HPS teachers endorse board candidates who will ‘stabilize’ district

 

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck Public School teachers have come out with their endorsements for the two seats on the school board that voters will be deciding on this November.
And the envelope please.
The Hamtramck Federation of Teachers announced, on their Facebook page, their endorsement of Linda Wolyniec and Joe Kochut.
“HFT leadership was impressed by the questions both asked while shadowing an HFT member during the first week of school,” the teachers’ union said.
“The fact that they showed up to spend a day with teachers and para-educators is something that neither incumbent (Jihan) Aiyash nor former school board member and current candidate (Showkat) Choudhury have ever done.

“We look forward to working with Mr. Kochut and Mrs. Wolyniec to stabilize the district and to give the children the learning environment and opportunities that they deserve.”
Both candidates also participated in a candidate forum held a few weeks ago at the public library and hosted by the teachers’ union. Also participating in that forum was candidate Philip Garbacz.
They were the only three candidates, out of six seeking a seat on the board, to show up.
Those that didn’t participate were current Board President Aiyash, former board member Choudhury and newcomer Mohamed Algehaim.
Algehaim went one step further than not participating in the forum. He told the teachers that he would not take part in their endorsement process.
The teachers’ union has had several issues with the current school board, particularly their failure to hold a single board meeting in three separate months out of last year.
The union held a protest last November in the parking lot of the district’s administration building, where board meetings are normally held at least once a month.
At that protest, the union accused board members of “walking away” from their job.
For over a year, Boardmember Regan Watson has not attended a single meeting, apparently in protest of having her title as board treasurer stripped away from her by her colleagues.
Also, Boardmember Sal Hadwan has not attended a meeting for the past few months, again in protest to how fellow board members treated him.
Hadwan’s term ends this year, and he is not seeking re-election.
The response to the teachers’ endorsement on Facebook has been positive.
“Hamtramck Public Schools, the citizens of Hamtramck and the students of the district deserve a dedicated and passionate school board member like Linda Stachowicz Wolyniec!” said Kathy Kniaz Anderson

Amanda Lesko agreed: “I love this and 100% agree! After watching the Q&A from the library, I called a few friends and told them how excited I was for you all!”
The endorsement comes on the heels of the Michigan Education Association announcing its various endorsements statewide for school boards and other state and national offices.
However, the MEA, which represents educators in the state, did not weigh in on the Hamtramck School Board election. The Review reached out for comment on whether the MEA will make an endorsement here, but that agency did not respond.
The school board election on Nov. 5 comes at a time of turmoil in the public school district.
The district has been grappling with what to do with Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed, who has been on an unexplained paid suspension for several months.
The district has refused to say what her status is, other than that she is still a district employee.
Also, voters have twice overwhelmingly rejected two millage renewals in the last year, and voters may also vote down another millage renewal this November.
Although the district can keep trying to convince voters to support the millage renewals, eventually the continued rejections could result in the loss of millions of operating dollars, which will likely lead to a major financial crisis.
Posted Sept. 20, 2024