Dr Rachel Lindsey for Maplewood-Richmond Heights Board of Education 

My why is pretty simple. All children deserve to be safe, supported, and educated. No matter their race, gender, sexuality, family income, religion, the language they speak at home, their learning style, where they live, what support they need to succeed, how they get to school, or whether their families are brand new to the district or have been here for years. Every kid. No exception. Public education–thriving, sustainable public education–is the heart and soul of our democracy and also of our little community. I believe in both. MRH is the best that public education offers to children and their families and I want to be part of safeguarding this district’s hard-fought legacies while finding solutions to today’s challenges.

I have never run for any kind of public office. And I haven’t lived my life planning to run for anything, either. My world has revolved around my kids, my work, and my dogs. You might have seen me shuttling dogs and kids around MRH to soccer practices, basketball games, and Aldi runs. We might have run into each other at Discover Club pick up or museum nights or band concerts. Perhaps I coached your kids in MRHYS or stood on the sidelines with you while we cheered our kids at games. Maybe we have crossed paths at the pool or the Heights or perhaps we know each other only from Facebook groups. When I’m not parenting or teaching, you can probably find me at the Living Room or Starbucks with a coffee and laptop, wishing I was at the Heights lifting weights or meandering through The Book House. Rather than extraordinary, I think my experiences are pretty common. I’ve worked hard, made sacrifices, taken chances, and made mistakes. I never intended to run for office and am not a perfect candidate. But I am convinced that our district needs leaders who have lived imperfect lives, who recognize the limits of their own experiences, and who understand that the only way forward is to empower students, parents, and neighbors of all backgrounds and life experiences to contribute to the life of the district. I believe in this community, in this district, and in the good we can do together.

In my professional life, I pay more attention to stories than to numbers. And if you’ll indulge the teacher in me, I’d like to tell you a story. For the last several months, I’ve been thinking a lot about Fannie Lou Hamer. If you don’t know about her, it’s okay. While she was an important person in the civil rights movement, her story is seldom told. She was born to sharecroppers in Mississippi and later worked as a timekeeper on a plantation because she, unlike many of her peers, was able to read and write. In the 1960s, when she was in her 40s, she began organizing for voting rights. While voting was technically legal for all persons of legal age born in the U.S., Jim Crow laws in Mississippi and elsewhere prevented black Americans from voting, even in majority black districts. Over the next several years, she helped organize Freedom Summer, was beaten for sitting at a “whites only” bus station restaurant, and attempted to run for state office but was barred from the ballot. Hamer never held public office. But she improved the lives of people in her state and around the country by telling her story, honestly and publicly. I would never compare my life to Hamer’s. She experienced racism and violence that I could never fully comprehend. And I don’t intend to cheapen her story by applying it to this election. But Hamer teaches me that it’s never too late to make a difference, that the stories and experiences of even the most marginalized people matter, and that communities are strongest when built on honesty and collaboration. I think if we can all be a little bit more like Fannie Lou Hamer, if we can recognize the wisdom of our experiences and those of others, our district will thrive.

Our district faces challenges that affect curriculum, budget, transportation, staff compensation, and teacher retention. And of course behind every one of these aspects is ensuring a safe and supportive education for all students. Addressing these challenges with curiosity, integrity, and empathy is the responsibility of Board members and I am eager to contribute my professional experience and expertise to these deliberations. But I am asking for your vote now, at this time, because I see other challenges that don’t fall squarely within any policy portfolio. Our Board needs champions of public education who look beyond the spreadsheet, who see budgets as indicators of values rather than as ends in and of themselves, and who leverage unprecedented access to information to craft educational policies that reach every student. The future of public education is more precarious now than it has been in generations. I don’t have answers to all of the challenges we face. But I am confident that, together, we will find solutions to these challenges and those that follow.

I am running now because serving on the school board is one meaningful way I can give back a fraction of what MRH has given to me and my family at a moment when public education needs strong, informed, and unflappable advocates. Now that both of my kids are in high school, I’ve had more time to reflect on the village that has helped me raise them. As a single mom, I wasn’t always able to attend PTO meetings or chaperone field trips or even keep lunch accounts current. But MRH didn’t let my kids fall through the cracks. Teachers and counselors and therapists and coaches and principals and nurses and others, from the ECC through today, have provided not only an education but a community that my kids will carry with them well beyond graduation. I want nothing less for every single child who comes through MRH. I am running for school board to support students, to empower parents, and to ensure that teachers and staff have the resources they need to educate, care, and inspire for generations to come.