Amos is in

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

GCS Board member Amos Quick today filed for re-election in Dist. 9 for a second term. Between now and Friday, it is uncertain whether he will have any opposition on the ballot.

E.C.

Doug Clark pays tribute to Dot Kearns

Doug Clark at the News & Record inked a column today in which he paid a sort of tribute to outgoing at-large GCS Board member Dot Kearns…and it is both igniting a crap-storm on his blog, and unfortunately reopening old wounds among many across the area who were unfairly victimized by the many rounds of busing led by Kearns.

Kearns: Tender heart, tough skin

The next school built in old High Point ought to be named for Dot Kearns.

Not in north High Point, where Kearns was hanged in effigy a few years ago. That’s not her best part of town.

But south of Oak Hollow Lake, Kearns has been associated positively with education for so long that it’s almost odd a school doesn’t already carry her name. …

T. Wingate Andrews, Laurin Welborn, William Penn and Alfred J. Griffin have met their equal.

A child who entered kindergarten in High Point the year Kearns began her service on the city school board, 1972, is likely turning 41 now and may have seen his or her own kids graduate from Guilford County Schools — with Kearns now sitting on the Board of Education.

In between, she logged two terms on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, including a turn as chairwoman.

Altogether, she’s held public office for 34 of the last 36 years — a remarkable record that will end in December. Kearns said Monday she won’t run for re-election to the at-large seat she’s occupied since 1992.

The hangers-in-effigy may rejoice. They vilified Kearns as an architect of the “choice plan” that sought to achieve a better socioeconomic mix of students at High Point’s three high schools. The effort was meant to draw voluntary transfers for unique academic programs but failed to meet its promise and resorted to an unpopular assignment lottery. Eventually it was abandoned.

Even in the midst of that uproar in 2004, Kearns won re-election against Jim Kirkpatrick, a former colleague on the Board of Commissioners and a formidable challenger. It turned out to be the last of what Kearns tallies as her 19 campaigns. Anyone who wrote off this gentlewoman as a soft touch on Election Day made a serious mistake. Kearns almost always came up a winner.

One exception was 1990, when she lost her commissioners’ seat to fellow High Pointer Steve Arnold.

“That was about merger and Harvey Gantt,” recalled Kearns, who ran as a Democrat against the Republican Arnold. They were identified on opposite sides of two volatile issues — Guilford County school merger and the Jesse Helms-Harvey Gantt U.S. Senate race.

The defeat put Kearns out of office for two years, until she gained a seat on the newly consolidated school board. She was elected countywide but became a strong advocate for High Point.

She counts as a highlight “the development of magnet opportunities in High Point. Greensboro had 16 when we merged, High Point and the county had none. It’s wonderful the opportunities we have in High Point now,” she said Monday.

One of the most exciting is the aviation program at Andrews.

Kearns’ greatest disappointment didn’t surprise me: the resegregation of public schools. She believes passionately that children from different racial and economic backgrounds should get to know each other at an early age, and the social and academic benefits are worth busing them across a city as small as High Point.

It’s an intensely unpopular position these days, with little support from white or black communities. Kearns’ persistence in the face of hostility, ridicule and personal abuse is a testimony to her idealism and sense of hope and why I credit her with the tenderest heart and toughest hide of anyone I know in politics.

At 76, she deserves to retire from the battles and spend more time with her husband, Lyles, visiting their out-of-state children and grandchildren.

But not quite yet. Kearns will stick around long enough to help choose the next superintendent.

Terry Grier detractors may forget that Kearns voted against hiring him eight years ago. She’ll be just as choosy this time. But, any decision gives naysayers a chance to toss more bricks.

No problem. In a lifetime of public service, Kearns has caught enough bricks to build a school. It ought to have her name on it.

*********************

E.C.

Media Advisory: Huey to file Friday

Elect Erik “E.C.” Huey, 2008 Guilford Co. Board of Education (at-large) Candidate PUTTING GUILFORD COUNTY’S CHILDREN FIRST!

M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE E.C. HUEY

OFFICIALLY FILES FOR AT-LARGE RACE

JAMESTOWN/ADAMS FARM (27 February 2008) – Guilford County 2008 School Board at-large candidate Erik “E.C.” Huey will convene a brief press conference this Friday, Feb. 29, to announce the official filing of his 2008 school board campaign.

The press event will convene at 11:45am on the sidewalk in front of the old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market Street in downtown Greensboro .

Mr. Huey will submit his filing inside at the Guilford County Board of Elections at 11:30am, after which he will make a brief public statement and will take questions from the news media at 11:45am.

The candidate will briefly discuss major highlights from his campaign and will address recent newsworthy events from school discipline to this year’s superintendent search.

Huey said today: “The campaign for putting our children first begins in earnest on Friday. With two challengers in the race so far, I’m looking forward to a spirited debate and a worthwhile campaign.”

Supporters of Huey’s grass-roots candidacy, including concerned parents, students, teachers, administrators, any current school board members and community leaders are invited to attend. Press coverage is welcomed and encouraged.

E.C. Huey is an unofficial candidate for the 2008 at-large position on the Guilford County Board of Education and will officially file for the position this Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. More information about his candidacy, positions, published statements and blog can be found on his official campaign website: www.hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org.