The primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 26 features a non-partisan race to see who will represent the area on the Palm Beach County School Board over the next four years.
PALM BEACH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 6 — This race pits one-term incumbent School Board Member Marcia Andrews against former Palm Beach County School District Chief Operating Officer Joe Moore. Both spent many years working at the school district and both have a strong understanding of the inner workings of the district and what the job entails. In that regard, both of these candidates would make good school board representatives.
Moore brings a great deal of financial experience to the table, having held key financial and operational roles at both the South Florida Water Management District and the school district. In this race, he has been tagged by some as a bit too friendly with the charter school community and someone who is interested in returning the district to the leadership style of former Superintendent Dr. Art Johnson. He is sharply critical not so much of the incumbent directly, but of how the school board has operated in the post-Johnson era. He feels the district, led by a dysfunctional board, is headed in the wrong direction. Over the past four years, the school board has certainly changed dramatically, no longer taking a back seat to a strong superintendent. Then again, that is exactly what the voters asked for when they radically changed the makeup of the school board.
Andrews has been an active school board member. She can regularly be found in the western communities and the Glades, attending meetings, visiting schools and chatting with residents. She is a hard worker who has brought a number of new initiatives and school improvements projects to fruition. And, while she offers strong support for schools in the western communities, she has served as a powerful advocate for education in the Glades — an issue the district has largely ignored for decades. While her tenure has not been perfect — we disagreed with her decision to dump Johnson just months after being elected — it has been largely successful.
While Moore would likely make a fine school board member, Andrews has done an outstanding job over her first term. Through hard work and determination, she has earned another four years. The Town-Crier endorses the re-election of Marcia Andrews to the District 6 seat on the Palm Beach County School Board.
The Aug. 26 election is predicted to be a low-turnout affair. That is too bad. Democracy functions best when more people vote. No matter whether your opinions on this race differ from ours, be sure to get to the polls on election day and make your voice heard.
