Today was the Taste of East Cobb, a foodies paradise organized by the Walton High School Band. Usually, it features food from dozens of restaurants, a few crafters, direct sales, and local companies. And chiropractors. I’m not sure why, but there are always at least a half dozen chiropractors there.

This year is the mid-year elections along with the election of a new governor. At least seven candidates for various state offices bought booth space. Both the Republican and Democrat parties also bought places, with various candidates rotating through. It was a good opportunity to listen to people and their platforms face to face rather than through slick mailers, yard signs, and commercials. I talked to people in every booth, trying to learn which candidates were actually interested in a conversation about education and giving teachers a voice in their classrooms.

Full disclosure. I am a Libertarian with a pretty consistently conservative voting record. I believe the Constitution grants States an amount of sovereignty that allows the local population to choose how it is governed. I do not believe it wise to water down the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. I think business owners should be granted the freedom to run their businesses according to their personal convictions, especially if their services are not unique or do not affect life or health. This means if a baker turns away business for religious reasons, that’s fine; there are plenty of other bakers who will provide that service and pocket the profit. Police officers, on the other hand, are required by law and ethics to provide the exact same protection to every citizen, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or social status. No exceptions, no excuses.

Having said that, I want to share my experience with the politicians who attended Taste of East Cobb. I assume they were there to share their platforms, engage their potential constituents, and put faces to the mailers, yard signs, and commercials. To be honest, I was mostly disappointed in the responses when I asked where they stood on education. For the most part, Democrats said “no guns in schools” and Republicans said, “Common Core needs to be replaced.”  Ugh.

To be completely honest, the guns in schools rhetoric is ridiculous. First of all, the number of instances of gun crime in schools during school days is minuscule. Yes, any crime that takes the life of school children and staff is unacceptable. No question. But arming teachers is a silly idea. Most people recognize that the problems that lead to violence of any kind cannot be addressed by arming teachers or by infringing on the Second Amendment. It’s a talking point. It’s emotional. It’s hot air, and nothing more. Tell me something else. Talk to me about teacher voice, assessment, preparing students for life beyond school. Crickets.

Common Core? First of all, I’ve actually read the standards, whereas most politicians have not. The standards are not the problem. They are broad and reasonably generic. Additionally, CCSS (Common Core State Standards) are being replaced. So there’s that. Talk to me about empowering teachers to be creative in their pedagogy or about upholding the value of public schools. Again, mostly crickets. Chirp. Chirp.

I had one nominally encouraging conversation with a volunteer in the Republican booth who was horrified when I told her I have written to the gubernatorial candidates about education and have received nothing in return–from any of them in any party. She took my name and email and said she would talk to the candidate she supports personally. They also invited me to a luncheon next month where I might be able to address candidates myself.

The highlight, however, was a delightful dialogue with Karín Sandiford, a moderate Democrat running for House District 46. I’m not even in her district, but she was genuinely interested in what I had to say as an expert in teaching. She asked questions, followed up with enthusiasm, and asked for more information. She has four children in public schools and has seen first hand how testing affected her children. Her background is in computers, so when I talked about the quantification of education she knew exactly what I meant. When I shared with her the frustrations of teachers, professionals who are often not permitted to teach according to their strengths or their students’ needs, she was taken aback. In her own family, she has a child who overthinks the multiple choice tests (like I do) and she recognizes there is a need for multiple avenues of assessment, both qualitative and quantitative.

Karín is open to dialogue and compromise because she understands that is it through relationship building and collaboration that solutions to problems are built.  She is the kind of candidate for whom I could vote and with whom I could work. Would we agree on everything? Absolutely not. As I said before, I am more conservative than not. I prefer a small, local government, low taxes, and individual freedom to practice business according to one’s convictions. However, from what I could see today, of all the candidates and their representatives I saw today, Karín is someone I could support as a representative who understands the importance of listening,  the value of genuine concern, and the need for people to work together.

We need more like her on both sides of the aisle.