The Washington Post - USA (2020-10-20)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B5

saddens me. Do you support Superinten- dent Francisco Durán’s reopening plans? I think it’s a fair compromise that kind of meets parents and teachers in the middle. There are parents that are reaching out to me advocating that hybrid is not enough — they want kids back in school five days a week. There are teachers who don’t feel they should be returning to the class- room at all.... To me, this is a pretty fair middle ground. What would you need to see before schools fully reopen? I would like rapid testing available at least for teachers, but ideal- ly for both teachers and students. I would like to see a downward trend of cases in the community. I would like to see Arlington County do a better job of enforcement — of requiring masking and social dis- tancing, especially in bars and res- taurants. I would like to see the county more invested in enforcing safety measures so our kids can go back to school. What are your views on the boundary redrawing process currently underway in Arling- ton? The School Board right now has a very accelerated timeline for redrawing boundaries for certain schools in North Arlington, and they want to have a decision made by Dec. 3. I think that it’s prema- ture to plow through with that now, given the state of flux that we’re experiencing with our students — we have probably close to 1,200 students that left the district since June alone, probably for private schools or home schooling. We just don’t have a full grasp on the impact of how many students are gone, and the majority of students leaving the district are from the schools for which the boundaries are being drawn right now. Should Arlington Public Schools keep police officers — known as “School Resource Offi- cers,” or SROs — patrolling hallways inside schools? My view is that we should not have SROs residing in our schools. Students with disabilities [and] Black and Brown students often have a more negative experience with SROs, resulting in higher re- ferrals to law enforcement, more criminal charges, more interac- tions that are negative. I think resources are better spent on having more mental health providers in our schools. [email protected]

BY HANNAH NATANSON

Two seats are open this year on
the Arlington School Board, a five-
member body that helps oversee
the Arlington Public Schools sys-
tem of about 26,000 students in
Northern Virginia.
There are three candidates
competing for these two slots this
fall, at a moment when the school
system in Arlington, like districts
nationwide, is facing unprec-
edented challenges. Not only has
the coronavirus pandemic thrown
the U.S. education system into
chaos, forcing teachers, including
those in Arlington, to shift their
classes online, but the county is
also facing a significant drop in
enrollment — down a full 4 per-
cent from last year — and a budget
deficit running to $20 million or
more.
On top of thorny questions over
when and how to return students
and teachers safely to classrooms,
Arlington is also facing calls to
remove police officers from school
buildings, as well as allegations
that the system has failed to ad-
equately recognize and address
the myriad legacies of systemic
racism that are shaping students’
experiences in classrooms and
hallways.
In interviews, each of the three
candidates — who, if elected,
would serve four years — spoke
briefly about how they view and
would tackle these issues. These
profiles are based on candidates’
answers and have been edited for
space and clarity.

Cristina Diaz-Torres

Diaz-Torres, 29, is a manager of
product design and delivery at
Education First Consulting. She is
a former teacher who said she
would bring needed first-person
experience to board discussions
and decisions. She is also Latina
and hopes that winning a seat
would ensure that, in a system
where about 30 percent of stu-
dents are Hispanic, “there is some-
one advocating for the students
that look like me and shares their
cultural and demographic back-
grounds.”
What are the biggest chal -

lenges facing Arlington Public Schools? They are equity writ large — we have disparities in income, across demographics, problems for students with disabilities, from low- income backgrounds, students who are bilingual — but also obvi- ously things caused by the pandemic. We need to make sure kids are getting a quality education, no matter the delivery plan, and make sure that we are addressing students’ social and emotional needs. It’s a very trying time. Do you support Superinten- dent Francisco Durán’s reopening plans? Yes, I am in support of it. I actually wrote a piece in Blue Vir- ginia back in May that outlined a similar plan. It was great to see the superintendent’s plan include outreach for the community, a concrete way to address social and emotional needs and a plan to get devices to all kids. What would you need to see before schools fully reopen? If we’re talking about all kids in all classrooms, then we need to have both family and staff confidence. Right now, even among our families, we’re still seeing about 30 percent who want to stay virtual, as well as an even greater percentage of our employees, so it comes down to people feeling comfort- able and us having the equipment to respond to any sort of outbreaks that come up. What are your views on the boundary redrawing process currently underway in Arling- ton? We’re in a tough time because of the pandemic. We have a new elementary school opening in 2021, and the boundary process that has been proposed for this fall — well, it can colloquially be termed a “steady state adjustment,” I think, because it’s resetting the attend- ance zone for that particular school and then leaving everything else pretty much the same for the purpose of just getting through the rest of the pandemic, which I think is appropriate. Our families are already dealing with so much stress and tension that we do not need to be doing a massive

