Spokane7
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December 16, 2011 in City
Shawn Vestal: Face-Off’s focus on students is debatable
Jennifer Walther is incensed that anyone would insult her Ferris High School students.
So let’s be clear: It’s not Walther’s students who deserve to take heat over the planning of the Face-Off at Ferris, a debate between candidates for mayor and school board in October.
Walther, a 20-year educator, organized the debate, ostensibly run by students, in which partisans on one side of the races had an inordinate hand. She met regularly with a group of core organizers, some of whom had donated to a conservative candidate in the debate – and none of whom had given money to their opponent. They compiled questions from conservative think tanks and gave them to students to consider using – and compiled zero questions from liberal think tanks and officials.
Some of the questions were used, practically verbatim, by the students.
You can spin and obfuscate this as much as you want. You can hedge and qualify and rationalize. You can even note that the questions, in and of themselves, are not so horrible that a candidate shouldn’t be able to handle them. There’s nothing wrong with tough questions.
But what you cannot do is pretend you haven’t stacked the deck. Unless you’re trying to give students a chance to understand that “nonpartisan” and “unbiased” no longer mean what they are supposed to mean.
Walther defends what she has done and says she feels terrible that the event – which seems to have been, in many ways, a success – is being maligned. She says that, having not put on a debate before the first Face-Off two years ago, she turned to friends for advice. She does not see anything untoward in the fact that the small group who met regularly to plan the debate were ideologically homogenous.
She insists that she solicited questions from all kinds of people, including the students themselves, students’ families, other teachers and her neighbors, and that students made the final selections. She says her goal was to teach students about politics and provide unbiased questions. She passionately defends her students.
“They are so incensed and sad that people are picking on them and saying they are slaves,” she said. “These are the best of the best, and I will go to the mat for them.”
No arguments here.
The debate, between mayoral candidates David Condon and Mary Verner and school board candidates Deana Brower and Sally Fullmer, occurred Oct. 17. Some of the behind-the-scenes planning is laid out in a series of emails obtained through a public records request and provided to The Spokesman-Review. The newspaper first reported complaints about the event Thursday.
These messages show Walther and conservative math curriculum critic Laurie Rogers engaging in vigorous bashing of Brower and exchanging campaign messages in favor of Fullmer.
“Brower is a rubber stamped, well coached machine,” Walther wrote on Aug. 2. “It’s too bad voters cannot see through her facade.”
On Sept. 12, Craig Eggleston, a former chairman of the Republicans of Spokane County, sent an email message to a few folks, including Walther; Mike Noder, a former candidate for mayor; Susan Wilmoth; and Charles Rowe, a former KREM anchor. Noder, Wilmoth, Rowe and Eggleston also helped organize last year’s debate between Chris Marr and Michael Baumgartner; all four donated to either Condon or Baumgartner.
The message read, in part: “I spoke with Jennifer about her hosting another debate at Ferris High School.
“Jennifer has agreed … I’m asking you to join me and (help) Jennifer create a debate.”
Regular meetings ensued. One agenda item listed Eggleston as being in charge of soliciting questions from the Washington Policy Center, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation – both conservative think tanks – and the Toastmasters.
In one email message, Eggleston forwarded a three-page list of questions from Chris Cargill, the Eastern Washington office director for the Washington Policy Center. Four of the questions wound up in the debate, such as this one, which was recast slightly: “Recently, teachers in Tacoma went on strike, defying state law and a judge’s order to return to work. Documents now show it was part of a larger plan by the teachers union. Did the WEA want to send a painful message to parents and lawmakers? Do you see the same thing happening in Spokane? And if so, what would be your reaction?”
There is nothing so wrong with that question, but you can tell what part of the political spectrum it comes from. There are several other perfectly solid questions, but there were none that displayed liberal concerns in the same obvious fashion as those submitted by the conservative think tank.
I asked Walther if she could give me an example of a question that came from a donor to Verner or Brower, or from a liberal organization or perspective, and she said she didn’t have access to her files and couldn’t do so quickly. But I suspect if some donor to the Verner campaign had submitted three pages of questions, she’d remember it.
Face-Off at Ferris is a great idea. Engaging students in politics is an important goal. Walther should be congratulated for helping get it together and drawing students into such a positive community event.
Good on her. Maybe next year part of the lesson can include something about conflicts of interest and impartiality and not stacking the deck.
