I am writing to demand that the Westerville Board of Education hire a certified clown for each school building, serve grits at lunch three times a week, and offer a course on Klingon for all high school students.  I'm a voter and tax payer in this district, so the Board must do as I say.  If they don't, I'll publicly announce that they are greedy and incompetent, I'll demand their resignations, and I'll threaten to start a recall campaign. 

   This sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?  Clearly, the Board must do it's best to serve the interests of all 14,000 children in the district; they can't cater to the expectations of any single citizen.  Yet Terry Wike seems to expect the Board to follow his wishes alone.  This man has spoken at numerous Board meetings, but when the Board does not yield to his every demand, he claims they aren't listening.  He offers no credible evidence to support his ideas, his facts are consistently inaccurate, and he has no expertise on education, yet he wants to direct school policy.  He has repeatedly demanded the resignations of specific Board members, but while thousands of people voted for Mike Collins and Nancy Nestor-Baker, no one has voted for Mr. Wike for any public office.  He has the right to speak his own opinion, but he has absolutely no authority to speak on behalf of the voters of this district.  In fact, he has never claimed to be interested in what's best for our children. 

   It's time for our community to move beyond Mr. Wikes empty polemics and to focus on the most important issue:  How can we provide a quality education for the students in Westerville City Schools?

Lynda Hall