Opinion

Vote for experienceThe Voters within the Morgan Hill Unified School District will have a clear-cut choice to make in the election on June 7. Candidate Pamela Torrisi is a former paraeducator who worked for the district for over 30 years. She has proven leadership skills from several years as head of the classified employees union.Pam has been a member of our community for many years and is accepting campaign donations only from the local community. Her opponent Thomas Arnett has received $7,000 in campaign contributions from a group in Washington, D.C., called Leadership for Educational Equity. This is a pro-charter political action committee. He works as a researcher at an educational think tank that promotes disruptive innovation, yet he has limited experience as an educator in Teach for America and holds an MBA, but not a regular teaching credential.Voters must ask themselves what future they wish to see for our school district. Will it be a locally controlled free public education for all of our students, or a collection of for-profit corporate charter schools which could be controlled from anywhere in the country and selectively admit students to make their test scores look better and turn public tax dollars into profits for investors?Steven SpencerMorgan HillEditor’s note: See related news story on this website, in which Arnett says he is “not in favor of charter schools that are just trying to enroll students to make money.”Election should be about the issuesThe June 7 election is fast approaching, and as the national election gets more and more contentious, I’ve noticed that certain negative campaigning tactics have encroached upon the school board election here in Morgan Hill. I personally don’t feel that these methods have any place in a local election that involves two local Morgan Hill residents who both obviously have a deep dedication to education and to our school district.With that in mind, I’m writing to explain why, without cutting down the merits and reputation of Pam Torrisi, as a longtime Morgan Hill resident and alum of Live Oak High School, my family and I are supporting Tom Arnett in his run for MHUSD School Board. I’ve known Tom for over 15 years, my husband even longer, and graduated with him from Live Oak. At Live Oak, Tom was well known by other students, particularly in the music program in which we participated, for being a truly honest, caring person. It was no surprise to any of us when he was chosen to be the drum major of the Emerald Regime our senior year, and I wasn’t surprised either to see him pursue a career in education as his leadership skills were obvious even as teenagers.It seems like in the discussions I’ve seen on social media and in various local media outlets, there have been questions about Tom’s trustworthiness, even suggestions that he’s somehow shady or accepting money from nefarious sources who are seeking to, in the six-month time frame that Tom would be on the board, drastically change our school district in some way. Anyone who personally knows or has had a conversation with Tom would find these assertions almost comical, but I think it speaks to a bigger question of distrust in anyone running for political office. I often have those same misgivings where politics are concerned, but, fortunately, the decision to elect Tom or Pam does not need to be one based on who is corrupt or not.My family and I support Tom because we know he is dedicated to our district, we are interested in having someone with young children like we have with a voice on the board, and we are excited by Tom’s research and knowledge about innovative education methods.This election should be about the issues and policies that the candidates will be facing in the next six months. I urge you to make your decision in this election based upon which candidate best represents your interests and addresses your concerns.Sincerely,Hylary LocsinGilroy