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School Director - SHALER AREA REGION 1 {_getChooseLabel(this.selections.length)}

School Directors are elected on behalf of the community to oversee the education of students in their jurisdiction. They serve as agents of the state legislature. They are responsible for curriculum and instruction management; all finances including development of annual budgets and levying of taxes and issuance of debt obligations when necessary; personnel; legal matters; management of facilities; and transportation of students as appropriate. Schools may include pre-K and career and technical schools.

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  • Candidate picture

    Daeja Baker
    (Dem, Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Bernard Martin O'Brien Jr.
    (Dem, Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Ken Vybiral
    (Dem, Rep)

Biographical Information

What is your experience with your public schools, and what in your background would contribute to your being an effective school board member?

How would you address anticipated shortfalls in school funding over the next few years? Please be specific.

How would you approach decisions about curriculum selection and access to books in the district to balance educational value and community concerns?

Campaign Web Site http://daejaforschoolboard.com
Occupation political consultant
Qualifications for office social worker, msw in process, campaign staffer
Education BFA and MFA from Chatham University, MSW in process at Howard University
Facebook Facebook.com/daejaforsasd
Instagram / TikTok @daejaforsasd
As a social services worker in divergent programming I worked with youth of color and queer youth in schools and in afterschool programming with a growth curriculum for girls and non-men to learn critical thinking and leadership skills. My work was concentrated in the North Side and the Mon Valley with lower class communities and children in the juvenile justice system.

I believe that my experience working with our most marginalized students shows that I can advocate for our students who are the most in need and that I know how to approach the issues that typically plague our most vulnerable students.
A part of what I will do as a school board director is to advocate for funding at the state level and work closely with our state legislators to bring more money back to more municipalities and school districts, specifically working up to budget season every year and advocating directly with legislative leaders in the house and senate who can work in a bipartisan effort to get more funding for public schools.

Beyond that I will take a critical role in applying for available grants in our region to contribute to funding needs.
I would involve parents and educators in as much of the working process as possible. It is not the school board's job to create curriculum, but to approve it. I will make sure to thoroughly read and research what is put before the board and ask much needed questions to educators and administrators before any curricula is approved.

I will listen to parent's concerns but also consider what is needed to keep our students at the forefront of what is needed to succeed in the current and future scope of world education. We do not want our children to be behind because we are afraid of what they will learn in a book. There must be compromise. I will make the hard decisions with the rest of the board, when necessary.
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