Stafford Supervisor Puts Politics Ahead of Education?

Now I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned political type. So when I see a letter to the editor that reads like this, my ears perk up a little:

My son represented the George Washington District, and he e-mailed Supervisor Pete Fields from that district for help. As my son explained, “It is my job to ask questions and vote on one of these proposals after they are presented by the students.I would very much appreciate your help.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Fields responded with “May I ask who your teacher is?” My son replied, “Mr. Tom Coen is my teacher,” and Mr. Fields subsequently responded:

“As you may know, Mr. Coen is the Republican Party candidate for supervisor from the George Washington District opposing my re-election. While the project in which you are involved is one which could yield a great deal of insight into the nature of local government, Mr. Coen’s direct involvement in the electoral process makes it highly inappropriately [sic] for me to respond to your questions. I am sorry if this causes you any inconvenience.”

Now most folks are going to read this letter and say “Gee, Pete Fields really did a disservice to that poor kid. Shame on him!” and go along their merry way. But somehow I get the feeling that Pete saw this request, thought about the fact that his opponent was heading up the classroom asking for the information and smelled a rat.

In short, Fields did the right thing, and Coen as the teacher in that class should have explained the reasons as to why Pete answered the way he did. In short, rather than saying that Pete failed in his capacity as a public servant, it would be entirely appropriate for one to say that Coen didn’t lead his student in the proper direction. Instead, someone (not saying who) decided to make political hay out of a rather inoccuous situation.

Gonna have to do better than that, and flyers that explain county politics (and then generate attaboy letters like this) are what we should be focusing on. Coen. . . don’t try to be so smart – just run your campaign as you were!