Who are the 'power brokers?'

To the Editor:

Laughingly, I had an epiphany recently.

Until that time, I could not understand how people who have access to the same information as I do can draw different conclusions from it unless they simply were not looking at it all or couldn't do the mathematics.

My realization was that it doesn't have to be a case where people do not have the same information or are not working the same figures in the same equation, but that "power-brokers" manipulate the weight given to the data or bombard people with the information that supports the power-brokers' agenda while ignoring the rest.

To emphasis my point, if you have two parents, six children and two vehicles that seat four, your family can get to the same place at the same time. However, it costs you twice as much in fuel and higher costs in other operating expenses, but you can do it. To reduce your costs, you would be better off to own one vehicle that has the room for all eight people.

But if you went to a car dealership and said that you needed to replace one of the vehicles, even fully explaining your situation, the salesman might not tell you that you should be looking at a van for instead of a car for four. He could play "power-broker" if he were to seek the highest profit for himself at your expense, give you a good deal on a car, and hope that when your other car needed replacement, you would return so that he stood to make more profit on two sales than he would make by selling you one van.

Power brokers are not bad people. They are simply people with agendas and the motivation to attempt to make their agendas happen. We are all "power-brokers" at times. In fact, upon my realization that they exist, I realized that I had become one, although rather inexperienced and unsuccessful, in the area of education in the Clay Community School Corporation.

I have an agenda, maximum education at minimum cost and I'm motivated to see it put into practice. My intent is that every dollar spent by our schools and the corporation, yield the highest educational return. I, simply from the information that I have, do not see that happening.

So, who are the power brokers who are manipulating the situations affecting education in this area? I do not know.

I do know that they have to be the people whom you might think they are, namely, people on the school board, within our school corporation or even in education at all.

They may be, but they don't have to be.

What is the agenda and what gain are the power brokers seeking? I don't know that either.

But, if their agenda is something other than the best education for our children at the lowest cost to the taxpayer, I would like to know who they are and get rid of them.

Leo L. Southworth,

Brazil