Misti Ray for Noblesville School Board

Having children in the district for 26 years & counting, I’ve seen the shift in numerous areas involving public education, even right here in our hometown.  Major changes such as additional (non-academic) responsibilities being placed on the teachers, the decline in academic priorities due to administrative policies, the inclusion of controversial political topics that have no place in the classroom, more and more growth within the community, etc. have all had a negative impact on our children’s academics.   Over the last several years we have gravitated away from our district’s core values which, ironically, do not include the word or words “academic” or "education".  The school district website promotes “Engage. Inspire. Empower” but says nothing about academics or education.  I believe we’re reaching a breaking point & have to address the increased demands placed on our teachers & counselors therefore negatively impacting our children.  We have to restore the partnership between the parents & teachers & eliminate the “them vs. us" mentality.  The teacher, the student and the parent(s) should be the most important and powerful partnership in education. When this partnership is made a priority and communication is open once again, we’ll see the responsibility of parents, the value of educators, and the success of students restored.

We need truth & transparency!  We want communication, we want to be heard as parents & a community, we want our children to come first, not politics & feelings!  We want to get back to the basics of teaching academics & stop wasting their education on SEL, CRT & politics!  I know for a fact that we have several phenomenal teachers here in our district so let’s get the academics back to the forefront for these teachers & help them help our children!