An Independent-minded QV Mom vs a Homeschool Political Activist

 

The region that sprawls from Edgeworth to Glenfield and up to Sewickley Heights is fortunate to be represented by a candidate possessing the care, energy and determination to hear the voices of her diverse district. Kati Doebler is a powerful presence on the school board.

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A mother of two QV students, Osborne HSA leader and parent who cares deeply about our district, Doebler began regularly attending school board meetings long before deciding to run for office. From those meetings she saw a need for greater communication from the district and established her own social media platforms to push out timely information to the community.

 

Since being elected to the School Board in 2017, Doebler continues to push for more transparency in district decision-making. She would like to see more responsiveness to public comments and questions at board meetings. Doebler is clamoring for the recording of board meetings to make them accessible to more citizens who cannot participate at the time they are held.

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A Senior Product Manager for a large software company, Doebler draws on her business and technology background to inform her sound leadership on the board. She is a strong voice for fiscally responsible budgets and is mindful of the impact of district decisions on property taxpayers. Doebler has pushed the district administration hard to hold the line on taxes—and voted to freeze tax rates for the last two years.

 

Doebler’s challenger, Heather Saftner, has organized her campaign around anti-mask groups and counts them among her core supporters. Her focus on overturning our school district’s mask policy seems misplaced since she does not send her children to Quaker Valley schools. This also likely explains her thin understanding of our QV schools, district finances, or its educational programming. As a staunch homeschool advocate, Saftner advocates diverting funds from Quaker Valley’s public school budget to “competing” alternatives, sapping funds away from Edgeworth, Osborne, QV Middle and High Schools.

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Even more troubling, Saftner is the local activist who collected the $10,000 check from the Philadelphia-area donor who is spending $500,000 to meddle in school board races in communities like ours. Doebler is trying to stay afloat in this sea of outside spending by funding her campaign with smaller donations from family, friends, QV parents and local residents.

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The contrast between the candidates in this region could not be starker. Doebler is a staunch public school advocate and seeks to build on the success of Quaker Valley’s exceptional academic track record. She will work to strengthen, not undermine, QV schools and we enthusiastically endorse Kati Doebler.