Teach Your Children Well

Two stories have come out lately showing that people aren't necessarily paying any attention to whom they are voting for when it comes to school boards. And, surprisingly, neither story has to do with MPS.

The first story is from the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, in which they just elected a woman who has a history of problems when she was an attorney:

Edgar, who was representing a woman in a divorce case, withdrew $11,000 from an account that she was given control over. After the husband's attorney discovered the missing funds, Edgar repaid them with interest, the records show.

"It was basically a cry for help," Edgar said of taking the money, noting that the husband in the case was a police officer. "I was absolutely dysfunctional in running a business."

No criminal charges were filed.

Edgar's license was never reinstated, but four years later, in May 2003, the Supreme Court suspended her license again. She failed to provide proper representation in the divorce case and in five other cases, and committed other misconduct, the bar association records show.

The story continues to tell how she still owes $4000 in unpaid restitution on another case. Someone with no business sense and money problems of her own is not a good selection for a school board that is already in financial straits due to questionable investments.

The second story may be even more egregious. It comes from Germantown, where a newly elected school board members has major issues of her own. She apparently feels that if you're not a bully, or at least OK with bullying, you could be homosexual or something:

Kline stated in her e-mail that the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, which sponsors the event, "promotes students and faculty to remain silent during instructional time of the day and/or it promotes teachers to arrange their lesson plans as such to create an environment that allows students and faculty to remain silent during class time."

"I will not allow them (her children) to be exposed to this misguided propaganda in the public school," she wrote.

In her e-mail, she included a link to a Web site created by the American College of Pediatricians "designed to provide policymakers, parents, administrators, teachers and youth with the most current medical and psychological facts about sexual development."

She also urged the administrators and board members to educate themselves "on the facts about the dangers of a homosexual lifestyle."

However, when asked about her views on the Day of Silence, she said declined to comment, adding that she plans to find out what other parents think about it.

There is no confirmation at this time that she moved to Germantown from West Bend, where they also tend to hyperventilate over things they don't understand.