Campaign Phone
9207387517
Currently I am an AASD Board of Education member, and serve as the Board President. I am seeking re-election because I want to continue to be involved in decisions impacting the future of the AASD. I am committed to preserving and improving the quality of public education in our community. Strong public schools are essential to ensure all children have access to quality education, and are an important consideration when people choose where to live, start businesses and raise families.
The District is a leader in providing educational options for parents and students, with 14 charter schools, 1 magnet school, and 22 neighborhood schools. In addition, the District has a highly-qualified staff, maintains many strong business and community partnerships, and is financially sound and fiscally responsible. The biggest challenges facing the District are, closing the testing gaps of identified groups, addressing student attendance concerns, and maintaining adequate funding.
In addition to offering competitive wages and benefits, it is important to offer relevant orientation and mentoring for new employees, and then continue to invest in the staff by providing meaningful professional development to promote growth and advancement in the profession. We also need to consistently assess the work environment, assuring a positive, safe environment, one in which employees feel valued. Long term, we need to promote education as the vital and valuable career that it is.
I support the District’s policy on curriculum development. The Administration and professional educators are responsible for creating curriculum which meets Board-approved standards, and supports District goals. It is essential that the curriculum meets students’ diverse cultural backgrounds and educational needs. Curriculum and materials are evaluated through multiple lenses to avoid implicit bias and assure representation of the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of society.
I do not support the rise in book banning and censorship. These efforts run counter to fundamental responsibilities of public schools to provide adequate library media materials which reflect the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of society, and to encourage free expression and the free exchange of ideas, information and knowledge. Certainly, parents can object to a particular material for their own child, but do not have a right to limit access for other students.
Campaign Phone
9207386877
I have found my first term to be one of significant personal learning and growth by exposure to new information and ideas. The AASD is a large and complex district with many different strengths and challenges. All the new initiatives are still in their formative stages. The AASD community has placed tremendous trust in the district by approving the referendum and I am committed to continue to support the implementation of our new approaches and continue to learn and grow my knowledge
The strengths of the AASD is the educators, administrators, paraprofessionals, and other staff members that comprise the backbone of AASD. The weaknesses are student literacy and attendance. We need to focus on building literacy skills for all students, which then builds the student's math, science, social studies, arts, and wellness skills. Student attendance is a challenge to districts across the country. Addressing attendance early in a student’s experience builds lifelong skills & habits
The AASD has implemented a program where students who are interested in pursuing a career in public education can participate in a school sponsored student group with other like-minded students. Students can learn more about the teaching profession directly from teaching professional. All students who participate are guaranteed an interview with the district upon graduation from college. The AASD offers competitive wage and benefits, and recruits actively at Midwest universities.
A curriculum needs to be rigorously developed and tested and proven to be effective across a wide range of students. The curriculum needs to be consistent across the district to ensure students are successful by choice and design, not by chance. The curriculum needs to viable where it is rigorous and challenging, but students can successfully learn the course content timely. My personal conviction is that every student is is given the best education regardless of cultural differences.
The book banning bills subvert the responsibility of the elected Board by subjecting board members & officials to monetary and legal jeopardy. The practical reality is these bills potentially allow a small minority to exert their opinions over all stakeholders. The proposed bills foster an adversarial relationship between community members and the district, negatively impacting students. Existing polices allowing parents to opt out and community-based review, better serve our students.