The election is over and as a Democrat, I am overjoyed with the “Blue Wave of 2006” and the power shift in Congress and hope that it continues into the White House. As for my own fortunes, I take it as a valuable learning experience.

I stood up for the school committee because of the closure of my daughter’s elementary school, Horton. Small community based neighborhood schools with small classes is what we need, not what we rid ourselves of. According to the US Department of Education, 90 percent of the fastest growing career fields in America require a college degree and yet less than 30 percent of the working population has the requirement. We are in a new age, a post-industrial nation in a global marketplace. College education is no longer a luxury for the privileged but a necessity for the masses. This is not liberal rhetoric but the facts as I perceive them to be.

I tried my hardest but I could not pull off the upset. I ran a one man show versus a political machine and almost won.

The results are here...

http://www.electionri.com/Results/CRANSTON.htm

Andre Araujo was unsuccessful in his bid for school committee in Ward 2 where we live. The good news is that with virtually no prior name recognition and a late start to his campaign, Andre managed to capture a significant percentage of the vote:

Deborah Greifer: 2,419 votes -- 58.3%
Andre Araujo: 1,732 votes -- 41.7%

As winners and losers go, I declare Andre the biggest winner of this election cycle, simply because he got out there and did the scary thing -- he ran for office based on his passion for our schools. I hope some of the 1,732 people who voted for Andre will be inspired by his run for office and will become more involved in civic activity.

I am submitting another letter to the editors of the Providence Journal and the Cranston Herald.

It is in response to my opponent’s claim that she voted for my daughter's school.

What do you think of this?

Referring to “Infrastructure, funding focus in school board races” in the October 10 West Bay section concerning Cranston’s School Committee, incumbent Ms. Greifer said she voted against the closing of Horton.  Her statement was misleading. 

Anxiety is a primary emotion felt by many when the first day of school rolls around. For both young ones and their parents, anxiety can be multiplied when young ones are riding a bus alone for the very first time. Bus riding involves a number of new experiences and related anxieties: fear of missing the bus in the morning, fear of being tardy for schools, fear of missing the bus after school, missing your stop, or getting on the wrong bus.

Many former Horton students and parents were even more anxious this year as the realization that our beloved school is no more became cold hard fact on September 6th. Gone now are the days of leisurely walking a couple of blocks to school, bypassing friends and neighbors. This has now been replaced with the clock watching and bus waiting of the commuter rat race placed on the heads of five, six and seven year olds.

Hello everybody!

This is what I have decided will be my "official head-shot" picture to release to the press for my little campaign for school committee in Cranston, Rhode Island's second ward.

In case you guys are thinking, where the heck is Cranston?

Cranston is Rhode Island's third largest city on Providence's southern city-line. Our mayor is the wingnut conservative, Steve Laffey.

Hello Everyone,

New lawn signs have been ordered and are on their way!

This is a rough-copy JPEG version. The signs are double-sided, navy-blue and white, 18" X 24", union made, and corrugated plastic.

I have initially ordered 50 signs which will find homes on the fine lawns of Cranston's second ward between now and election day.

Thank you,

Andre
http://andreforschools.com

In my post box, I goy my quarterly copy of the Rhode Island Air National Guard's magazine, the Rhode Warrior.

I was very surprised by it.

Anyway, this was taken last May in Wisconsin during an ORE.

Can you find me in the picture?

MyDD had an item on this this week called, "Social Security Privatization Fails; GOP Turns to Public Schools"

The partial privatization of Social Security pushed by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress failed miserably last year, failing to really even get off of the ground as a result of widespread public disapproval. Stymied on that front, the White House and it's GOP allies in the Congress are now turning to another government program, public schools, for another effort at partial privatization.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/7/19/24521/6388

They tried it with social security and they are trying it with American public education!

Friends, for your consideration,

My name is Andre Araujo and I am proud to say that I am on the November 2006 ballot for the School Committee in Cranston, RI's second ward. I am asking for your support and help with the upcoming election.

I debated for a long time with myself about this and thought about running for this or that office. The School Committee is where I can best serve.

I have been a long time Wes Clark supporter since before the 2004 election. I am a registered Democrat, an active duty vet and current guard member. I have posted here quite frequently and lately I only have the time to lurk.

Question, do you know how to eat a whole elephant?

Answer, you take one bite at a time!

A free socially-aware citizen gazing out onto the vast wilds, dubbed our western liberal democratic civilization, may feel a certain sense of trepidation.

Bring that down to just our national two-party political structure and it is still a mammoth ordeal. So let us chop it down further to the state and local level. Let us come down all the way down to our cities, towns, districts, wards and precincts.

Let us eat the elephant one cell at a time.

Where does one begin? The municipal party committee is the starting point for a socially responsible citizen. If that municipality is still just too great to tackle, go down to the ward and precinct level - hell, go down to the neighborhood association!