We want to hear from candidates running in contested races in the towns the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript covers, and for school board (even if uncontested) in one of our school districts.
Candidates whose contact information we have should have received questionnaires from reporters Julia Stinneford and Ashley Saari. If not, consider this our invitation. Candidates should send replies to news@ledgertranscript.com by Feb. 24.
For all of the candidates, we’re looking for the following information: name and position being sought, the town you’re running in, age, the number of years you’ve lived in town, previous or current elected office and two issues you think are important and how you would address them, along with a headshot.
We’ve added another question for school board candidates – “Given the controversy over the ‘divisive concepts’ law and proposed ‘teachers’ loyalty’ bill, what do you think is appropriate to teach students about racism?”
As previously stated in this space, due to bills in Concord, there is a debate on where the line is between teaching that is considered “legitimate” and teaching that promotes “a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States of America” and “teaching that the United States was founded on racism.”
That would be enough for us to ask school board candidates how they felt about the subject and what they would do if elected, but now proposals in two districts are turning it into even more of a local issue. Nearly identical petition warrant articles in the ConVal and Jaffrey-Rindge districts called for making all instructional materials available to the public in each of the district’s town libraries by Sept. 15, as well as making professional training materials provided to teachers, administrators and staff available.
Both would be nonbinding if passed, and the Jaffrey-Rindge proposal was amended so much as to basically be neutered, but for the potential of these proposals or others to intimidate teachers from sharing the “wrong” information, the public should know who supports them.
So we’re asking.