Some time back I wrote the Roland Hansen Commentary Who and where is John R. Bender? in which amongst other things I stated, "I find it unsettling that Mr. Bender is an elected official who seems to be invisible."
There was an entry the other day in my wife's blog, Judy's Jewels, The Blog of Judy Hansen, in which she wrote of the Dedication Ceremony and Community Open House for The New Penta Career Center. Established in 1965, Penta was the first multi-county vocational school in Ohio. Serving students from a five county region and sixteen school districts, the new three-story facility sits on 150 acres and consists of 522,000 square feet with a maximum capacity of 2,000 students in grades 10 through 12. Of course, Judy and I were at the auspicious event.
There were a lot of dignitaries and elected officials at the official dedication ceremony, but the absence of one specific elected official stuck out like a sore thumb.
I reference Judy's entry now for you to read not just her original posting but also for the third comment that was made on that entry by Judy herself in which she informs us that our elected State Board of Education Member from the Second District, Mr. John R. Bender, was ABSENT. Take a look-see and read Penta - A Bold New Beginning.
As I stated and asked before in my aforementioned Roland Hansen Commentary, I do so again:
I find it unsettling that neither the public nor the mass media seem to care that an elected school board member appears to ignore his constituency.
Just what is John Bender doing for education in the State of Ohio? Where is the public outcry, especially from those people who claim they are interested in our public school districts?
To whom is John R. Bender responsible? Where is the accountability?
3 comments:
Roland,
While I often wish that more elected officials would maintain a less visible profile, this does seem a bit strange. I can't help but be curious about the man, and what if anything he is doing with his responsibilities.
You can read John Bender's Mission statement from John Bender's 2006 Campaign website.
I wonder what he has been doing (to use his own words) "for the best possible education for all of our children in all districts."
As far as I am concerned, John Bender is a disgrace and a poor example for public education advocacy!!!
You're angry because he didn't show up at a public event? I don't care who shows up for the credit, I want to know what they're doing behind the scenes.
When I worked for Mike DeWine, I debated Mr. Bender when he was in the Ohio House. The subject was education policy and the audience was the Ohio School Board Association. I was DeWine's education policy guy on the state staff and found John Bender to be beyond knowledgeable in education policy and practice.
I also found him to be a delightful person who, despite his Democratic party affiliation, was concerned only with what he thought was best for Ohio schools.
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