Every parent's desire is that our children will have a better life than we did. That they will reach new levels of success, be smarter and have a better education. That is why I, Matthew Alexander, chose to run for the Canon City School Board. I am a fourth generation native of Colorado and founder of Moon Rock Landscaping. Prior to that I have worked both in blue-collar and white-collar fields. I have served in ministry in inner city Chicago working with both youth and adults in underserved communities. A resident in Cañon since 2006, I have served the community from being a youth pastor to a Rec Sports coach, chairman for the Head Start Policy Council and happily served on board of the CCHS Band Boosters. As a business owner, entrepreneur and a parent of three kids, two having graduated Cañon City Public Schools and one currently a sophomore in High School, I am poised to offer sensible parental representation on the school board.
It is essential to understand that our education system has been on the decline locally and nationally for some time now. Liberals have had the majority of control in public education for a long time and we are seeing the results of a failed liberal education. It is time to get back to a fundamental education that is not tied to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the negative parts of Social Emotional Learning, Critical Race Theory, Comprehensive Sex Education or attempts to show a left leaning bias in the classroom or curriculum.
My opponents would have you believe that I am bringing some ideas that are going to “turn classrooms into political battlefields.” That they are listening to parents and are better suited to work with administration and staff. That they are going to keep politics out of the classroom. These are the very things that I have been talking about, not at the finish line to garner votes, but from the beginning of my campaign.
I have been talking to the community, teachers, parents, students. I know what people are saying. They want fewer excuses and better results. I recently sat listening to a school board work session as they discussed CMAS testing results and SAT scores in Cañon City, as group after group showed continued decline, no questions were asked. As it was discussed in a certain elementary school, that third grade students were 1/2 a grade level behind in reading, fourth graders 3/4 grade level behind. Fifth graders were a full grade level behind, again not one single board member asked why or asked what was being done to fix this or even discussed ideas for bettering our system. As a businessman, I plan and analyze how to improve work performance, better customer service, employee relations and more. The school board should be doing the exact same thing. Working with teachers and administration to make sure that the education is improving and not settling for the status quo.
When elected by the community as the right choice for Students, Parents, Teachers and community members, I promise I will work harder than anyone else to better our education system. When my opponents say we will keep politics out of schools, what they are truly saying is we will keep conservative politics out of schools. I will keep ALL political indoctrination out. I ran for YOU, the parents, to have control over what your kids are reading and what they are being taught. I ran for YOU, the parents, to have the control over your children's beliefs in religion, politics, mental health, physical health, gender or sexuality decisions. These are all private matters and should be between you, your kids, counselors, ministers and family. It is not the school's responsibility to be involved in these matters. Let's get back to letting teachers teach and letting kids learn.