Reader's view: School Board ignores western Duluth

The administration for the Duluth public schools doesn’t seem to want to listen to western Duluth citizens. The administration routinely has circumvented addressing any issues brought forth by our elected representative to the School Board, Art Johnston.
Other board members and the administration allegedly want him off the board. The administration continually blocks agenda item submissions from him and seems to ignore his communications. Without the ability for him to bring forth his constituents’ concerns, citizens’ voices are not heard, and our issues are not addressed (“Board to investigate Johnston,” June 11 and, “Tempers flare as Johnston’s supporters strike back,” June 18).
Western Duluth consistently gets the short end of the stick in the school district. We suffer from a lack of academics and opportunity afforded others in our city by an imaginary boundary line, creating a situation in which kids get opportunities in the east while kids have to fight for opportunities in the west. Problems and complaints that have been addressed have only been accomplished by individuals speaking up and getting media attention to take care of them. Meanwhile, the issues that don’t have a voice are getting lost.
Western Duluth voters wanted Johnston to be their voice. By dismissing him and his attempts to discuss problems (and with that, the probability of finding solutions), the administration dismisses a quarter of the citizens the district serves. It is completely unacceptable for a quarter of our city to be silenced because an administration decides it doesn’t want to hear what Johnston has to say. Open your mind and listen to the message, not the person delivering it. Johnston is only doing the job he was elected to do. Punishing him is punishing the people he was elected to represent.
Alanna Oswald
Duluth