I'm in.

As of about 8:00 p.m. this evening I'm the new school board member for Metro Nashville Public Schools representing the 5th District. It was a close 18 to 17 vote but that was good enough.

Here's my first official press release dropped on the media desk before I left the meeting after already having talked to several reporters.

Announcement of Candidacy

I am formally announcing that I am a candidate for the 5th District School Board position for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

I am deeply concerned about the quality of education the children in our district are receiving and know that my efforts can make a positive difference in the lives of these children.

This is a difficult district. To start with we’ve got more schools than any other district. Of the 32 Metro schools on the Tennessee Department of Education’s “High Priority” list, seven are in this district. Two of those are our comprehensive high schools—-Maplewood and Stratford. They have graduation rates of 41% and 50% and test scores that should be much better. That’s hundreds of young people in our city discouraged, frustrated, angry and lacking the basic skills we promised them and their parents they would get. This is unacceptable and has to change.

Like it or not, in today’s world public schools are in a competition with private, home, and online schools. If MNPS wants to compete well with those other education options then it must listen to voices from outside the choir and not the usual educators and administrators. If we continue to appoint and elect the same sort of people to the school board we will continue to get the same sort of educational results for our children. For too many of our children that’s not good enough.

I am also announcing that in an effort to encourage conversation about the district and its needs I have created an e-list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MNPSDistrict5 and I invite voters and parents in the district to subscribe. I have also created http://KayBrooks.com where I have begun to include information about the schools in the 5^th district along with links to helpful resources and where I will be reporting on my campaign activities.

I understand that not everyone is on the Internet and welcome invitations to attend community gatherings where we can talk in person about our district, its needs and possible solutions. I look forward to those conversations and working with my neighbors for the benefit of the children.