On 9/6 Kurt Rohrs and Charlotte Golla, Republican candidates for Chandler School Board, will partake in an online debate organized by the Chandler Education Association, CEA.
You can sign up for the event by clicking here. The sign up form asks for the institution, indicating that the event is primarily aimed at teachers. However, parents and taxpayers can presumably sign in by giving the institution their children attend, or that they have attended before, although we have not verified this. The debate will take place online on September 6, 2022 starting at 6.30pm.
Rohrs seeking teachers union endorsement?
We are currently investigating reports that Kurt Rohrs is seeking the endorsement of the CEA, the local Chandler teachers union headed by Chandler High biology teacher Katie Nash. Nash regularly speaks at Chandler School Board meetings advocating for mandates for students, endless pay increases for teachers and against school choice. CEA is also pro BLM. We have contacted Rohrs and have not received a denial. We'll keep investigating.
Updated analysis of the Chandler school board race
The race for the 2 available spots on the Chandler School Board may shape up slightly differently than we first analyzed. We previously assumed a structural advantage for Republicans since they only run 2 candidates, Rohrs and Golla, while the left runs 3, Serrano, Bruner (incumbent) and Estes, setting up a vote split that would hurt the chances of the left. However, Marilou Estes appears to be presenting herself as more of a moderate, perhaps aiming to gather support among anti-Trump Republicans, liberals and liberal and moderate teachers.
This could spell trouble for Rohrs and Golla because they too run on moderate platforms that more or less ignore hot button issues such as critical race theory, CRT, social emotional learning, SEL, mask and vaccine mandates as well as school closures and quarantines. And what about school choice, which is a huge issue in Arizona? The most expansive school choice bill in the nation was just passed and signed, yet teachers unions are attempting to kill the bill before it even goes into effect.
This paper rather has two moderates on the school board than radicals like retiring incumbent Love, incumbent Bruner who is running for re-election, and Serrano. Both Rohrs and Golla appear to attempt to run for a coalition of voters consisting of moderate Republicans and moderate liberals, including teachers, ignoring the vast right wing of the population. This electoral strategy may not work against well funded and well supported teachers union favored candidates that will receive almost all the votes from public school teachers, public school staff, far left voters as well as a good portion of left moderates, and even centrists.
Rohrs seems to be seen by Republicans in Chandler, Gilbert and beyond as an expert on school board issues. Some in the Chandler Republican Party appear to have coalesced early on against former CUSD80 candidate Nicole Eidson, who briefly ran on a slightly more right wing platform for the Chandler School Board, but then dropped out.
Viewers of the debate can perhaps encourage moderators to ask Rohrs, Golla and the other candidates some of the below questions to gauge if and how they would actually represent children and their parents.
Would you stop CRT? How?
Would you stop DEI and SEL? How?
Would you end indoctrination? How?
Would you fight for school choice? How?
Would you fight against child grooming? How?
Would you promote intact families? How?
Are you an ally of the teachers unions? Why?
Do you support more money for public schools? Is so, who has to pay?