Back on Track America PAC is backing three candidates for the upcoming Springfield Board of Education race in April. The candidates are Dr. Maryam Mohammadkhani, Landon McCarter, and Dr. Chad Rollins. Our selection process was straightforward.
Students rely on the people of Springfield to provide them with a quality education. Towards that end we believe the primary objectives of SPS are to prepare students for entering the real world by teaching them to think critically, to be proficient in basic subjects, and to do this in a safe environment.
With the above objectives in mind, SPS students are being shortchanged. Even though the citizens of Springfield spend over $13,000 per student annually, according to the most recent DESE data, less than 50% of K-8 SPS students are proficient at grade level in Math, Science, English Language Arts, and Social Studies. While we at Back on Track America PAC view these results as unacceptable, we wanted to ascertain the thinking of all SPS board candidates. Accordingly, each candidate was sent a Voter Guide questionnaire with several questions asking for “Yes” or “No” answers. Question #2 asked, “Do you believe that the academic achievement in SPS has been on the right track?” Three candidates answered “No” — Dr. Maryam Mohammadkhani, Landon McCarter, and Dr. Chad Rollins. Three other candidates chose not to return the survey at all, and the remaining candidate (the current president of the SPS Board) did not provide a “Yes” or “No” answer.