The Election is Over … What Next?

Now that the election is over, what do we do next and what should we anticipate?  As I spent time yesterday on Facebook, I came across a post from a friend of mine that speaks to what we must do over the coming weeks and months.  His post, written on election eve, follows:

Tomorrow is our last night as either Republicans or Democrats. We chose to vote for the candidate of our choice, better or worse. But after it is said and done we must support our President. We as Americans are able to voice our opinions thanks to our forefathers and those who have stood and fought for our freedoms! We may not agree all the time with each other but let us not forget how we got here. Some of you have or will have children who will be under the new commander-in-chief. So let's all pray for our new President that our Lord will guide them and our country as we move forward. But let us not disgrace our great nation by not standing beside them as they lead.

This is certainly the most divisive campaign I have seen in my lifetime and the healing from the campaign will take a long time.  The healing process is not solely up to those in Washington or the two combatants, however.  Instead, it must start at a grassroots level, where each of us put aside differences and have fruitful discussions about what we can do to positively impact the lives of our children and grandchildren.  

As part of that discussion, we must also focus on the needs of students in our public education system.  Without question, public education will continue to be under attack at all levels of government.  Now is not the time to throw our hands up; now is the time to strengthen our resolve to focus on the more than 5.3 million Texas public education students.

As I watched last night’s returns, I recalled the first election in which I had the opportunity to cast a ballot.  I viewed it as a privilege to be able to vote and was proud to do so as I stood in line in 1972.  Over time, there has been a disengagement by voters but this election seemed to rekindle interest in the election process.  Perhaps it’s because the candidates and their supporters were so polarized but I see hope in the fact that people were passionate enough to vote for their candidate of choice.

Closer to home, it’s now time to assess how the political landscape changed in Texas and to begin to focus our public education advocacy efforts on those elected on Tuesday, while continuing to interact with those whose seats were not up for election this cycle.  The elections of 2016 may not have brought out the best in all of us but we at least now know where we need to expend our energies.  As part of that effort, we must work tirelessly to ensure that our elected officials make education a priority.