Two candidates for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board begin their ballot statements for next week's election with nearly identical sentences, in what one of the two called an embarassing coincidence.
Lauri Kemper and Larry Green are among six candidates running for three seats on the school board in the Nov. 6 election. Kemper and Green are the only two to receive endorsements from the South Tahoe Educators Association.
The first two sentences of Green's ballot statement read:
"Nobody knows better than parents what their kids need. Nobody works harder than teachers to prepare our students to meet the challenges of tomorrow."
The first two sentences of Lauri Kemper's ballot statement read:
"Nobody knows better than parents what their children need. Nobody works harder than teachers to prepare our students to meet the challenges of tomorrow."
Green said he selected the sentences from sample ballot statements provided to him by the association, which serves as the teachers union. He said he didn't coordinate his statement with Kemper, but the fact that their statements are similar reflects common campaign platforms.
"It's pretty embarassing," Green said on Tuesday. Kemper said she reviewed sample ballot statements provided to her by teachers she knows and some she found on the Internet. She said she chose the wording before the teachers union endorsed her, and before she took part in the union's endorsement interview. At the time, she was not even sure Green would be running.
Although the phrases from the sample statements rang true to her, Kemper said she now sees "it would have been better to use my own words."
- Elaine Goodman, Tahoe Daily Tribune
