My first sensation was a feeling of surging competitiveness, when the head of the nominations committee contacted me to tell me I was one of two candidates for President-Elect in the upcoming elections at the CEC Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Children (CEC-DDEL). Then this morning the e-mail election ballot arrived and I took a closer look.

As I was reading the bio-statement from my opponent--Dr. Kelly Carrero--it dawned on me that there was little chance for me to win this contest.

Then, I looked into some of the information available online about Dr. Carrero, and slowly, grudgingly, but inevitably, I became a big fan of my opponent and almost wished I could take back my early morning vote and change it in her favor.

Kelly Carrero, my new DDEL hero, was named "Outstanding Graduate Student" by CEC in 2012, the year she completed her Ph.D. at the University of North Texas, writing her dissertation on "Teacher educators: What motivates them to choose academe?," full text available at http://gradworks.umi.com/35/38/3538084.html. That was a year after I completed my Ed.D. at Kansas State University, and my dissertation, "Do Kansas schools address multicultural needs of exceptional students in transition practices? A survey of special educators in grades 9-12 with direct experience in transition planning for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students," full text available at http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/handle/2097/13095.

By an odd coincidence, K-State plays Texas in football on October 25th this season, right in the midst of online voting, as DDEL members cast their ballots choosing either Dr. Carrero or me as the next president-elect.

The Royals are having a unimaginably great post season in baseball; the Chiefs are in ascendancy as well; and I definitely want the Wildcats to win over the Longhorns. But I honestly am not sure where I stand on the choice facing DDEL members in our October elections, even though I am one of the two candidates myself.

Then, I found another source of further data to help me understand the strengths that Kelly Carrero would bring to such an important post in the DDEL and CEC organization.

She collaborated neatly with professors from Wichita State University -- my fellow Kansans -- on a "TED Talk" (TED in this case means Teacher Education Division of CEC - http://www.tedcec.org/) about co-teaching partnerships in higher education settings, an intriguing panel presentation available online at http://youtu.be/sDHlUQVueEs, as a youtube (six minutes, well invested).

Well, I'm all in, so I must continue to campaign for myself in this DDEL leadership contest. But I also realize it would not be the end of the world if I lost, and it would be so easy to support Kelly Carrero if she were to win.

But I won't back down on my pledge of support for the Kansas City Royals and the K-State Wildcats in their October challenges.

That's where I draw the line.

DDEL election results are expected to be announced in November.

Editor's note: In mid November, the CEC Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Children announced Kelly Carrero as the victor in our hard-fought contest. Dr. Carrero is the new President-elect of CEC-DDEL! Best wishes to her for a successful and satisfying leadership cycle. -Robb Scott

Article by Robert Bruce Scott, Ed.D.
drrobbscott@gmail.com
Hays, KANSAS

2014 ESL MiniConference Online