School Election on Tuesday, September 18

"It’s the most significant school board election in years, affecting everybody — not just those with children in school. If you live in Zone 4, it’s your civic duty and your moral responsibility to vote. As we saw last April when road impact fees failed in a low-turnout tie vote, every vote counts," says Art Hobson in a column today endorsing Becky Purcell for the Fayetteville School Board. In support of Becky Purcell's candidacy, he points to her understanding of crucial issues regarding school location, size, and composition.

The Northwest Arkansas Times as expected endorsed Purcell's opponent, Mary Lynn Mantooth, who supports the Fayetteville Economic Development Council's position to build a new high school as an adjunct to the developers' efforts west of I-540. The newspaper has a serious conflict of interest as an active member of the FEDC and can hardly be seen as a credible objective source of information. CEO Steve Rust gives them special insider members' information for scoops on the Council's press releases in exchange for their paying FEDC membership dues and printing his "strategic deceptions" as fact.

Even so, the Times editor admitted, "Purcell is an exceedingly nice and intelligent person who brings many qualities to the table, not the least of which is her strong desire and apparent capabilities in the area of fostering healthy discussion. The core of her campaign, she says, is a desire to figure out how Fayetteville residents will go about “being a community.” The school board and administration, in her view, have been guilty of dismissing some perspectives. She wants to work to embrace all perspectives, she says."

Letters to the Editor from citizens overwhelmingly endorse Becky Purcell and make that same point. "Fair-minded and articulate, Becky would truly welcome community involvement in school district decision-making and school board discussions," wrote Christine Sheppard. "Becky Purcell has demonstrated that she is willing to take the time to sit down and talk with citizens about their concerns. When a group of parents, teachers and university faculty contacted both candidates to ask for an hour of their time, Mantooth said she would be too busy with her campaign for the foreseeable future, while Purcell offered to meet with us the next week," said Justin Minkel. "The debates between Purcell and Mantooth made it clear that Purcell has a deep understanding of the immediate and long-term implications of the decisions facing the school board." Her having a master's degree in education, we would expect no less.

Those are all important reasons for supporting Becky Purcell in next Tuesday's election. For us here at the Iconoclast, our endorsement of Becky Purcell is also based on her courage to stand up for intellectual freedom. When Laurie Taylor, Jim Holt, and the Arkansas Family Council wanted to ban scores of books from the high school library, Becky Purcell spoke up two years ago during that battle for education and the freedom to read. That does it for us.