School board votes near

Editorial board recommends Hudson, Horn

Voters — probably far too few of the ones eligible — will head to the polls Tuesday to make their selections in contested school board races in the region.

Serving on a school board is an important position of public responsibility. Some have the mistaken notion that only people with kids, or who expect to have them sooner or later, need to worry about picking representation in the local school districts. That requires a fairly narrow view of the impact a good — or bad — school district can have on the overall community.

In general, people appreciate the value of education, but unless they have a direct dog in the hunt, so to speak, the motivation to be engaged and cast a ballot can be small. The fact of the matter is everyone’s tax dollars support schools, so the representatives making decisions on how those tax dollars are spent ought to matter a lot. And the quality of schools in a town usually plays a big role in the future of the community, even to the point of influencing whether people are willing to live within a school district’s boundaries.

OK, we’ll get off the soapbox. People probably know by now whether they’re going to cast a vote. Today, after our editorial board interviewed the four candidates — two incumbents and two challengers — in Fayetteville and Rogers, we offer our thoughts on which two appear to us to be better prepared to carry out the responsibilities for new five-year terms. Spoiler alert: This time, we’re recommending voters stick with the current officeholders.

FAYETTEVILLE, ZONE 5 Tim Hudson is in his third term on the Fayetteville School Board, enough time to have made decisions that earned applause and others that have earned him scorn, at least by this or that group of interested people. That, in a nutshell, is why a lot of our fellow residents simply don’t want anything to do with serving on the school board.

But Hudson soldiers on, applying a welcome analytical approach to the important matters facing Fayetteville Public Schools.

He’s the board’s longest-serving member and, yes, as the next-up school board member to face re-election, he’s caught the flak from people unhappy with the junior high mascots decision, but Hudson has displayed a devotion to the cause of public education his challenger, Dwight Gonzales, cannot match.

Indeed, we believe the people who serve on local school boards should be the greatest champions of public education. Nothing about Mr. Gonzales’ choices have positioned him to be that. Virtually everything Hudson has done during nearly 15 years on the school board, however, easily puts him into that category.

Everything hasn’t gone perfectly during Hudson’s time on the board — four superintendents, for example — but it’s a testament to the work of the board that the difficulties have not disrupted the work of educating Fayetteville’s future generation of leaders. Hudson has had a strong role in the leadership necessary to make sure that happens.

Hudson’s experience on the school board is valuable and worth keeping around as the board makes more plans to position the school district’s students and faculty for success.

For voters serious about bolstering public education, Tim Hudson is the name on the ballot to put a check mark by.

ROGERS, ZONE 4

The choice in Rogers is between a 37-year-old educator wrapping up her first term on the school board and 31-year-old challenger who appears earnest in his desire to contribute but whose preparation for the role he seeks seems to have barely scratched the surface.

Amy Horn is our recommendation to voters to continue into a second term. A former kindergarten teacher who is now director of a pre-school, Horn has been deeply involved in the parent-teacher organization at Darr Elementary and plans to continue that as her kids move to new schools.

Her classroom experience is valuable as she helps make the policy and funding decisions for the district. A conversation with her quickly demonstrates she’s spent her first term becoming strong in knowledge about the district and is eager to put that experience and knowledge to work for several more years.

Her challenger, lawyer Aaron Cash, some may remember for his run as a Libertarian for Arkansas attorney general a couple of years ago. We respect his desire to serve, but it’s clear he’s running a bit of an armchair campaign, taking tidbits from a few discussions and trying to convert them into policy proposals that might be needed “if” what he’s been told is accurate. He hasn’t done the homework to deliver even basic confirmation of whether what he’s heard is broadly applicable or true. He’s smart, but has not positioned himself well to compete against all the positives Horn brings to the board.

From our perspective, the people who want the Rogers Public Schools to continue its successes and earn more will get their money’s worth out of Amy Horn.

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Here’s the trick, though, in both of these races: The numbers of votes cast will be low, meaning any apathy among voters can leave the outcome to chance. A few votes can swing the races one way or the other. So we recommend people who care about their schools get out and vote to ensure the best candidates win.