the community that he doesn't experience the consequences of his own actions.
Most of the partisans have already sent in their ballots as usual, but this year we need un-decided people who don't always vote to make the difference in the end. If you are a young parent who usually has better things to do than vote, please take the time, just this once, to get your ballot in. If you care about your children, want them to have the best schools possible, and don't want them involved with someone's Social-Engineering agenda, vote for ANYONE or ANYTHING over Jason Conger.
