LETTERS: Rucker
To the Editor:
I urge you to write in Val DeFever for the State Board of Education position.
Val DeFever has a wide range of expertise as a teacher, local board member, community leader, business owner and State School Board member. These roles have given her invaluable insights on the issues that our state will face. For the last three years, Val DeFever has been an outstanding representative of our interests on the State Board. She has worked tirelessly to make the needed decisions to ensure that Kansas' position as a leader in the educational arena is strong.
With the updates in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, referred to as the "No Child Left Behind" by President Bush, Val DeFever's experience is desperately needed to blend our state standards with those of the national level. Kansas' future federal education funds will depend on Kansas' alignment with these tests. The accreditation and future operation of our local schools depends on our local test scores.
In contrast, DeFever's opponent has yet to attend a State Board meeting, not even the two meetings that have occurred since she won the primary. Does this show her level of interest to become a State School Board member?
Write in Val DeFever for State Board of Education on November 5. Our children, schools, and Kansas need Val DeFever's active participation in Topeka.
Dorothy Rucker
Teacher of Peabody-Burns children since 1974