But if criticisms like these come up again, it’s important to remember: It’s not about the kids.
Shawn Vestal can be reached at (509)459-5431 or shawnv@spokesman.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vestal13.
The draw of the unknowable 
libertycoug on December 16 at 3:04 a.m.
It’s a shame. I remember the straw poll at the debate had Condon winning. Every news organization covered this Ferris debate. These students sure got a lesson in politics. Fairness should always be taught, especially to High School students. A chance to meet and greet with their future city leader and their teacher stacked the deck. Shameful…
horse_feathers on December 16 at 7:42 a.m.
Ok all together now whiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnne
WillyPeter on December 16 at 8:09 a.m.
HOOT!
District 81, the School Board, and the union (SEA) could get together in the District’s headquarters, and after removing everyones’ clothes, commence drinking and makin’ merry while celebrating the Christmas season.
And Shawn would tell us that it was a wonderful demonstration of genuine and transparent educrat activity…….honest…..:-)
soccermomsusie on December 16 at 8:54 a.m.
Well, I must disagree with Shawn. It is the students’ fault. I wish Mrs Walther would stop covering for these kids. She is an extremely courageous woman in her efforts, but I am sorry. BLAME THE KIDS!
1. If these kids had more Conservative-leaning homes or received Washington Policy Center newsbriefs, they would have known what questions to ask.
2. Instead of watching Bugs Bunny on Saturday morning, they could have been watching Tivo’d episodes of O’Reilly, Beck, or Hannity.
3. The school has repeatedly denied to pick up the tab for providing kids free copies of the greatest works of Anne Coulter.
4. Sometimes these kids just pretend to be Conservative in her class so they won’t flunk. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
5. Lastly, Obviously one of the kids ratted poor Mrs Walthers out! I hope the other kids turn on him or her and not let the stool pigeon play 4 square or tetherball with them.
Regardless of the one Liberal student who felt offended, this is why we Republicans will always win. We have the $$$$$. We control the debates, and except for Pinko Vestal, we control the news media. When you try to take us to task for being unfair, we cry and make you feel bad. And you will never engage in the same WINNING behavior yourselves. That’s why you will always lose. When you can’t feel shame, and you believe your cause to be just - YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
Look at Chris Marr and Mary Verner. Popular. Centrist. Endorsed by business. Endorsed by labor. Etc. Etc. AND THEY CAN’T LOSE, right? Rrrright.
WE WILL TAKE ANY OFFICE WE WANT AND YOU CAN’T STOP US (unless there is campaign finance reform or someone spikes the insidious Aquifer with antipsycopathic medications)!
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!
greenlibertarian on December 16 at 2:06 p.m.
Masterful, Susie.
Lulubelle on December 16 at 5:38 p.m.
Repubs caught with their pants down and all they can do is obfuscate and make excuses. Cheating, lying, deception….more fine examples of apparently acceptable behavior for the children of these “family values” folks.
horse_feathers on December 16 at 9:35 p.m.
Second verse same as the first
All together now Whiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnne
BigE on December 17 at 1:37 a.m.
I’m Henry the 8th I am, Henry the 8th I am I am.
We have kids, 25 @ 23, when the going gets tough most people pull out their dumb phone.
We muddled through the public education system, sucked but we could not afford private school. Teachers are just like everyone else, they are into for themselves. I have 2 close friends that teach in Spokane, cow town.
99%Progressive on December 17 at 10:10 a.m.
Soccermomsusie you’re so funny
Shawn is such a yawn unless you comment Soccarmomsusie. I think he was just trying to raise his stock by reporting on meeting you….
Who cares who you really are….you are so funny pretending to be a republican tea party political pervert soccer mom….
The republicans and the tea party should just shut the front door as it hits them in the ascot on the way out…
We only need them to pay the taxes and do what we tell them to do!!!
They are so stupid they don’t even realize that our side uses public money to promote our candidates and issues on public TV and radio everyday…
It’s wrong for republicans to use public money this way…..but not us Soccarermomsusie!!!
Hear her flocking mocking voice!!!
TheRain on December 17 at 10:16 a.m.
Dear God, I love soccermomsusie.
DDC on December 18 at 10:54 a.m.
So this story is under the “News” category? Funny, sure sounds like opinion to me…just like the other Ferris debate stories, but that’s the SR at work.
