New SPI candidate?
The Tacoma News-Tribune reports today that Senator Jim Kastama [D-Puyallup] is considering a run for superintendent of public instruction rather than seeking a third term in the Senate. Washington Education Association officials have been trying to find a strong candidate against former WEA chief-turned-charter school & WASL advocate Terry Bergeson in her search for a fourth term. Kastama would provide the union a likable centrist WASL critic who represents a key suburban swing region, a nice improvement over their most recent candidate, former SPI Judith Billings. Billings, while eminently qualified as a former two-term SPI, failed to rally the anti-WASL crowd sufficiently in 2004.
I'm quite interested in seeing how this plays out. While my gut says that Bergeson should win again as she seems less vulnerable than in the lead-up to her last reelection campaign, I think Kastama is a quality challenger that could bring an upset.
Also running for the position are Richland Superintendent Rich Semler and gadfly candidates David Blomstrom and Don Hansler.
Labels: 2008 Elections, Jim Kastama, Terry Bergeson
posted by TMW @ 11:56 AM
6 Comments:
"Gadfly" candidate"???
Fool, I've been involved in political activism - with an emphasis on education reform - for over a decade. I've run for public office six times, each time discussing more issues than all the other candidates combined - and hitting the bullseye each time.
During my very first campaign, I made derelict principals a campaign issue. Garfield High School principal and career criminal Al Jones bluw up in the Seattle Mafia's face right in the middle of my campaign.
I could go on and on about things you neither understand nor care about - like THE ISSUES - but I think it would be lost on tou. Have fun disinforming the public, media wh*re.
David BLomstrom
http://www.seattle-mafia.org/
"I've run for public office six times..."
I think this qualifies Mr. Blomstrom as a gadfly candidate.
Or a non-mainstream (i.e. not corrupt) outsider who doesn't give up. I'd suggest you look up the word "gadfly" in a dictionary.
In my experience, gadfly candidates are the ones who Google themselves and then argue with bloggers for not taking their candidacies more seriously. I have no issue with your candidacy, Mr. Blomstrom, and am just making an independent judgment on the race as a whole. You are certainly a unique candidate and by nature play to a very small portion of the electorate, which is why I do not consider you a serious candidate.
I hope this helps clear things up, and I did not mean to insult you in the least.
By now, it's apparent that Semler is just another one-issue (e.g. anti-WASL) candidate. In other words, he's probably being groomed by our corporate masters to pose as Bergeson's main opponent.
As usual, I'll probably be the only candidate focusing on the #1 issue facing education: Corporatization.
Please access my campaign website at http://www.invisible-republic.org/ on June 1, 2008. (Breaking: This is the FOURTH blog that wouldn't allow me to link directly to my campaign website. I guess all the blogs are working for Terry Bergeson and Rich Semler.) I have many surprises in store, including three very big ones.
As Bill Gates, Sr. once told me, "It just goes to show, you can never be too careful."
David Blomstrom
Actually, Rich Semler is an experienced superintendent of a mid-sized school district. He actually has the experience to be ready to manage a large office, as well as an understanding of general education issues. That is something that was lacking in the resume of Juanita Doyon (the Mom against the WASL).
And his opposition to the WASL is not a new position, he and the folks in Richland have already been using other assessments that are faster, cheaper and more informative than the expensive, bloated WASL.
Gordon Glenn
Educator and Union Member
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