I Am Running For Lee's Summit R-7 School Board

My name is Sherri Tucker. I am forty-seven years old. I have resided in Lee's Summit since May, 1998.

I am the mother of three children. My identical, twin daughters are graduating from Lee's Summit High School in May. They have been rather successful in school and their diligence is paying off. They have struggled many times and I have spent more nights staying up to three or four in the morning than I care to remember. They worked hard for their education and it hasn't always been a group effort.

My son is fifteen years old. He was born with autism. His official diagnosis is Kanner's Syndrome/Early Infantile Autism. He has also been diagnosed with dysgraphia, Inattentive ADHD, and Anxiety produced by the struggles he has with the school district.

I have spent the last three years educating myself in autism, special education, NCLB, OSEP, IDEA, and civil rights. Why?!!! It certainly is not because I am bored or have a desire to spend every waking moment fighting. I have done it because I have a fifteen year old son that has an above average IQ and he will never leave home.

I have tried every thing that I can think of. I have been sweet, I have been polite, I have been compliant. None of that worked. Finally I became diligent, assertive, informed, and I have been told that I am antagonistic. I will accept any label that you care to put on me. I am a big girl and I have strong shoulders. What I will not accept is the fact that Lee's Summit cares more about swimming pools and monitors in the board room than they care about this special population of students.

I ask that you please do your homework and vote with your conscience. Don't let the district keep running the way that it has. We need to investigate those in charge and hold them responsible. That will never happen if the same folks continue to run this board and care more about looking like "Johnson County" than what is important to ALL of our students.

Thank you,
Sherri Tucker

Comments

Anonymous said…
I am a little tired of Board Members who have a connection to the District through a paycheck. At first, I was excited that someone new was running when I heard about Ron Baker. Now that I have read his bio, he is just the same thing that we currently have in our Board. He has worked within the district his whole career so he will only be a "yes" man for the District. He will NOT be a voice for our children with disabilities who are getting the short end of the stick. Our children desperately need a voice as the recent data on Student with Disabilities shows as released by DESE.

Sherri is involved at the State level with Special Education. She is on the executive committee of the State Advisory Panel that reports to the Governor. She is one of the few parents who does not receive a paycheck from a district or agency. I believe that is the problem. We need more parents involved; not people from within the system who gain from the system. She is not an insider but a reformer from the outside. We need change now. We need Sherri Tucker on the School Board now.
December 27, 2008 at 9:59 AM
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