What are three reasons why you think you are the best candidate running for this Board position?
three years’ experience in my current position on the MISD board of Trustees, as well as 20+ years of financial related work experience that I feel provides specific skills to the board. To a lesser degree I am a US Army veteran that served as a military policeman for a total of 14 years (7 active, 7 reserve). My experience and qualifications bring important viewpoints to the discussion and ultimate decisions that the Board makes.
What is your position about parental choice and charter schools?
I believe that parents should always make choices for what they feel is best for their children. That may be sending children to public schools, home school or private schools (including charters).
In your opinion, what are the three most important roles of the school board and if elected, how would you contribute to those important roles??
The single most important role is to provide appropriate oversight to ensure that the children in the district get the best possible education. Trustees are elected to lookout for the best interests of the district.
What is the State of Texas school system ranked in literacy and what would your plan be to make it No. 1 in the country?
Based on a quick internet search Texas has the fourth-lowest literacy rate of 81.0%, with 19.0% of adults lacking basic prose literacy skills. I believe literacy begins early and is initiated by helping children want to read/learn. This will help to build a solid foundation that allows for all other educational topics to build upon
Briefly explain how American history should be taught to our students.
Students can learn a lot from understanding historical events and apply that knowledge today. History should not be simply taught as a memorization of dates but an in-depth understanding of the “why” behind the events that occurred.
Should the MISD Board have total & final authority on what teaching materials are used in the classromm? Please explain fully.
Ultimately the MISD board is responsible for the education of the children in the district, so yes, but the state does have oversight as well. I do not know who has finally authority but the MISD board is the one most vested in the goal of educating the children within the district.
How much access do you believe parents should have to their children's curriculum? classroom? teacher? online?
I think they have as much access as they want today. I have not heard of any parent not being allowed access in any of these areas.
What's your opinion of programs such as Common Core curriculum? Critical Race Theory? Social Emotional Learning? International Bacculaureate?
That is a lot of topics…., but I’ll try and address them briefly. Common Core is not used in Texas, Critical Race Theory is not taught in MISD, and I would have to research what the last two are.
Do you support allowing all students to use bathrooms, showers and locker rooms, as well as participate in sports, based on the gender with which they identify, not the sex they are assigned to at birth?
I do not believe sex is assigned at birth and gender is identified. I believe males and females are boys and girls and should not be some fluid identity that can move from one to the other. To specifically answer your question, No, I do not support that.
The SBOE has been charged by Governor Abbott with developing standards for books found in school libraries to prevent pornography from getting into the hands of our schoolchildren. What is your position on the development of these important standards?
I am generally in favor of parents determining what books their children read, but I’m not against some level of oversight by the State, however I think any school board will have to be diligent in determining what material is pulled from libraries to avoid an un-intended censorship situation.
Do you support the use of the 1619 Project, or similar curriculum, as the most accurate portrayal of the founding of America?
I don’t think the 1619 project is an accurate portrayal of history. I think history is a total package and can not be simply looked at from only one perspective.
Would you be in favor of returning prayer to every classroom in the state?
I believe that every parent/student should worship how they deem best. I think prayer shouldn’t be removed from a classroom but also not mandated in a classroom. I also think that if 1% or 99%of a class want to pray that it is not discriminatory to the other part who may not. I’m in favor of in school prayer but not by mandate.
Would you agree that our public school systems are not education systems; they are built on the Dewey and Mann systems of humanism?
I have no idea how to answer this one.
How much influence does the board have on the actual classroom curriculum used? What is your plan to achieve that?
The board doesn’t create the curriculum it votes to accept it (or not) and the superintendent will oversee the classroom activities.
