Back in 2006, our school district was such a mess, the state was prepared to send in a receiver. When my kids finished high school, I figured my time was over. But that year, a group of high school students asked me to run for the school board. What these kids told me was happening at the high school really sparked my ire. Unfortunately, there was no way to know if what they said was, unless you were on the school board, or an administrator – so I said, okay.

In our ultra conservative, rural community I am a vocal liberal activist and organizer known for getting shit done. As I said, the district was in serious trouble, and I won a heated election by more than 64% of the vote.

After years of activism, including lots of training, I knew how school boards work. I took my oath of office and handed the superintendent a 2-page list of documents I wanted to review. Right there, in public, the superintendent informed me that it would take her 2 years to train me, before I would be ready to understand the kind of documents I was requesting. A month later, the school board was interviewing candidates for the superintendent job.

Turns out, the kids were right, there was some seriously bad shit happening in our district. It took a year to get all the documentation necessary to clean house. Soon enough, we were interviewing candidates for new principals at four of our six schools. And that’s when all Hell broke loose.

Back in 2008, no one had ever seen people behave like they are today. In 2008, no one – not the police, the newspaper publisher or editor, our new superintendent or the county superintendent of schools - could believe what was happening. But our little town newspaper’s on-line comment section blew up like it was frigging Twitter. Filthy, disgusting, vile comments and threats on-line, plus anonymous packages sent by mail with realistic toy guns and knives inside were sent to my home. People showed up at a board meeting, screaming, shouting and yelling – demanding we re-hire the principals. Four of our seven board members refused to overturn their decision.

Next thing I know, bricks were thrown through my car windows in the middle of the night ($3,000.00 in damages). A few nights later our trash can was pushed up next to the house and doused with gasoline. The fire had swept up the tree, lit the eaves on fire and spread clean across the house before the fire department arrived. My husband and I were inside, sound asleep.

I don’t mind telling you I was so angry I’m pretty sure I was irrational. My husband had been teaching in the district for 30 years, so he was no pillar of rationality either. If people wanted me out of office, they would have to do it legally. So they did. They mounted a recall campaign, hired signature gatherers and protested all over town. I couldn’t go anywhere alone, without being assaulted by some foul-mouthed recall campaigner. One trip to the ladies room and the crazies were on my like wet on water. Once was enough for me. I did not use a public potty for a year.

The recall campaign people were loud, they were visible, they were everywhere, they tried really hard, their on-line campaign and comments outnumbered supporters by a mile. But 62% of the voters decided to keep me in office.

In case anyone is wondering what was going on that was so bad, its really simple. In order to meet Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act standards, kids were being systematically removed from the system. It wasn’t just racism; kids in our poor neighborhoods were targeted as well. These are the kids who had asked me to run for school board. They came to me because I am their neighbor.

All the training and classes I’d taken to learn how local government worked paid off. Believe it or not, by the time I left the board, our school district had been awarded Distinguished School status.

I still get calls from parents asking for help. Our public school system is in serious trouble. I can’t encourage parents strongly enough to get some training and learn how school boards work so you can advocate for your child. If you don’t know how the system works, you can’t help your child.

Whether it’s a city council, school board, or water district, if you don’t know how local government works, running for office is a waste of time. Get serious. Do the work. Attend some classes, get some training then run for office. Leave it to other people and they will do it their way. Our children need people to stop talking and start working.