The recent warm weather has apparently driven Kay Brooks to whip up a batch of Bill Hobbs' Kool Aid.
Brooks is suggesting that voters should consider the fact that Sharon Gentry, candidate for school board in District 1, is pregnant when deciding whether to vote for her.
However, the fact is she will be a new mom. It's wise to consider that she will be terribly busy those first few months, probably sleep deprived and likely needing a bit of time to physically recover. All of that during a time when she'll be gearing up for a new job and the district will be hiring a new superintendent and those anti SSA folks will be demanding changes, throw in a teacher hearing and it's going to be tough fall for all of the BOE members.
But Brooks couldn't walk away from it there.
I don't think it's out of line to ask if the more important duties of caring for the children will interfere with the secondary, to that family, duties of the political position. It's part of the whole package the candidate brings to the job. A voter would be short-sighted to not consider it all.
Brooks, you'll recall, had no problems stepping away from her role as mother and home school teacher to take a temporary seat on the Metro school board. Clearly Brooks believed there was plenty of time available to further her political ambitions; a decision she suggests Gentry is incapable of making.
Brooks wants to drag us back to the bad old days when women were viewed first as baby machines and mothers. Gentry, and all women, should be judged on what they say and do and not on the basis of their biology.
Brooks' views are an example of why voters overwhelmingly rejected her when she ran for school board. They also demonstrate how important the upcoming election is. We need school board members dedicated to preparing children for the future, not chaining them to the unenlightened repressive actions of our past.
-- Jim Grinstead
Comments