Every question is valid and at the forefront of the public education debate.
BTW SMS, if your going to take shots at a community activist who’s worst offense is being self reliant and demanding value from government, you might want to improve your video editing skills. Go to YouTube and search “Autotune the News”, it’ll give you a indication of what real creative parody is…since you evidently have the spare time to pursue it.
Also, if your going to pose as a “Tea Bagger” you might want to try a little character research by working 60 to 65 hours a week for thee years (at least) and while doing so, have the responsibilities of meeting a payroll that supports not only yours, but multiple families, while having to continuously borrow against the future of your family to do so. You can also navigate market conditions, government regulations and registrations while your paycheck fluctuates from -$150k (that’s a loss of $150k) to $150k in the “positive” per year, depending on the kind of year your business experiences. This is what most independent business owners commit to every year, day in and day out. Meanwhile, while they’re spending that extra 20 to 25 hours a week making sure your paycheck doesn’t bounce, the satirists and politicians who have never experienced signing their own paychecks…let alone the responsibility of signing anyone else’s, continue to assume that they’re entitled to tell those who risk everything (in the fiscal sense), what portion of their productivity they’re entitled to.
Your strength is obviously fictional writing in the 3rd person. I suggest you stick to it, as much like a ventriloquist, your ramblings are no more than the alter-ego puppet to your right speaking while you try not to move your lips on the left.
laurierogers on January 08 at 7:19 a.m.
From my Jan. 6, 2012, article, located at:
http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2012/01/print-media-display-political-agenda.html
“Instead of discussing the myriad legal and academic issues currently surrounding Spokane Public Schools, the editors for the daily newspaper The Spokesman-Review and the weekly publication The Inlander seem determined to drum up stray rumors and unsupported accusations against AP English teacher Jennifer Walther, who perhaps was caught TWC (Teaching While Conservative).
“In October 2011, Walther’s Leadership Class at Ferris High School put on the annual political forum “Face-Off at Ferris.” Writers for The Spokesman-Review (SR) and The Inlander have since accused Walther of allowing her political views to sway the Ferris forum in favor of mayoral and school board candidates who are thought to be politically conservative.
“The accusers have not been able to support their claim by pointing at actual questions that were asked. Sitting at the Ferris forum last October, I heard people all around me saying, “Those are great questions.” What does a conservative question even look like? Are only conservatives concerned about accountability, transparency, outcomes, Otto Zehm’s death, water rates, union clout and misspent finances? I know plenty of Democrats and progressives who are concerned about these issues.
“Real education issues defy political labels, and yet, our local print media persist in labeling. Is it now shocking, illegal, immoral, unethical, or inappropriate to be a conservative thinker? Can a teacher not freely ask questions of people she knows? Can her acquaintances not offer ideas to her when asked? Can students not freely choose questions they believe to be pertinent?
“Oh my, please read this condescending, sanctimonious, hypocritical, unintentionally hilarious Dec. 16 piece on Walther by the SR’s Shawn Vestal …”
Please see this link for the rest of the article:
http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2012/01/print-media-display-political-agenda.html
Graduate_of_Ferris_High on February 03 at 9:12 a.m.
I had Jennifer Walther in 2000, when I was 14 years old. I vividly recall the day after the 2000 election, when Mrs. Walther, beaming, asked the class (of freshman high school students who were barely comfortable with themselves, let alone each other) to raise their hands if their parents had voted for Bush. She praised them, and dismissively remarked to the rest of us that our parents had probably been crying all night.
As for the Face/Off, I recall one of these being held a few years later while I was still at Ferris. It sounds like this debate was just as biased as that one was, the difference being that in the afterglow of 9/11 it was deemed patriotic to openly bash liberals (especially in the Spokane bubble), so no one spoke up about it.
And for those commenters characterizing comments like mine and articles like this that expose Walther’s lack of professional conduct, do not worry. I am no longer a 14 year old who has to sit quietly in Walther’s classroom. I have the resources and the skill to make a persuasive argument for why Jennifer Walther should no longer be teaching children, and I fully intend to follow-up on this. Whine? No. This is a warning.
And lastly, Spokesman-Review commenters, look around at the world you live in. No, not just Spokane. It’s changing out there. And change will come to Spokane soon too. Until then, keep up the ridicule