Bob Dean, a life-long Republican and now candidate for the seat in Washington States 18th Legislative District being vacated by Jaime Herrera is a very passionate man when it comes to our schools.
Bob was unable to attend the recent Blackstone Grill Meet The Candidates event for candidates and voters. Had he not had a prior commitment that evening, all present would have heard the passion he holds for saving and improving our schools.
Bob has little political experience, but has much experience teaching Mathematics, becoming chairman of the math department at Evergreen High School and being appointed to the State Board of Education’s math advisory panel. Terry Bergeson also appointed him to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction standards revision team.
This gave him intimate involvement writing new state math standards to eventually replace WASL.
In his youth, Bob served 3 years active duty in the United States Army that included 18 months in Okinawa sending messages giving the locations of downed pilots in Viet Nam so rescue missions could be mounted.
Lagging behind in fund raising so far, he claims many more facebook fans than others running for the 18th Legislative District. Having lived in the 18th District for the past 35 years gives him name recognition he feels.
Bob is especially worrisome over SB 6696 that he sees as
“handing over our state education system to the federal government” and “the federal government will end up determining what is taught in every classroom in America.”
The thought of that “scares me to death…” Bob says.
He devotes a page on his website to Oppose Race to the Top.
Bob Dean shares many other values and thoughts on improving our state with the other conservative candidates, seeing small business as “supplying seventy to eighty percent of the jobs” in our state.
He sees there is little government can do to bring an end to this economic morass we are in, seeing them compounding it, not helping it. Bob says,
“We have to stop spending ourselves into oblivion and we need to educate our top students to compete on the world stage while developing a competitive workforce.”
As Bob said to me,
“beyond my education, my years in business, and my efforts at the legislature, OSPI, and the state board of education I have been on the front lines of the education wars in this state…. I started taking on top state officials as early as 2001 in this fight…. I was mostly alone at that point. Through my writings I met others and we joined together to make changes in this state that most people said couldn’t be done…. we accomplished that change against big odds…. The war is not over… it is ongoing but I am proud of what we have accomplished thus far…. Not many people can say that they took on the powers to be and forced statewide change that affected every school in the state….”
“At this point I am battle scarred, battle tested, and battle ready…. I am taking on this new challenge with vigor and the same determination that I have brought to everything else I have done…. where it will end I don’t know but whatever happens it will be a new beginning not an end.”
At an age most of us are considering retirement, Bob Dean still fights for his principles.
