Anne Burke, Kelly Kent and Scott McVarish probably form the strongest field of School Board candidates this century.

Partisans in the community have railed against them for reasons that seem petty – their personalities and perceived but not proven flaws.

Uniformly, all look like Central Casting graduates without a detectable chink in their armor.

They present as imaginative – but hardly radical – thinkers who are not bashful about their views in spite of tender emotions emanating from their audiences.

They rank above all of their 21^st century School Board candidates predecessors for four reasons:

• They are more broadly and deeply informed. They are not mere passersby. They are young parents first. Even though none of the three applied until the shadow of registration deadline was growing long, they are so knowledgeable about the School District they probably could tell you the measurements of the walkways at every school in Culver City.
• Each possesses separate, realistic animating ideas that should appeal to committed parents.
• Each is a polished, high-grade professional, although all of them speak endlessly about their own parenting skills. They would make Toastmasters Club veterans look like deaf mumblers. They may dance a stutter step, but not when their tongues are working.
• Not one has shown a meaningful vulnerability.

All of those reasons should galvanize a serious turnout of voters by Nov. 3.