Why are you running for the State Board of Education? What is your vision of success for this role?

The 4 years I spent on the CCSD Board of Trustees allowed me to connect with thousands of parents, educators and students and learn what the broad community wants for Education in Nevada. The large majority wants schools to be whole-child focused, include more art and STEM programs, increase the amount of recess, and ensure all students have a direct path to higher education or a career upon graduation.

There are many disconnects between the Nevada Board of Education and the local school districts which it writes policy and mandates for, and I learned exactly what those are. I would first address the unnecessary and arbitrary reporting requirements from the State Board that puts extra workloads on teachers and administrators, and has contributed to the teacher shortage.

How do you define student success? What experience do you have and what role do you intend to play in advocating for student success?

I believe that schools are LEARNING institutions. To me a successful student is one who is showing continued progress in their learning, whether they are below, above, or on pace with their peers. Over the past several decades schools have morphed into TESTING institutions that only place value on math and reading through the use of standardized assessments, which cost school districts millions of dollars each year to use. Our students are not standard and the only people benefiting from the use of standardized tests are the adults who profit from them.

If elected, I will advocate for a paradigm shift in which the focus is on teaching kids HOW to learn instead of WHAT to learn. I will push to recognize all subjects, arts, electives, and extra-curriculars with the same importance as is placed on math and reading, and work to ensure every student has access to education and opportunities that allow them to succeed in their areas of interest and passion.

On the 2022 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), fourth-grade students, in Nevada, scored 6 points lower in math and 7 points lower in reading when compared to 2019. If elected, how can you use your position to ensure Nevada stops following this national trend and starts leading the way for student outcomes?

The decline in student test scores from 2019-2022 is not a “trend”, it’s an expected result of a once-in-a-century pandemic, which has affected students in all states, and in all types of schools. We need to support students in getting caught up in all subjects, not just math and reading, and to do that the state needs to invest in smaller class sizes and pay raises for experienced and highly effective educators.

What, if any, barriers currently exist to educational excellence and equity for every student? If elected to the State Board of Education, how will you help eliminate these barriers?

The current system is built to support neurotypical learners only. Neurodiverse students have a disadvantage right out of the gate by being part of a system that refuses to understand them and refuses to change in any meaningful way. I have ADHD and know first-hand how hard it is to try to fit in to a system that was not designed for divergent thinkers to succeed. We need to ensure there are opportunities for all and that all sped funding is going directly to support the students.

What do you believe are the top three most persistent challenges facing the State Board of Education? What is an example of a bold approach you would propose to address one of those challenges?

The biggest challenges facing the Nevada State Board of Education are related to influences outside of Nevada who have a corporate agenda. The solution to this is expanding the board’s network and connecting with other state board members and influences who are not obsessed with standardized testing and corporate reform, and who can advise us in operating in a way that truly supports public schools and the communities they serve. Only with big action towards protecting Public Education, can we fix the individual issues through the state.

Research suggests that more than 50% of a board meeting should be focused on student outcomes. How would you ensure the board allocates this amount of time to student outcomes?

The research referenced in this question is not credible. That 50% metric is fake data. The term “student outcomes” is being marketed to school districts across the country so that boards only focus on standardized math and reading scores from for-profit companies, instead of addressing the real issues affecting students and communities. Things like more pre-k programs, wrap-around supports at school sites, interest-based learning, and better working conditions for educators would provide better outcomes for all students.

If elected to the Board, how would you approach challenging conversations and/or criticisms that might arise from fellow Board members, stakeholders, and the broader community?

I do not shy away from participating in challenging conversations or addressing criticisms. Often what is needed is to put everything on the table and clear the air so that everyone can move on productively. I am an ENTP and for anyone familiar with the 16 personalities, that answers this question.

In 2020, the Board of Education’s Statewide Plan for the Improvement of Pupils set a mission to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness “by ensuring opportunities, facilitating learning, and promoting excellence.” What key indicators would you use to assess the Board’s progress towards accomplishing this mission?

The Statewide Plan for the Improvement of Pupils is clear and I feel the board has done their due diligence of monitoring and adding addendums each year. My concern with the plan is that it was crafted under the methodology of “Silverstate Governance”, which is the governance model the Nevada Board of Education currently operates under. The creator and trainer of “Silverstate Governance” has a history of training boards in ways that reduce their power and leads to all members and the state superintended becoming appointed by the governor.

My podcast “Unraveling Education” explains this thoroughly. It’s a tell-all about the complex power plays, the manipulative strategies and the entrenched corruption that I witnessed happening in Clark County, and learned is prevalent in school districts nationwide. Visit UnravelingEducation.com and click on the episode “The CCSD Board Member Bought by Billionaires” to hear my concerns with the Nevada State Board of Education using Silverstate Governance.

In a recent survey, 77% of Nevada residents agreed that parents should be able to send their children to the public school they feel is best for their child, even if it is outside of their neighborhood. Do you agree? Please explain your reasoning.

Parents should absolutely be able to send their children to whichever school is best for them. That’s why I fully support magnet schools and magnet programs. Magnet programs come with additional federal funding, which includes the cost of transportation ensuring that is never a barrier for families. Additionally magnet programs are required to follow fair and inclusive admission processes and they are fiscally accountable to the tax payer, just like all public schools.

I fully support more choices for parents through the public school system. And I also support parents to choose an alternative to public education like private schools, charter schools or homeschool, all of which are not technically public schools as they do not follow the same rules, reporting, or accountability practices that public schools do.

The following question was submitted by a current public high school student: How will you ensure students are put at the forefront of the decision making process as a member of the State Board of Education, and what accountability measures would you put in place to make sure this happens?

I would start by working with the CCSD school board to get into compliance with the reorg law from 2017, which provides communities with more authority at individual school sites, but has never been implemented properly. I would love to do a marketing campaign about School Organization Teams which encourages students to get involved at the SOT level and then relay that information to the State Board so that we can hear directly from them.

That’s only where I would start… student voices are THE MOST important and I will always be supportive of finding ways to ensure they are heard.