VIRGINIA

3 are vying for 2 seats on

Arlington School Board

upheaval of elementary school boundaries in the middle of that. Should Arlington Public Schools keep police officers — known as “School Resource Offi- cers,” or SROs — patrolling hallways inside schools? I do not support SROs in schools, and I support the ongoing conversation about removing them and figuring out an appropriate redesign. I don’t think they have met the criteria of what we want a discipline force to be, and there are many other options available across the education field — things like deans, hall monitors with more clear powers — p eople who are embedded in the school community, trained by the school system, who have a better understanding of what the culture of the school community is supposed to be and who are not wearing a badge and causing un- due stress for our students of col- or.

David Priddy Priddy, 46, is a stay-at-home dad who describes himself as a “community activist.” He used to work for an elevator company and says his business experience would give him an advantage dur- ing financial planning discussions. Priddy has two children en- rolled in the Arlington school system: an eighth-grader and a fifth- grader. He is running for a board seat, he said, because “I do have a powerful voice, and I do know how to bring people together” to ac- complish needed improvements at a pivotal moment in school his- tory. What are the biggest chal - lenges facing Arlington Public Schools? F irst and foremost, a safe return to school from [covid-19]. Second is bringing equity throughout Arlington Public Schools. And third would be, how

LISA DAMICO PORTRAITS Cristina Diaz Torres

do we operate, knowing that we’ll be at a deficit? Do you support Superinten- dent Francisco Durán’s reopening plans? Yes, I support the superintendent’s plans for reopening. I ap- preciate his attentiveness to the safety of students and staff. He’s been very thoughtful and very understanding of people’s situations. What would you need to see before schools fully reopen? W e need a low percentage rate. With the reopening plan, we need to have confidence that the safety and health procedures in place are working. We need a contact trac- ing system, so we’re sure we can figure out where the outbreaks are. For parents, we need a clear communication path. And, for the safety of students, teachers and staff, we need significant PPE sup- plies, ventilation in the facilities themselves, isolation rooms for coronavirus patients — and those must be up to code. Everything must meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guide- lines. What are your views on the boundary redrawing process currently underway in Arling- ton? We do need to fill the new school that is opening next year, and we’re dealing with overcrowd- ing. There were originally supposed to be more schools involved in this boundary change, but as a result of the pandemic it was scaled back so it only affects 13 percent of students now, and I think that was the right move. I’m glad there are community engage- ment processes on the calendar right now, and there will — and should — be more. Should Arlington Public Schools keep police officers — known as “School Resource Offi- cers,” or SROs — patrolling hallways inside schools?

N. PRIDDY David Priddy

We know there are many inci- dents in school that require a counselor or mental health profes- sional instead of a police officer. We need to review our practice of having SROs in schools and make sure they are the best use of our system. Do I support the removal of SROs? Yes, but it’s not that easy just to get rid of them. It’s a long- standing program — and the county pays for police in schools, so if we remove them, Arlington Public Schools will lose that mon- ey. We’re already going to be in a budget deficit this year so we need to figure that piece out. And second, Arlington Public Schools needs to find personnel to replace the non-policing functions that SROs perform. So we need to have a plan before we decide to remove them.

