This is a Children's Rescue Mission
I'm not fighting against the status quo. I'm fighting for my vision of an improved system.
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WHY I AM RUNNING...
The reason I decided to run for Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction is simple. The people in power do not have the best interest at heart when it comes to our most precious possessions…our children.
This great awakening continues to become more evident as I speak with thousands of Arizona parents who just want their voices heard and to be told the truth about the things they have witnessed first-hand while at home during COVID-19 with their children in virtual schools.
It became increasingly clear that they had been left out of decisions related to the ones most important and dear to them, their children. They are tired of education bureaucrats that prioritized unions, not their kids, during COVID-19. They have had enough of political indoctrination, racial division, and illicit sexual content being sown in the minds of their children as young as kindergarten. Most important, they are done having our Department of Education run by a radical political puppet of the left with no management experience and an agenda that in no way aligns with the love every parent has for their children’s future.
Teachers are frustrated too as many aren’t seeing the full promised raises. The decades of failure of the public school system have finally been exposed and the urgency to fix this dilapidated system is now greater than ever. I am activated and prepared to stand up for the families of the great state of Arizona and finally bring common sense solutions to reform our broken education system.
Priorities for Putting AZ Kids First
Time in the classroom is precious and invaluable to the future of our youth. It is important to prioritize learning, problem-solving, building social communication skills and creativity in the classroom.
We all love our children and trust that they are safe and nurtured within the boundaries of school; however, recent revelations in the school system has sown doubt in the hearts of parents. I am running to re-establish faith and integrity in the public school system. The system lacks a sense of community and that needs to change expeditiously. As taxpayers, we are all stakeholders in our public services, such as public schools, and we have a responsibility to ensure these services are successful.
When parents start feeling excluded from the conversation, that is a sign something is wrong. I want to develop better communication between all parties. We need to ensure families are not confused or misguided. Parents and schools need to work together to give students the tools they need to be more successful students, and develop into productive citizens in the long term.
Additionally, there has been an increasing disconnect between the goals of parents and the goals of school administrations. We need to bridge the gap. I will be the voice of reason who cuts through political ideology and partisanship to do what is best for the well-being of all students. It is a great privilege to partake in this process, and we all need to come together. We are subject to taxation with the promise of representation; I will be your representation.
Empowering Parents: Children belong to parents and families, not the government. Our Department of Education exists to serve parents and families in educating their children. Parents need the ability to review curriculum, opt their child out of instruction on sensitive topics, and access their school options. Hiding information from parents and refusing to share curriculum has been troubling to many parents. It’s against the law, and it must come to an end.
No Special Interests: During COVID-19, we got a firsthand look at what happens when a department puts the demands of special interest groups and unions ahead of kids. Thousands of Arizona children were sent home to learn in front of screens for hours with little support - and were forced to mask when they were finally allowed to return. Many challenges lie ahead but I am committed to making decisions that prioritize the needs of children first and foremost.
Return To Basics: Currently, our students are two years behind due to the pandemic. They have lost social skills, cannot focus in the classroom, and express negative behavioral changes. Phone addiction is preventing learning and study skills. Education needs to return to the basics. For both social and economic reasons, fewer and fewer students are attending college, yet they need to be positive contributors to society and valued workers. Therefore, vocational education should be a priority. All students should be well educated about our shared American history, as well as their civic duties.
SCHOOL CHOICE
Parents are entitled to seek the education they think is best for the children. In order to achieve that two things should happen simultaneously:
1. Expand school choice options, ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Accounts) and make the process as easy and smooth as possible. Currently the Department of Education is slow-walking applications and makes it harder for families to qualify for the program while providing inadequate customer service. It is one my highest priorities to make the ADE responsive and helpful in empowering families.
2. Improve the public school system so it becomes a preferable choice not a default option; as in the private sector, attracting customers is done based on performance and service. Every school either public, charter or private must aspire to be the best they can to earn their customers. It is important to note a decrease of 38,000 students for the 2021 enrollment in public schools. To me that is a very clear message of how unhappy the customers are. Surprisingly, the department hasn’t gotten the message yet.
PARENTAL CONTROL
Recent developments have brought many parents to doubt the system, and we need to re-establish their trust. Parents should never have to wonder what the child is exposed to while in the care of the school. We must develop better communication between all parties. I will not tolerate a lack of transparency. I will fight for parental rights as explicitly described in the Parents Bill of Rights in the Arizona Statute.
