Pima County JTED Governing Board: Democrat: Ruth Solomon

Office seeking: Pima County Joint Education Technological District Board

Party registration: Democrat

Age: 66

Occupation/employer: Retired

Family: Married, one son, Barry, daughter-in-law, Melissa, two grandchildren, Daniel and Benjamin

Residence: Resided in Tucson since 1959

Education: BA University of Arizona, Education, UA graduate school, 45 units

Office held/run for: Arizona state representative 1988-1994; Arizona state senator 1994-2002; member JTED Governing Board 2006 to present; ran for Arizona state treasurer

Civic Activities: Trustee, Arizona Educational Foundation; vice-president, Arizona Center for After School Excellence; member, Casey Family Programs-Arizona Education Summit Team; member, Children's Action Alliance-Child Welfare Committee

Why are you running: It has been a privilege to serve as a founding member of the governing board of the Pima County JTED. Thanks to the foresight of Pima County voters, we were able to establish a district, which, in its first year of operation was able to:

• Share $11.3 million among our 11 member districts for equipment, facility upgrades and Career and Technical Education teacher training

• Increase CTE enrollment from 12,000 to 17,500 students

• Articulate course credit with Pima Community College to allow students to earn college credits while still in high school

I want to continue to serve our community by focusing on its educational and employment needs. By providing outstanding, relevant career and technical education programs for all students, Tucson and Pima County will continue to thrive. JTED is what high school reform should be about. And I want to be a part of that renaissance.

The biggest issue facing my constituents is: Economic sustainability. To that end, we need to provide our children and youth with quality education — education that will assure both academic success and success in sustainable growth employment.

Favorite local hangout: is my own back yard.

NPR or Fox? I listen to both NPR and Fox

How long have you lived in Arizona? I've lived in the same house in Arizona for 49 years.

What kind of vehicle do you drive? What kind of mileage does it get? I drive a Honda Accord. It gets 27 mpg city and 31-35 mpg highway.

If I could have dinner with any living person, I would choose: I would love to have dinner with Bill Gates to hear his thought on education renewal and to discuss his ideas on career and technical education.

If I had my own reality show, it would be titled: "Success Matters"

First job: When I was still in high school I did bookkeeping for Cutler's Paint Stores

The district has not had as much success as some would like in securing strong partners in the business community. How would you improve those relationships?

It is true that as we geared up for our first year of operation we lacked a comprehensive communication plan. That was a serious shortcoming on our part. As we move into our second year of operation, a communication plan is in place.

We have enhanced our Web site, published our first annual report, and established a quarterly newsletter. Also, staff and board members are meeting with service organizations, business consortia, and individual business leaders.

We have added members to our Business and Industry Advisory Committee to give the board a broader view of business needs and interests and to recommend appropriate action. We are grateful for our community support and hope that these efforts will improve communications.

I welcome comment from any interested party. I want to hear how you think we can better work with and inform the community.

Transportation remains a hurdle that keeps some students from fully participating in vocational programs. How would you address that?

ARS 15-393 gives JTED the ability to address transportation issues. In our first year of operation we spent $153,000 on student transportation and travel. There remains a problem with travel for outlying school districts. We are addressing this issue in a couple of different ways.

First, we are providing distance learning through online course work. Online courses are of high quality and taught by highly qualified teachers. They can be delivered anywhere in the state.

Second, we are opening new classes such as automobile mechanics in outlying districts.

Third, we continue to work with school districts on intergovernmental agreements to share their ideas and understand their needs.

Some students have not been able to participate in some of the programs because they are at capacity. How would you address the demand and subsequent space needs for those programs?

Capacity is a wonderful issue to have. It highlights JTED's success in its first year. Recognizing the need for space, we established a central campus to address some of the capacity need, but that is just a first step. JTED and its 11 member districts must work together to create regional Career and Technical Education sites. The course offerings at these regional sites should be dictated by community need with a focus on the best available research to identify current and future employment growth and opportunity.

There is some difference of opinion in terms of how the funding for vocational programs should be distributed — whether it should be largely driven by the districts and schools, or whether it should be a more centralized process. What is your philosophy on funding distribution?

Districts and schools dictate their funding needs, but JTED is responsible for ensuring that they meet the letter of the law as defined in ARS15-393.

The law states that JTED funding cannot be used to supplant but used only for enhancements to ongoing CTE courses or for the creation of new course offerings approved by the Arizona Department of Education. Also permitted is funding for the purchase of equipment and improvement of facilities for CTE coursework. The law charges JTED with the responsibility of holding districts and schools accountable for use of these JTED funds. JTED works in collaboration with each member district to assure that funding requests follow the law, and to that end, monitors coursework throughout the year to assure compliance.