Marie Bradley: Voters should inform themselves before casting a ballot in November

To The Daily Sun,

On Oct. 8, Jennifer Anderson announced in The Sun she is running for an at-large position on the Laconia School Board. Andrew Hosmer also placed her on his board of inquiry for the mayoral debate. For her qualifications she listed her professional experience (deputy director of Laconia Motorcycle Week), her educational achievements and community involvement. Unfortunately, one important life experience was missing from her qualifications — that is as a parent. All the book learning doesn’t prepare you for the real-life experience that comes with being a parent. Children don’t come with an instruction book and every child is different. It’s not a one size fits all when it comes to real life. Through the everyday experiences of our own children, their interaction with friends and their school experiences, as a parent we gain a sense of what is in their best interest. To me, this knowledge is the most important prerequisite for service on the school board.

Elections have consequences, especially with what we are currently experiencing on the national level. As informed voters we need to know as much as possible about where a candidate stands on the issues both nationally and locally. When it comes to the most important issue of educating the children of Laconia, voters need to know if the goal of the school board members is to provide children with an education that will prepare them to be productive members of society or if the goal is to indoctrinate their young minds with divisive social issues by promoting critical race theory or issues regarding gender. For the good of the children, we need to know exactly where a candidate stands on these issues. For some reason, Miss Anderson failed to address any issues facing our community such as CRT; diversity, equity, inclusion-justice; social emotional learning; or a thorough curriculum review, much less provide any solutions to prevent the indoctrination of our children.

As parents, we must always try to do what is best for our children. More and more, however, we are seeing what happens when the “supposed experts” take charge and take away parents' decision-making responsibilities and ignore their wishes. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the National School Board Association have designated moms and dads who express their opinions at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.” At the end of the day, whatever the decisions made by a school board member should also have an impact on their “own” household.

Please be an informed voter when it comes to both our city council and especially our school board elections in November. The future of Laconia and especially our children depend on it.

Marie Bradley

Laconia