Cindy Roe

   As an advocate (some say crusader) for our traditional public schools, students, and teachers - I sometimes express opinions which reflect the political aspects of public education. So it is with this column:
   Cindy Roe was just elected to serve as the new District 42 (Garvin and McClain County) state representative. The incumbent rep. for our district, after serving only a year, decided not to run again. He cited reasons such as "the pressure was too much to serve", or "I was attacked" for quitting, and threw his support behind another candidate for HD 42. He donated $2,700 (the maximum allowed) to the campaign of Allie Burgin - as his legacy to the district. Surprisingly, Allie was defeated in the June primary by Cindy Roe, who then went on to win the general election last week. Allie Burgin was the private and charter school chosen replacement for District 42, and had the financial support of Betsy Devos (the U.S. Secretary of Education) - but was handily defeated.
   I had the opportunity in April to question all candidates for the district at Mid-America Technology Center (in Wayne). The only question concerning our public schools, paraphrased, was "Do you believe, if elected, that you should be able to spend public tax dollars for private services?" Mr. Burgin answered the question "Yes". Burgin was the only candidate who indicated that he, as an elected representative, would spend public tax dollars for private services (legislator choice for spending). Cindy Roe answered the question indicating that she will support our public schools, students, and teachers, by not spending public money for private services. This answer is diametrically opposed to her predessessor's actions as the District 42 representative.
   The true test of support though is not in answering questions as a candidate, but in how an elected lawmaker votes on bills which affect our traditional (conservative) public schools. We will continue to monitor Cindy Roe's voting record which affects our public schools, and report in this column...