Like it or not, it’s an almost sure bet Arlington’s next School Board member, who will succeed Reid Goldstein in January, will be the person chosen in the upcoming Arlington County Democratic Committee’s caucus.
There may be independents who make it onto November’s general-election ballot, but with the backing of the impressive Democratic get-out-the-vote effort, the party’s endorsee is all but guaranteed victory.
As a result, those who actually want to have a say in the matter will have to participate in the caucus, a three-day affair with in-person-only voting. (For the details, see arlingtondemocrats.org.)
The options? Miranda Turner and Angelo Cocchiaro:
• Turner ran for the Democratic endorsement in 2021, but she asked questions and proposed solutions to the school system’s COVID response that were independent-minded enough that the powers that be within the county’s Democratic infrastructure put their muscle behind opponent Mary Kadera, whom they saw as a more malleable option. Owing largely to that backing, Kadera won the endorsement and subsequent general election.
• Cocchiaro is a 22-year-old activist who, because he’s 22 years old, has had more theoretical than real-world life experiences. And yet, some within the same Democratic infrastructure who worked for Kadera’s victory in 2021 are now working for his in 2023, again believing Turner is too independent-minded to be the go-along-to-get-along School Board member they’d prefer.
(We’ll get back to the specifics in a second, but it certainly is beginning to look like the Democratic power structure is having a harder and harder time in recruiting “reliable” candidates to put up for School Board slots. And given what a truly awful job it at times can be – constant public abuse, petty internal bickering, long hours, low pay, little chance for advancement up the political ladder – we can’t blame the growing number of prospects who say “no” when the opportunity to run is brought to them.)
Cocchiaro has impressed us beyond his years. He has some reasonable and interesting policy positions (along with some iffy ones). And we will not, to borrow from Ronald Reagan vis-à-vis Walter Mondale back in 1984, hold his youth and inexperience against him.
That said, Turner – though hardly perfect, in our eyes, in terms of her policy positions – is decidedly the better option this time out. She’s focused on student achievement and making up for all that was lost when Arlington school leaders not simply locked things down (reasonable at first under the circumstances) but kept them locked down far, far too long (an unconscionable decision then and now clearly shown to have been the wrong choice).
Given the two options on the table, we think Miranda Turner should get the Democratic nod for School Board. Cocchiaro has a role to play in Arlington civic life, but starting out in elected office probably should not be it.
