Not the best case scenerio, but ...

I cannot say that I am happy with last night's election results. In fact, I am quite disappointed.

While I am disappointed that two people I respect and admire lost an election, it is not the first time that has happened to me. Like most of us, I am old enough to have seen a number of people I respect lose an election. That is politics.

I am most disappointed, however, that the educational future of 420 Orange County children will remain in doubt for at least two more years. After a bitter 14 months, last night's election results, for me, meant another two years of generally boring Board meetings, countless interviews with the media, and a need to closely watch the coming Board's every action.

The results were not the best case scenario many of us had hoped for - the long-term security of year-round education and the knowledge that our children would not be expelled from their school.

However, I cannot believe it could possibly be worse than the disaster wrought by Liz Brown and Dennis Whitling.

I have high hopes that Tony McKnight and Eddie Eubanks are reasonable men who will actually do something to help the children struggling in Orange County's two lowest performing schools, rather than the current Board majority's tendency to pay lip service to their needs while pursuing a social experiment in our schools.

It is a travesty that Al Hartkopf will not be returning to the Board for another term, his willingness to frankly discuss issues, clearly avoided by others, may have caused him to be labeled "divisive," but it also made him a strong representative for his constituents. To be divisive in an ocean of hypocrisy is no vice.

But, if some voters chose not to support Al because of his frank, confrontational style, more chose to ramp it up a notch in voting for Steve Halkiotis. Anyone who spends more than five minutes in a room with Dr. H cannot help but look forward to the firebrand's time on the Board.

Like I said, yesterday's election did not result in the best case scenario for HES, but neither did it result in the worst case. We have already lived through the worst situation and it only made us more resolved, more aware, more organized and ready to continue the work of advocating for our children.