John F.

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

John F. Kennedy caught the ear of Bob Vilt when he was a younger man watching the President’s news briefings.

"I loved his sense of humor," Vilt said. "He had young people involved. I respected that. I was young at the time."

While running for one of four seats open in the Nov. 2 Austin Board of Education election, Vilt echoes the sentiments of his long-time inspiration:

"We have to get young people involved and not look at them as the enemy," said Vilt, who is running for a spot on the school board for the fifth time. Vilt began running in the early 1980s and hasn’t let an election go by without entering the fray.

This election, he hopes, is the charm.

"Five is my lucky number," said Vilt, " … but if I don’t get it I’m not going to cut my throat."

Vilt is the husband of city council member Jeanne Poppe and the father of three children – two sons, one at Ellis Middle School and the other at Banfield Elementary, and a daughter at Houston High School.

"It was her choice," Vilt said. "She wanted to go to a smaller school."

Vilt is the newsroom clerk at the Austin Daily Herald and an avid attendee of school board and other local government meetings.

Vilt was there when the current board interviewed superintendent candidates. He recalled a point in the interview process when James Hess, who eventually got the job, turned the tables and asked the board if it had a long-range plan.

"It was obvious they didn’t have one," Vilt said. "They need to have one."

For Vilt, the long-term plan starts out with a single solid foundation – hire and retain good teachers. Vilt then calls for the district to abandon the seven-period day, replacing it with the four-period block scheduling. Longer class periods, said Vilt, would mean less prep-time for teachers and more time to bring variety into the classroom.

Vilt, who had been a teacher and a family counselor for 18 years, pointed to the school board’s code of ethics, which encourages free expression of opinions by all board members.

"I don’t think they’re doing that," he said. "I think it’s essential that those elected need to speak."

Vilt also wondered aloud why some gymnasiums are closed to the public. As a way of, what Vilt calls, "restoring the public in public education," Vilt proposes opening up more public school gyms and hiring high schoolers to supervise.