Somebody needs to run against Becki Couch in district 6

The filing time for school board races is rapidly approaching and I find it amazing that nobody has filed against Becki Couch in district six. By comparison Paula Wright in 4 already has two opponents and three people have filed to replace Fred Lee in district 2. When Mrs. Couch was elected four years ago I was very optimistic, she was a school teacher ascending to the board and surely things would improve as she explained what teachers both wanted and needed to be successful.  

 Unfortunately she has been a huge disappointment and by huge disappointment I mean a run-of-the-mill school board member. Teacher morale has not improved and neither has discipline under her watch.  There have been some changes though I would call few positive. The amount of charter schools has doubled, she has voted several times to replace professional teachers with Teach for America recruits, there has been leadership instability at Ed White and Baldwin which have both seen several principal changes and the district grade slipped from a B to a C. Remember when the district used every opportunity to mention we were a B district? Well they don’t do that anymore.

Despite not having an opponent this has not stopped her from raising money. She has 25k in the bank or basically what all three candidates in district 4 have combined. The lion’s share of that money has come from charter school operators and millionaires like Peter Rummel, Wayne Weaver, Preston Haskel and the Chartrand family, who don’t live in district six but are interested in steering Jacksonville’s education policy and they have found a willing acolyte in Mrs. Couch.

At the very least Mrs. Couch should have to answer questions about above but that’s not going to happen unless somebody from district 6 makes her.