Local opinion: Vote to keep TUSD moving forward honestly

In response to Bruce Burke’s opinion piece encouraging you to vote for two incumbents, I’d like to remind him and the public that there will be three people elected to the TUSD board in November, and I should be one of them.

Now, unlike Mr. Burke and those he endorsed, I won’t be so bold to take credit for our school letter grades increasing. That win belongs to our teachers, interventionists and site administrators who worked with students directly for these gains. And I won’t pretend that the passing of the bond could be attributed to two of the five who approved it. For this, I give credit to the woman who spoke at our call to the audience and told the board that the bond campaign committee had not yet put up signs or canvassed neighborhoods, and that it would fail again without these measures. Her point was well taken by the committee, who implemented these suggestions in time for the vote.

However, I will be so bold to take credit for art and music being available at every school in our district. Expanding art education was the reason I ran for office in 2020 after learning that my daughter’s elementary school did not offer these classes. My campaign slogan, “Education and art for all!” was fully realized within my first six months in office, and now, every school in TUSD offers some sort of arts programming.

As a longtime neighborhood organizer and arts administrator at the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, I deal with the public on a regular basis. I know how to treat people with dignity and respect whether I agree with their opinions or not and whether they offer me this same courtesy. Unfortunately, this trait is missing in many of our elected officials who would rather go to war with the public, instead of coming to an understanding when questions are asked, or hard truths need to be dealt with.

I know what it’s like to be low-income and go through a Tucson summer without water or cooling. Having this lived experience is also why I was the sole YES vote on eliminating the fees associated with participation in sports, clubs, and competitive programs that range from $65 to $2 per child. I was also the only board member to vote NO on increasing the price of Pre-K, breakfasts, and lunch.

I could go on and on about the commonsense initiatives I proposed but were received by a resounding no, or silence. The most shocking is the handful of times I moved to invest in our school libraries. Most recently, one of Mr. Burke’s incumbents responded that the budget advisory committee found that libraries do not improve literacy rates. However, research shows that when school libraries are well-funded and staffed with certified librarians, students’ literacy rates do increase. I will always advocate for the essentials like the arts, libraries and PE classes at every school, which are some of the goals I have for my second term.

If elected, I will work diligently to fix the longstanding problems that plague the district, like low proficiency rates, loss of enrollment, and lack of accountability and transparency concerning the findings of our internal audits. I won’t hide the problems that have drowned the district for the last 20 years in order to paint a rosy picture for the public.

I am committed to advocating for all of our schools to ensure they receive the resources needed to offer the opportunities parents expect and students deserve. It’s time for TUSD to fully honor its obligation to provide equitable education across the district. As elected leaders, it is our duty to improve conditions in our schools, and if re-elected, I will continue to fight for the rights of every parent, student, staff and community member in TUSD.