As I sit here tonight, the day after election day, Arizona has yet to call any of the major races. Results keep trickling in, and I check and recheck my phone hoping to see numbers increasing and decreasing. We just wait. My friends text me updates when they see them, but between those messages they send new ones insisting they are not waiting around for news.
After I received my ballot in the mail, like all good teachers, I did my research. As I filled out my choices, I saw decisions that would impact my school and my district sitting there among the candidates and ballot initiatives. Education is always on the ballot, and, in case you didn’t vote this year, here are some key educational races we are waiting to hear winners on.
School Board Candidates:
These are people who directly impact the day-to-day at your school, even in ways you can’t always see. They make policy, approve curriculum, approve hiring and firing decisions, and even set teacher salaries. Electing school board candidates who value public education is an important step in making your district the best it can be. Electing school board candidates who care about teachers and students is going to make your district one that people want to be a part of.
Superintendent of Public Schools:
This person is responsible for overseeing all the schools in Arizona and enforcing educational policy in districts around the state. They also distribute the state’s education funds, materials, supplies, teaching certifications. They also get a spot on statewide public educations boards like the AZ Board of Regents, which means this position oversees education from kindergarteners all the way through college aged students. The list goes on and on with the ways this person can impact our public schools.
Bonds and Overrides:
It is unfortunate that these are necessary, but bonds and overrides are how schools in Arizona fill the gaps in funding we receive every year. Bond funds can be used on capital purchases, things like updating buildings, buying new buses, or even building new schools. Override funds can pay for teacher salaries, full-day kindergarten, CTE classes, and other essential programs that benefit our students.
So, as we sit here and wait to see the winners of last night’s election, I stay optimistic for the future of education in Arizona. I hope the candidates we put in office think of our students as they make the policy that shape their school days. I wish confidence on our new school board members, some of them jumping into the deep end of local decision making for the first time. And, I promise to keep voting year after year (even if I don’t stay up tonight to see if any races get called).
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/american-flags-and-pins-on-white-background-4669109/
Rachel Perugini
I am originally from Pennsylvania where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Shippensburg University. In 2012, I moved to Arizona to teach on the Navajo Reservation; I liked the state so much I decided to stay. I taught language arts, reading, and journalism for three years at Many Farms High School. During that time, I earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction for Reading. In 2015, I moved to Flagstaff where I currently teach 10th and 11th grade English. I have been an avid reader all my life, so I love that my job gives me that chance to read amazing books with my students all day long.
Comments 2
Thak you for this piece. I appreciate you taking the time to highlight the roles being focused on this election term and how they impact education. Every position on the ballot matters and often the ones you highlighted are overlooked because people typically focus on “big ticket” positions like Senators. Yet, these are the positions that have a more direct impact on our daily lives in education.
This is such and important blog. Too often, voters skip these down ballot races because they don’t know much about them. It’s vital we continue to talk about the importance of these races for the good of our public education system. We need to use our teacher voice to educate people on why they should learn about these candidates and ballot initiatives!