Refer to the Parents Bill of Right Page
ERADICATE INDOCTRINATION
Stop radical indoctrination. Teachers shouldn’t be questioning children about their gender or sexuality. Children shouldn’t be learning to divide along racial lines. The left is intent on using our classrooms as indoctrination centers, introducing damaging Critical Race Theory and “comprehensive sex ed” (illicit sexual content) to early grades. It must be stopped.
Students are taught what to think, not how to think, which results in students being functionally illiterate and handicaps their ability to think critically.
I will work to bring awareness of harmful ideology, such as Critical Race Theory and stop the conditioning of vulnerable children. Comprehensive Sex Education and Social Emotional Learning are other example of radical ideology.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Holding teachers and districts accountable, to ensure policy matters are centered around the interest of the students first. Merit based funding is imperative in order to support teacher and student excellence.
Accountability in education funding: While we have continued to fund education, teachers aren’t necessarily getting the promised raises. And funding isn’t landing in classrooms. Teachers are still pitching in to fund basic classroom necessities despite new funding. The students, the teachers, the classroom are all given less than they deserve. Where does the money go? A lot of it ends up trapped in administration and bureaucracy. The problem is, we don’t always know where it goes. It’s time to implement new levels of accountability and transparency for the use of funding. As Superintendent, I will work closely with the legislature to not only strengthen transparency and accountability but focus funding on programs that work while eliminating failing programs. The practice of adding new programs and wasting more money on what isn’t working for decades has not served our children well.
TRANSPARENCY
Curriculum must be readily available to parents at all times. The new trend of hiding information from parents, opting students into classes without the consent of the parents, and language construction naming curriculum in different name to conceal what it really is has been troubling to many parents, is against the law, and must come to an end. School board meetings are becoming a contentious topic. This should never happen in a decent society. The parents must remain an integral part of their child’s education experience. This is not a controversial statement. It is a fact.
AIM TO EXCELLENCE
We need to ensure children are not confused or misguided, they need to be given the tools to excel. Our children are not mediocre; they are exceptional. The standards must uphold academic excellence. The curriculum must be vigorous and thought provoking, not implementation of social justice propaganda. Our kids must be able to compete with their peers from other countries. Vast training in history, science, math and reading. Let’s insist on teaching cursive, limit the time students work on the computers, and encourage reading and writing.
BUDGET MANAGEMENT
Working closely with the Governor’s office during the next legislative session is a key initial step to a successful legislative budget request and outcome. The goal of my administration will be to funnel funds to programs that work while eliminating failing programs. The practice of adding new programs and wasting more money on what isn’t working for decades has not served our children well.
RESERVATIONS
Some school districts retain staggering amounts of cash, where others cannot afford some basic educational tools for success. More than half of the school districts in Arizona are in remote or rural areas of the state. Those districts and the Indian reservations deserve to get their fair share.
Current formulas used to allocate funding to rural districts are not sufficient and require reform and/or providing a stable, dedicated revenue source less reliant on the general fund or annual legislative appropriation.
The Department of Education needs to highlight rural AZ. Rural schools struggle, mostly due to local property taxes since they are in areas of federally controlled land and less private property. With less rural students than urban, the funding per pupil is substantially lower. Meanwhile, the buildings are much older and in need of full replacement, not repair.
Transportation costs are higher, as rural areas drive three times the miles to get kids to and from school.
The reservation schools being remote cause difficulty in getting good teachers which we can address with residency programs.
SETTING A NEW TONE
It might be a surprise to many, but the Superintendent’s role is largely administrative. However, the Superintendent is able to SET THE TONE at the Department of Education.
Bringing back the spirit of unity, emphasizing patriotism and the importance of the nuclear family, respecting our cultural heritage and appreciating physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle should all be a part of the the departments tone. I will focus on open communication, accessibility, and above all, a profound stance that ALL Arizona children are the highest priority.
My administration will have a tone of hope and faith towards parents and convey that they are a partner of the Department of Education, not an adversary. We will implement forward-thinking, innovative and logical policies that protects kids from harmful ideologies. We will advance thought provoking practices and stop the anti-intellectual movement we see in the education system today.
TEACHER PAY
It is time we have someone leading the department who understands that there is no shortage of money for education. Half of the total Arizona state budget is allocated to education.
Keeping teachers’ pay low has been intentional so it can continue to be used as a campaign issue. The money is there and more of it became available through the 20% by 2020 act the Governor signed into law.
The problem is that money is going to administrative positions instead of increasing teachers pay. This is an easy problem to solve, if someone actually wanted to solve it. I look forward to raising teacher’s pay once I take office.
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