by Paul Bean
I returned to the streets of Burlington Monday to speak with Bill Oetjen, Republican candidate for Burlington School Commission, Ward 7.
A former Progressive turned vice chair of the Burlington Republican Party, Oetjen shares his experience as a Burlington substitute teacher and former progressive activist. Bill moved to Burlington in the 1980’s because he was attracted to the socialist movement spearheaded by a Brooklyn-born guy who was making headlines across the country. He now says, the “progressive” policies were a mistake.
In particular, Oetjen is concerned that students are not being held accountable for misbehavior. Students treat “restorative circles” in which the presumed offender is confronted by the victim and some peers and adults, like a joke, he explains.
He also calls out the Progressive left as an echo chamber that refused to address – in fact vehemently opposed any discus- what Oetjen calls “the colonization of women’s sports.”
Burlington will hold mayoral, school board and city council elections next Tuesday, March 5.
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