Opinion

Vote to support strong education in Scottsdale Unified and beyond

Posted
By Barbara Rosenberg | Paradise Valley

OPINION — There have been a few opinions posted in the PV independent lamenting the closure of neighborhood public schools. I sympathize. However, I don’t understand blaming school boards for school closures.

The blame goes to our state legislature. The courts have found that the state legislature has been underfunding our public schools for years. The trend of public school closures will continue if we don’t start electing individuals that value public education.

Luckily, we have the opportunity to elect some wonderful individuals who have not only cared about the education of their own children, but of all children. Dr. Jennifer Johnson is running for SUSD school board. She has seen education from the lens of a classroom teacher, as well as from the lens of an administrator. Besides being a teacher, she has been a principal, a superintendent and a vice president of Grand Canyon University.

It would be amazing to have someone with so much talent and experience on the SUSD governing board. And we have three supporters of public education running in legislative District 4, including Gresham, Caputi and Lieberman.

Public education is also on the ballot in the form of Proposition 320, written and submitted by the legislature. On the surface it sounds wonderful, but if you take the time to read between the lines, you will discover that it is not wonderful. Proposition 320 targets public school districts like SUSD and PVUSD. If you are a supporter of strong and effective public schools, please vote no on prop 320. And if what is in prop 320 is good policy, why doesn’t it also apply to charter and private schools?

Public education has always been very important to me. My children attended SUSD schools, and now my four grandsons attend SUSD schools. Please vote for supporters of strong public schools.

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