Herb Smith Picks Up Endorsements In His Campaign For School Board

While there has been a lot of attention given to the special election to fill Ken Cuccinelli's seat in the state senate, one cannot forget that there's also going to be one to fill Del-elect Kaye Kory's seat on the Fairfax County School Board. It looks like at least one of the candidates for that position have gotten off to a good start as Herb Smith has received the endorsement from several community leaders including the following people.

• Delegate Charniele Herring (46th District)
• Delegate-Elect Mark Keam (35th District)
• Falls Church City Councilman Lawrence Webb
• Alexandria School Board Member Charles Wilson
• Greg Werkheiser, former Candidate, House of Delegates (42nd District)
• Northern Virginia Black Democrats
• Terron Sims, 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee
• Dawn Lawson, 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee; DPVA Outreach Committee
  

According to the statements of Herb and some of those who endorsed him, the theme emerging from the campaign is that Herb will be able to take he experience as a teacher and combine that with the relationships and skills that he developed as a grassroots organizer in order to represent the best interests of members of the community. Based upon the work that I've seen Herb do, I would agree with that sentiment and it appears as though I'm not the only. As Mark Keam pointed out, for instance, Herb also has a strong passion for improving our community which will be greatly beneficial if he's elected to the School Board.

“Herb leads by example," said Delegate-Elect Keam, who worked with Herb on the Obama campaign in Fairfax County and who also ran his own successful grassroots campaign to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates. "I have seen Herb's strong passion and commitment to creating change from the ground up. As a grassroots leader, Herb worked hard to bring new voices into our civic process by registering voters and encouraging students to pay attention to policy issues. I’m confident that Herb will continue to put the interests of those who need a voice on the Fairfax County School Board.”

A lot of the organizing work that I have done touched on education related issues. As a result, I've had a fair amount of interaction with the School Board and various organizations that work on education related issues. I can therefore tell you that serving on the school board is definitely not a glamorous job and can be extremely tough at times as your decisions directly impact the lives of so many young people. Of course the impact your decision has on their children also means that you have passionate parents constantly lobbying you in regards to even the smallest of decisions. On top of that, school board members are extremely underpaid and don't get the appreciation from the community that they deserve.

It's for all those reasons and more that it's incredibly important to have leaders on the school board who not only are passionate about making a difference, but are knowledgeable about what resources are absolutely critical in preparing students for bright futures. As I have said before, I think Herb Smith has those qualities and that is why I strongly support his candidacy for school board.