This possible announcement raises my concerns regarding what we citizens look upon as “career politicians”.
By Robert Prater
As the rumors continue to persist about Jacobs entering the Orange County School Board Chair’s race, I felt that now more than ever we need to stand up and take notice of the never-ending cyclical political thread that is connecting all of us here in Orange County.
I am a candidate who has had actual “hands on” experience within the education system here in our county. My platform entering this race has always been to put an educator in the chairman’s seat and recognize the importance of having the most if not the majority of the seats filled with educators.
This possible announcement raises my concerns regarding what we citizens look upon as “career politicians”.
With the tremendous growth within each of our districts these school board seats must have educators representing education. Most importantly starting at the top, with the School Board Chair position. From all the concerned communities I have had the pleasure of meeting these past few months. I have come to the realize that the citizens of Orange County do not want the “same old, same old”.
We must be weary of candidates without an education background who might be exploiting these seats for reasons other than what is in the best interest of our students and schools.
The voters of Orange County need to question career politicians who are taking these “Part-Time” positions. I will treat the chairman’s seat as a full-time job, as education has been my career for the past 15 years.
Educators understand what the community, parents, teachers, support staff and most of all students needs are.
My campaign is a radical departure from the common thread of career politicians.
I believe that “Educators understand the day to day issues” that are inherent in the school system. My tag line has always been if you want someone to oversee the school board, hire someone that’s worked within the school system. We can only do this by voting. Vote for the educators running this August 28th.
Educators know what the system looks like from the inside and have a clearer understanding as to what works and what needs changing. We need candidates like this to shake up what people think about education and not politics — and I believe parents, teachers, support staff, and communities want this change.
Robert Prater started his career in the educational system in 2005 as a substitute teacher and worked as a para-professional at the middle school level from 2006-2008. Mr. Prater began his instructional career in 2008 at Millenia Elementary and currently works on the leadership team at Oak Hill Elementary. He has also served on several county-wide committees with Orange County Public Schools, focusing on Transportation and Fringe Benefits. Robert Prater is a candidate for Orange County School Board Chairman in 2018.
