There has been a good deal of misinformation being spread locally about HCEA and the Apple Ballot. I’ve read Facebook rants that claim actual teachers have no involvement in the endorsement process, and that decisions are made by some kind of dark nefarious backroom “union thugs.”. Some people hint that money is exchanged in return for endorsements.
Then there are those who have decided to scapegoat teachers generally and therefore hate anything associated with them, such as the Apple Ballot. Also on the hate list: protecting community health during a pandemic, fair pay and safe working conditions for teachers, teaching the truth about American History, and being openly supportive of LGBTQ+ students and families.
You have to get up early in the day to have enough time to fit in all that hate.
On the other hand, most of us are aware of the existence of the Apple Ballot and are willing to at least give it a look. If you have a generally favorable opinion of teachers, you will probably give their recommendations some weight as you make up your mind who to vote for. Most of us learned our reading, research, and critical thinking skills from teachers. It stands to reason that they’d be putting those skills to work before endorsing candidates.
It turns out that that’s exactly what they do. I reached out to HCEA President Colleen Morris and asked her to explain the HCEA endorsements process. The Howard County Educators’ Association has a registered PAC and has developed a specific protocol for making political endorsements. They created the process. They follow the process. There’s nothing mysterious or nefarious about it.
Tomorrow’s post will lay out the step by step process HCEA uses to arrive at the names you see on the Apple Ballot.
I should note that I haven’t always voted completely in alignment with HCEA recommendations. Sometimes I think they got it right, sometimes I don’t. No endorsing body claims to be perfect in every way. HCEA very likely interviews candidates with an eye to who will be the most committed to public education, the needs of students and families, school infrastructure, fair pay and working conditions, for example. I’m always willing to take a look at their endorsements because those things are important to me, too.
Come back tomorrow and I’ll walk you through the endorsement process.
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