With top Idaho educators telling why they’re voting for Dr. Stan Olson, in a new video, it is a good time to revisit an opinion piece Stan wrote a few weeks ago.
The educators in the video include Dr. Geoffrey M. Thomas, Superintendent, Madison County Schools, Rexburg; Nancy Larsen, 2000 Teacher of the Year, Coeur d’Alene; Robin Sly, 2009 Teacher of the Year, Boise; and Cindy Wilson, 2003 Milken Educator, Meridian.
And here are the thoughts by Stan Olson. His ideas were very well received in media responses from readers across the state:
Forty-three years ago, as a freshman in college I ran for class president. Luckily, with a very rainy day and an exceptionally low turnout, I prevailed and was elected. This was the last time I ran for office. I am not a politician and have never wanted to be one, but I am running for this office because I believe that with the right kind of leadership in place, together we can transform public education in Idaho to become a national leader. If we do not have qualified, experienced, and focused leadership in place, our children, teachers, businesses and communities will suffer.
The last four years in public education have been a rudderless ship. We have lacked instructional and operational leadership from the state superintendent’s office. A real leader in this role must know how kids think, how teachers teach, and what it takes for school districts of all sizes and geographic locations to be successful. We need real, experienced educational leadership at the head of our state department. Without it, we will never accomplish our goals.
Through my 40-year career as an educator, I have had many experiences and learned many lessons from my successes and my mistakes. However, my tenure in the field has afforded me many valuable opportunities to learn and grow as an educator within public schools and as an administrator of public school systems. One of the lessons I have learned along the way is that a strategic plan involving all the stakeholders of our communities can do wonders for the direction of a school system.
I have facilitated these discussions many times during my career and I am running for the Office of State Superintendent because I believe that I am the right person to do this in our state. Idaho is a small population state giving us a tremendous opportunity to work together and create a plan for education that will serve the needs of our children and our communities.
If I am elected, I will be asking for your input and your involvement in shaping the future of Idaho’s public school systems. As I travel our state, I remind fellow Idahoans that this particular race involves the well being of children and their learning experience, nothing more.
I explain to them that the R and the D that will be present next to the names of candidates on the ballot hold no water in this particular race. This office has been politicized beyond belief over the last four years, and I can promise you that if I am elected, you will not see me standing behind some candidate for office touting their credibility. You will only see me working tirelessly to gather input from each and every person interested in moving education forward, working to improve the learning opportunities for our students.
Our state is struggling to provide and "maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public schools" as called on by the Idaho Constitution. Together, we can turn this situation around by electing leadership that is qualified and capable of leading our state education system, and supporting each of Idaho’s 115 school districts to become the best in our nation.
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Dr. Stan Olson is a candidate for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction. Over the past 40 years, he has served the education field as a teacher, principal, adjunct professor, educational consultant and school district superintendent. He recently retired as the superintendent of the Boise School District after almost a decade of service.
More info:
http://stanolsonblog.wordpress.com/
http://www.olsonforidaho.com/
Reprinted with permission of the author.