![]() Political experience: Previously ran for state House and Vail school board unsuccessfully. Top priority: My top priority is to ensure that every decision I make is the best decision for the children of Vail.Įmployer and position: Raytheon, senior engineer.Įducation: Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Top priority: A good balance of spending both in the classroom and in administration.Įmployer and position: Self-employed, owner of financial planning firm.Įducation: Attended Pima Community College. Top priority: To continue Vail being one of the top districts in Arizona, providing excellent student achievement and educating the whole child.Įmployer and position: Retired from Raytheon.Įducation: Bachelor's degree in business administration. Political experience: Appointed to Vail school board one year ago. We should increase classroom opportunities to high-achieving students.Įmployer and position: Self-employed, tutor for autistic students.Įducation: Bachelor's in family and human development, Brigham Young University. Sizer: We don’t want to stunt the desire of students who want to achieve more than what is required of them. We need to engage the children with their interests but also provide the fundamental education they need to grow. Some of them are involved in school because they want to participate in that. For instance, Andrada has a rock band option for high school students. Tippett: We have to continue to be innovative in how we use our resources and reach out to the children. That encourages certain students who wouldn’t excel in a traditional classroom to want to come to school. It’s not just your normal reading, writing and arithmetic. Tate: One of the things that Vail does is they use some unique ways to encourage student to learn. My role is to step back and let them do their job, but also hold them accountable and make sure they’re rising to the standards that we’ve set. Pratt: The role of the board is to give freedom to the people who were hired to do the job of improving academic achievement. How it’s going to be done requires an analytical approach to how the funds are being spent and figure out how to reallocate to make sure that we realign ourselves to the goal that classrooms and teachers are first. So within the district, we do need to be very detail oriented about where the money is going. There are somethings that have to be funded. I believe there’s always something that can be cut when you manage a business and you look at your priorities. Tippett: We’ve got to get more funding into the district. We would need to try and find ways to help the teachers in the classroom, perhaps with the use of para-pros and increase salaries. Tate: Unfortunately in Arizona, it has become a matter of salary and classroom support. But the culture of the district doesn’t matter as much if you can’t feed your families. Another thing is making teachers feel valued and that our district is where teachers want to work at. Pratt: There’s a couple things you can do to help. ![]() I do believe there needs to be a state mandated testing requirement. ![]() We need to find out where the children are as far as knowledge base so we know what area they are weak and needs improving. Sizer: Obviously we can’t just completely remove standardized testing. My questions are: How are we approaching testing? How are we using this testing? Is it necessary to test as often? Parents are not happy about some of the data that’s collected through testing and the emphasis on testing. Tippett: I need to know more before I can make a good judgment. It makes sure they’re learning what they need to. They teach the subject matter and they use a powerful program called re-teach or enrich. I don’t believe the Vail school district does that. Tate: I know there is a lot of conversation about teaching to the test. There should be some flexibility so that teachers aren’t so stressed. On the other hand, I’ve heard from teachers that we don’t want to get to the point of teaching to the test. Testing helps us know if we are on target. You’re kind of doing the shot in the dark if you don’t know. Pratt: Testing is important because it gives the district the feedback to help educate children. ![]()
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