Doug Manley - Christiana C

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(Source: https://www.douglasdangermanley.com/)

The following response was sent to our survey:

1. Why are you running for School Board?

I'm running to ensure that the children of this district get the best education that they can and to set them up for success in the world after their schooling ends.

Over the past few years, I had noticed more and more stories in the national news about unruly school board meetings, the abuse heaped on school board members, both of which have helped drive out quality school board members.  I'm a volunteer firefighter, and a little bit of shouting doesn't faze me at all.  I won't be bullied, and I will do my best to work for the children and students of this district.


2. What personal connections do you have to your local school district and community?

I've lived in Christina School District for pretty much my entire adult life (and I grew up in Red Clay).  I've devoted a large chunk of my time to serving my community as a volunteer firefighter, where I've put out fires, rescued cats from high places (yes, we do that), performed CPR, and generally been there for the people of this community on their worst days.  I will continue to volunteer to serve my community as a member of the school board, putting the interests of the children in the district first.

3. How should district policy balance student privacy against parental rights?

The number one priority of the school district is to serve the children in that district, providing them not only with the education that they need, but also the support systems to enable that education.  I would always encourage parents to become more involved in the education of their children, but the majority of the educational content is handled by the Delaware Department of Education.  District policy should favor the health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes of the children in the district above all else.


4. What should be the district’s approach to overseeing curriculum, reading material, and lesson planning in the classrooms?

The school board is about governance and oversight of the school district, ensuring that the district moves forward into the future in line with the state's goals and with the children's best interest first.  The Delaware Department of Education is responsible for the overall curriculum, and, ultimately, the nitty gritty of education is the purview of the teachers in the classrooms, overseen by the school principal.  The board should not be involved in micromanaging individual schools, classrooms, or lessons.  The board can hold the district superintendent accountable for ensuring that the district is properly implementing policy as set forth by the board.


5. How well do you feel that your district currently serves students who are gifted, learning disabled, or who have other special needs? What policies does your district follow that should be improved, or adopted more widely?

I feel that our district's teachers, assistants, and administrators are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have available.  State law restricts the freedom of school districts to use the money that they are alloted, so while there is wiggle room, a lot of the issues with the school system ultimately go back to the state: the state provides insufficient funding to provide the kind of education that the children in the district deserve, and it tightly controls how that (insufficient) funding can be spent; until the state takes education seriously (read: takes real action instead of starting another investigation, committee, or consortium), we will continue to do the best that we can with the resources that we have.

I am proud of Christina's policy on transgender and gender nonconforming students, which reflects the school system's mandate "to create a culture in which transgender and gender nonconforming students feel safe, supported, and fully included, and to meet each school’s obligation to provide equal educational opportunities for all students".  At a time in which yet another "moral panic" is gripping the country, it is important for this school district to assert the humanity of its transgender and gender nonconforming students, who are under attack by a subset of the populace through no fault of their own.  Putting the students first is important, and all school districts should strive to protect their most vulnerable students.