WE VOTE TUESDAY. INFLATED GRADES, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, AND UNION INFLUENCE ARE ISSUES IN THIS ELECTION. HERE ARE CANDIDATES' VIEWS AND CONTEXT.

Three Rockwood candidates are vying for 2 seats on Rockwood's School Board. They have answered more than 40 questions combined at two different candidate forums.

This post focuses on three of the more controversial issues and what the candidates said about them.

ISSUE: INFLATED GRADES

At Rockwood's six middle schools, teachers cannot give any grade lower than a 50%, even for assignments that are not turned in. Intended to help struggling students whose grades would not ever recover from zeros, some parents and teachers have expressed concern that the free points reduces motivation to work hard, among all students.

CANDIDATE VIEWS ON INFLATED GRADES

(In order of their positions on the ballot)

Tamara Rhomberg:
Supports it.

Phil Milligan:
He's open to it, but expressed some skepticism.

Thomas Dunn:
Does not support it.

You can hear their full answers around the 45:17 mark in this recorded video of the League of Women Voters forum. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: CONTROVERSIAL 

This grading change was highly controversial among teachers and parents, in part because of the lack of transparency surrounding the change, and because of concerns that it will impact student performance. 

State data shows just over half of Rockwood middle school students scored proficient or advanced on the most recent standardized MAP tests. See the detail about the controversy and student performance in our previous report.

-----

ISSUE: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Rockwood's school board voted last year to end open patron comments at board meetings. This means people can only speak at board meetings about topics that are already on the agenda.

CANDIDATE VIEWS (ALL THREE SAY THE POLICY NEEDS TO BE REVISITED)
Tamara Rhomberg:
We should revisit the policy.

Philip Milligan:

I think it should be looked at.

Thomas Dunn:

Dunn took a stronger stance and says not allowing open patron comments has crippled the community's ability to address the board. He cited a recent meeting in which approximately 50 teachers came to discuss the overflowing trashcans in the schools and the lack of custodial staff. They were not allowed to speak because it was not already on the meeting's agenda.

You can see the candidates' full answers at around the 1:00:42 mark in this recorded video of the League of Women Voters forum.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Dunn was the first person to use the district's new process that is basically a consolation replacement for not being able to speak at board meetings. If you can get your topic on the agenda, you can speak about it. He said the process to get an item on the agenda took a couple of weeks.

--------

ISSUE: UNION INFLUENCE, CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Every year, Rockwood's teachers union endorses candidates. RNEA = Rockwood National Education Association.

Some in the community believe that endorsement is a conflict of interest because the school board candidates, if elected, will vote whether to approve the contract the RNEA has with the district.

CANDIDATE VIEWS:
Tamara Rhomberg: (Endorsed by the RNEA)
She says it is not a conflict of interest that she has the endorsement of the RNEA. Instead, she says, it's an "honor."

Philip Milligan: (Endorsed by the RNEA)
He says it is not a conflict of interest that he has the endorsement of the RNEA. He says he is beholden to no one.

Thomas Dunn: (Not endorsed by the RNEA)
He says it IS a conflict of interest for anyone to have the RNEA endorsement because the school board members both vote on the contract the district has with the RNEA and they also sit in on the negotiations. Mr. Dunn learned this during his previous term on Rockwood's school board from 2019-2022.

The candidates' full answers about the RNEA question are around the 1:06:50 mark in this recorded video of the League of Women Voters forum.

A LOT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE RNEA ENDORSEMENT:

1) MAJORITY OF THE CURRENT BOARD WERE ENDORSED BY RNEA

5 of Rockwood's 7 current school board members were elected when they were endorsed by the RNEA. When Dunn was on the board from 2019-2022, 6 of the 7 board members were endorsed by the RNEA.

LONE VOTE

Note: Dunn was the only board member not endorsed by the RNEA at that time. He has reminded voters that he was also the only board member that voted against going all virtual during Covid. 

2) TEACHERS AREN'T ASKED THEIR OPINIONS OF CANDIDATES

Mailers that have gone to homes this election say "Rockwood Teachers Recommend" the RNEA endorsed candidates, but teachers say they aren't asked for their opinions of the candidates. 

Instead, of the approximately 1,400 teachers in Rockwood, only a small committee decides who to endorse.

Mailer sent to homes this election.

                         

3) IT'S HARD TO COMPETE WITH RNEA CANDIDATES

MONEY
The MNEA (Missouri's branch of the National Education Association) pays to advertise the candidates the RNEA has endorsed, and has more than $600,000.00 according to reports it filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC). It has spent thousands of dollars promoting school board candidates around the state.

In one example, pages 14, 15, and 16 of this report show the money MNEA has spent on Rhomberg and Milligan: roughly $2,000 as of that report. Final reports won't be filed until after the election. The RNEA and MNEA are both branches of the national NEA organization.

INFLUENCE
In addition to financial support, teachers also get reminder texts from the President of the RNEA reminding them of which candidates were endorsed and asking "Can we count on your support of the teacher endorsed candidates?"

Source: A Rockwood teacher that feels this type of influence is inappropriate.

                                   

4) THEN THERE'S THE CONCERN ABOUT IDEOLOGY INFLUENCE

The MNEA, which paid for the above mailer, publicly stated its stance in January that all transgender students should be able to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. 

The testimony can be found on page 256 at this link.
The MNEA testimony was in opposition to a bill that would prohibit
biological boys from using girls' bathrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa.

Note: It is not Rockwood's policy at this time, to allow biological boys or girls to use bathrooms or locker rooms of the gender in which they identify.

But, it's also not an issue that's going away any time soon. Parents say their middle schoolers are not dressing out for PE because there isn't a good solution for where to have transgender students change clothes.

HOW TO ASK CANDIDATES QUESTIONS
If you'd like to get more information from the candidates, here are the emails they have publicized:

Philip Milligan:
milliganforrockwood@gmail.com

Thomas Dunn:
dunn4rockwood@gmail.com

It appears Tamara Rhomberg does not have an email address listed on her Facebook page or her website. Her school board email address (she is the incumbent) is rhombergtamara@rsdmo.org.