Republican candidate for Regional Superintendent of
Schools, Matt LeClere, has filmed campaign television commercials inside the
school where he is principal, has distributed campaign pencils to children,
parents and staff in the school since August, has had a Òsign-inÓ clip-board
for students and parents with a campaign pencil attached since the beginning of
the school year. He has distributed signs and campaign literature on school
grounds. What part of the word ÒethicsÓ does this man not understand?
A
teacher now reports that LeClere has also e-mailed campaign requests from his
office computer. One wonders what else has been done for this campaign on
school property, time and equipment.
Cecil Rednour, custodian at Nielson School reportedly spoke to LeClere
about the pencils and LeClere denied knowledge of the conversation. Sounds like
something Speaker of the House Denny Hastert has said many times over the last
few months, and itÕs not funny.
One wonders that if, in addition to ignoring ethics rules and laws,
LeClere is also a liar.
IÕve
heard other stories about his rude comments about Bonnie Harris, current
Regional Superintendent of Schools. LeClere has not been in town long enough,
apparently, to understand how many people respect and love Mrs. Harris, whose
thirty years as a teacher has incredibly been used against her in this
campaign. Bonnie won her race for Regional Superintendent four years ago
against a man who had been an assistant in the office for nine years. Voters
know a good candidate when they see one, and Bonnie became the first Democrat,
woman and black to be in that position in Knox County. In fact, she is the only
African-American Regional Superintendent of School in the State of Illinois.
Bonnie
not only taught school for thirty years, she has been active in the community,
establishing advocacy groups for students of color at Knox College and
scholarships for college bound students. She has been tireless in her efforts
to encourage African-American children in the community. She has presented
parenting workshops at L.T. Stone and Bright Futures workshop center. She has
been on the board of KCCDD, Red Cross Youth Council, United Way Allocations
committee, Leadership Greater Galesburg Committee, Congressman Lane Evans
Academy board, Mississippi Valley Girl Scouts Council and Carver Community
Action Center. When she presents parenting workshops, she can be a model, with
four children who graduated from Galesburg High School and continued on to
become a physician, lawyer, Staff Sergeant and mother of successful Galesburg
High students and athletes. She and her husband, Jim, have eight grandchildren.
And if you think all of this was easy to accomplish in
the discriminatory atmosphere of Galesburg, Illinois for the last half century,
think again. It was not.
Bonnie Harris is my friend. She was elected four years
ago because of her intelligence, honesty, kindness, grace, ability and
educational background. Those attributes have become rare in political
candidates. They should be rewarded, certainly with the ethical questions
surrounding her opponent.
Caroline Porter is a
freelance writer from Galesburg who can be reached at cporter@galesburg.net.