Ko, Murray, Morris win Fairfield school board election

Team platform of Engel, Rivera and Steer soundly defeated.

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By Lindsey Hilty, Staff Writer Updated 6:54 AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

FAIRFIELD — Voters rejected the anti-tax platform of Arnold Engel and his two running mates Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the Fairfield City School Board of Education race.

In final, unofficial results Nov. 3, voters selected Sharon Ko, Mark Morris and Dan Murray to lead the district for the next four years. They defeated Engel, Erik Rivera and Anthony Steer, who ran on a team platform.

According to final, unofficial results released by the Butler County Board of Elections, Ko lead with 10,373 votes at 24.52 percent of the total 42,300 votes cast, followed by Morris with 8,750 votes at 20.69 percent and Murray with 8,738 votes at 20.66 percent.

Arnold Engel received 5,848 votes at 13.83 percent of the total votes, Erik Rivera had 4,838 votes at 11.44 percent and Anthony Steer had 3,753 votes 8.87 percent.

“I think the community has turned the page tonight,” Murray said, speaking on behalf of the three candidates as “one voice.”

“We’re tired about talking about what’s happened the last five years. We want to look forward and look what’s going to happen in the next five years and beyond. I think the community has sent a message.”

Engel, speaking on behalf of his team, said first, he wanted to thank the community members who supported him, Rivera and Steer.

“Secondly I want to tell the citizens of Fairfield to open their wallets, because the Fairfield City School District tax man is coming and coming soon,” he said. “We do need to wish the three of them the best of luck. They’ve got a tough job ahead of them with the budget.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5067 or lhilty@coxohio.com.

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Undergrad GPA as a measuring stick is almost laughable. I've met incredibly intelligent people with sky-high GPAs that couldn't teach a dog to roll over. In addition, knowledge of the subject area is VITAL. High GPA in no way insures subject area knowledge. Given the complexity, I'm sure there is a good way to reward for merit. How do you take into account teachers who have MH, DD, IEP, and general level students vs. those who teach advanced placement or college prep students?

Nope
7:56 AM, 11/7/2009

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Idea > GPA and intelligence help but do not always result in one being a good teacher, however, it could be one of the measuring tools/criteria. Certainly knowledge of the subject being taught and passion for that subject is critical. Let's keep the ball rolling here...Any career teachers have ideas on how to convert the system to "pay for performance" rather than "pay for years on the job"?

greatly concerned
4:21 PM, 11/6/2009

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How about using their undergraduate college GPA scores for their merit pay? The smarter the teacher, the higher their pay.

Idea
1:15 PM, 11/6/2009

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I'm always amazed when I hear that 10% figure thrown around. I calculated it once---If I had received a 10% raise every year of my 26 year teaching career, I would now be making over $176,000.... I am making less than half of that amount. Quit being a parrot and do a little research....

PS--I won't even dignify your ignorance about my alleged "3 hour day" with a response. You're so incredibly uninformed it's ridiculous. You don't get it and never will.

You're funny!
9:48 PM, 11/5/2009

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woohooo now we can go back to getting 4.5% step raises and 5% cost of living raises.
i can now plan on my big trips to europe,mexico and vail during my thanksgiving,christmas,spring and summer breaks!!! maybe now we can get to teach only 3 hours a day and get another 10% raise next year.

happydays
5:36 PM, 11/5/2009

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