Symone Walker Walker, 49, is an attorney with the federal government. She has two children: an eighth-grader en- rolled in Arlington Public Schools and a ninth-grader who attends private school. She said she is running “for change, not for a posi- tion,” because she has long been concerned by inequity in the Ar- lington school system. After stints serving on parent-teacher associa- tions, the superintendent’s Com- mittee for Equity and Excellence and the Arlington Special Educa- tion Advisory Committee, she has grown frustrated with the treatment of special-education students, as well as of Black and Brown children. What are the biggest chal - lenges facing Arlington Public Schools? The biggest challenge right now that I’m seeing is to create a sense of harmony and unity among o ur parents who w ant their kids back in schools and our teachers who feel it’s not yet safe for them to return. It’s a divisive issue, which

ERIN NITSCHE S ymone Walker

obituaries

BY HARRISON SMITH

Johnny Bush, a Texas singer
whose rowdy honky-tonk hit
“Whiskey River” became a signa-
ture song for his friend Willie
Nelson b ut whose own career was
interrupted by a neurological
condition that robbed him of his
voice for years, died Oct. 16 at a
hospital in San Antonio. He was
85.
T he cause was complications
from pneumonia, said Ronnie
McHan, his drummer and tour-
ing manager. He added that Mr.
Bush had recently tested negative
for the coronavirus.
Mr. Bush was a drummer, gui-
tarist, fiddler and singer-song-
writer with a distinctive, vibrato-
heavy tenor that earned him the
nickname “the Caruso of coun-
try,” a nod to Italian opera star
Enrico Caruso. In the late 1960s
and ’70s he recorded a string of
country hits, including versions
of his mentor Ray Price’s “I’ll Be
There,” Marty Robbins’s “You
Gave Me a Mountain” and Willie
Nelson’s “Undo the Right” and
“What a Way to Live.”
But soon after signing with
RCA Records, his new label
tasked him with composing a
song of his own. He responded by
writing “Whiskey River” with
Paul Stroud, whom Mr. Bush later
described as “an old rodeo cow-
boy friend.” Mr. Bush said he
began writing it while traveling
from Nashville to Texas by bus,
jotting down lyrics on a paper
sack that someone had used to
bring him a cheeseburger:
Whiskey River, take my mind
Don’t let her memory torture
me
Whiskey River, don’t run dry
You’re all I got, take care of me
Released as a single in 1972, the
song reached No. 14 on the coun-
try charts while receiving near-
constant airplay on Texas country
stations. Thick with fiddles, driv-
en by a propulsive bass line, it
was an infectious anthem about
alcohol-induced forgetfulness
and the solace offered by an
“amber current,” when the mem-
ory of an old love has left you
feeling cold.
The song was shaped in part by

Nelson, whom Mr. Bush called for advice. “Whiskey River” only had one verse and one bridge, he said, and didn’t it need something more? “Well, you’ve already said what you need to say,” Nelson told him, according to a Texas Month- ly report. “In a country song, you tell your life story in two and a half minutes.” When Nelson recorded a rocki- fied version of the song for “Shot- gun Willie,” his influential 1973 outlaw-country album, “Whiskey River” became an even bigger hit; Nelson opened his concerts with it for decades. Mr. Bush and Nelson had been friends since the 1950s, when both men were unknown musi- cians performing in San Antonio beer joints. For a time, it seemed that Mr. Bush had the more promising career: When they partnered together in a group called the Mission City Playboys, it was Mr. Bush who convinced Nelson to join as a guitarist, not a singer, according to Nelson’s 2015 autobiography, “It’s a Long Story.” “He had a tremendous voice filled with feeling,” Nelson wrote. He recalled having to fight back tears when he heard Mr. Bush sing a country rendition of the pop standard “Stardust,” which “made me see that a great singer can sing any song in any genre. Johnny Bush was a great singer.” Their group, he added, “was a band that went nowhere fast, but we had fun going there.” Mr. Bush often cited Nelson as his chief inspiration as a song- writer, once declaring that he compared every song he ever wrote to Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away.” Through Nel- son, he also met Ray Price, his other musical lodestar, playing the drums in the singer’s Chero- kee Cowboys group for several years in the 1960s. Mr. Bush left when Price began moving in a more pop-oriented direction but took with him “the fiddle-’n’-steel sound and the two- step shuffle beat that remain, to this day, at the heart and soul of true Texas honky-tonk,” music critic Rick Mitchell wrote in the introduction to “Whiskey River (Take My Mind),” Mr. Bush’s 2007

