I came in just 272 votes shy of being on the board. I feel accomplished.

1. Regina Randolph – 12.83%
2. John Brown – 11.76%
3. Yevette R. White – 11.22%
4. Eric Huffine – 11.02%
5. Allison Maguire – 9.56%
6. Paul K. Ogden – 8.19%
7. David Copher – 7.2%
8. Carl Z. Liggins, Sr. – 6.66%
9. George Crooks – 6.59%
10. Tammy D. Moon – 4.69%
11. Wanda N. Thomas – 3.86%
12. Thomas Allen Haynes – 3.55%
13. Brownell Payne – 2.86%

http://timothyjmaguire.com/AllisonMaguire30.m4a

http://timothyjmaguire.com/AllisonMaguire60.m4a

Listen to 1070AM and 950AM on Monday and part of the day Tuesday to hear the ads.

And don’t forget to vote in your school board election on May 4th!

(April 10, 2010) — As state revenue forecasts continue to fall, a national group of state legislators and the Indiana Policy Review Foundation are endorsing a plan to make public education more efficient by allowing state funding to automatically follow individual students.

Read more from IPR (Indiana Policy Review): http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=084023447eb604acf0dbf093f&id=e9f15a4910

Budgeting is not hard, my husband (Timothy Maguire) and I teach families about budgeting everyday through our debt-freedom business. Just like Dave Ramsey teaches, spend less than you earn and eliminate unnecessary costs. And if one spouse loses their job, you cut back. If the economy is in a recession and tax revenues are down, schools should cut spending, not increase taxes.

Taxpayers are not adequately represented on the current Pike Board and that the Board is too much of a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants to do. In fact, looking through the Board’s minutes, I have yet to encounter a single vote that was not unanimous in support of administration proposals.

I would change that dynamic. I will start asking the hard questions and not be afraid to ruffle feathers. An example is the recent decision by the Board to replace Guion Creek Elementary School, a building that is only a few decades old. The Pike administration reasoned that taxes would not have to be increased because when the new bonds are being taken out to construct Guion Creek, older construction bonds are due to be paid off. Apparently there was no consideration given to actually cutting Pike residents a break on their taxes by not replacing school construction debt with yet more debt. I will change that.

Did you know that local school boards can create Charter Schools, just like the Indianapolis Mayor? As a school choice advocate, I will push the Board to support charter schools as a way for parents to find better schools for their children. Increased competition encourages existing schools to improve on their own.

(Have I mentioned that more than 50% of our property taxes go to the local schools?)

My hope is that other taxpayer-focused individuals will look at running for school board as well. Now more than ever we need people on the Board who will stand up for taxpayers and not simply rubber-stamp whatever projects school administrators want to pursue with our tax dollars.