memoir. By 1972, Mr. Bush seemed on the verge of bringing his honky- tonk sound to a larger audience. “Whiskey River” was rising through the charts when his voice suddenly started to slip. “The high notes — which in the past had come as easily and naturally to me as breathing — became raspy and strangled,” he wrote in his memoir. “It was as if my throat was being choked off.” Doctors told him there seemed to be nothing wrong with his vocal cords. But his second marriage was struggling, and one physician prescribed anti-anxiety medicine and suggested he take time off. Mr. Bush lost his con- tract with RCA and soon lost his

voice, finding that he was largely unable to talk. He was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological disorder, and came to believe that God was punish- ing him for what he described as his “sinful behavior,” including years of womanizing and heavy drinking. Mr. Bush ultimately launched a comeback, releasing albums including “Talk to My Heart” (1998), “Honky Tonic” (2004) and “The Absolute Johnny Bush” (2017). He was aided by vocal exercises he learned under Gary Catona, a noted voice coach, and by Botox treatment that he started in the 1990s, receiving a shot near the vocal cords every eight to 10 weeks. As a result, he estimat-

ed that his voice was no less than 75 percent of what it was in his prime. In a phone interview, Tracy Pitcox, president of the country label Heart of Texas Records, said Mr. Bush was a key influence on many Texas country and “red dirt” artists, including Pat Green and Robert Earl Keen. “These younger artists were considering him what I’d call an elder states- man of this music,” he added. Mr. Bush said he was simply trying to protect Texas’s “musical birthright” by honing a tradition- al sound, in contrast to “the powers that be in Nashville, who have either boldly or subtly set out to kill the original roots of country music.” Because of artists

such as Nelson, Merle Haggard and George Jones, “I feel confi- dent that our music will survive and stay real,” he wrote in his memoir. “If I have been able to play a role in this process, then I am grateful.” Mr. Bush was born John Bush Shinn III in Houston on Feb. 17,

He grew up in a home
without electricity or plumbing,
wearing clothes that his mother
made by hand. His father worked
in the printing business and
played guitar, and his parents
divorced when he was in the
seventh grade.
After dropping out of high
school, he worked in the oil fields
and then threw himself into
country music, going by Johnny
Bush after a television announcer
mixed his name up when he was
17, according to a biography on
his website.
Around that same time, he
married for the first time, to a
woman he identified in his mem-
oir only as Jean. Mr. Bush had
several other marriages and in
1988 married Lynda Kilian. She
survives him, as does a daughter
from his first marriage, Gaye
Lynn Litton; a stepdaughter,
Christine Hecker; a brother; four
grandchildren; and three great-
grandchildren. A stepson, Trey
Kilian, died in 2007.
Mr. Bush was inducted into the
Texas County Music Hall of Fame
in 2003. He had continued per-
forming in recent years, donning
a Stetson for each show and
regularly ending the night with
two of his most popular drinking
anthems, “Green Snakes on the
Ceiling” and “Whiskey River.”
“He acted as though he was a
new artist just getting started,”
said Pitcox, whose label released
some of Mr. Bush’s last records.
Pitcox added that he had tried to
convince Mr. Bush not to perform
his last show — in New Braunfels,
Tex., last month — because Mr.
Bush was increasingly ill, receiv-
ing supplemental oxygen.
But Mr. Bush was adamant
that the show go on.
“It’s sold out,” he said. “I’ve got
to do it. I don’t want to let the fans
down.”
[email protected]

JOHNNY BUSH, 85

Texan’s ‘Whiskey River’ became a Willie Nelson staple

MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES Johnny Bush’s distinctive, vibrato-heavy tenor earned him the nickname “the Caruso of country,” but his career was interrupted by a rare neurological condition that robbed him of his voice for years.

The Washington Post - USA (2020-10-20)

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