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Jason
Williams' Platform Click on the following links to learn more about Jason's platform. Arizona's Current Challenges Jason Williams' Solutions Frequently Asked Questions Arizona's
Current Challenges Jason
Williams' Solutions Frequently
Asked Questions Given the challenges that exist in Arizona’s public schools today challenges such as 50% of our children by nine-years old not able to read on grade level and over 15,000 high school dropouts this year alone, we have to ask ourselves the question: Who should lead Arizona’s schools moving forward: another politician or an experienced educator? I am the only candidate who has taught in a public school classroom. This gives me a uniquely qualified perspective to lead Arizona’s schools. There is no substitute for first-hand experience working with students, teachers, and parents every day in our public schools. While teaching 6th grade math and science in Oakland, I was nominated for California’s Middle School Teacher of the Year Award. I was also elected to the California Teachers’ Association State Council of Education, where I assisted in drafting legislation to address issues of educational disparity. For the last 5 years I’ve served as Teach For America’s Executive Director in Phoenix: Increasing teacher placements by 150% and moving Arizona from the lowest to the highest performing region in the country. Arizona deserves top-notch public schools, and I believe that every one of our children has the right to a free and excellent public education. I am a lifelong Democrat and experienced educator who is asking for your vote to become Arizona’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Attorney General was a lawyer. The Surgeon General was a doctor. Isn’t it time that the State Schools Superintendent was a public school teacher? What is your top priority for improving K-12 education? The priority that should frame everything is student achievement. (1) All children need to be reading books on their grade level by the 2nd grade. (2) All students entering high school should graduate. Rising to these expectations will require help from every local community across the state. I am proposing a “Marshall Plan” for Arizona’s public schools. We must focus our resources and approaches towards ensuring all our children move forward academically. Would you change the AIMS program, and if so how? Student performance has not improved with the AIMS test because the standards for passing the AIMS test have been lowered for students in every grade level and every subject area over the past four years. Also, the ends-only-based analysis of test results provides a false comparison of student achievement data from year-to-year. Under this model, AYP (adequate yearly progress) doesn’t add up. We need to utilize a gains-based analysis model to accurately measure students’ achievement by identifying student knowledge and skills at both the beginning and end of the school year. I believe the AIMS test should be used as a diagnostic tool, and not a high-stakes exit exam. We should work with our school districts to implement diverse portfolios that provide well-rounded and complete evaluations of students’ achievement levels. These portfolios, as broadly understood, would allow us, as educators, to analyze student work through a variety of tests (including AIMS as just one indicator, for example) and projects that are criterion-referenced (i.e. curriculum-based demonstrations of student knowledge and skills). In this way, meaningful AYP (adequate yearly progress) could be determined for each student, class, school, district, and the state as a whole. As an educator, I know that our children’s education is not just about passing or failing a single test, but about how much you’ve grown. And, I will work day and night to make sure our children are no longer simply pushed through the system year after year. We must set benchmarks to ensure we prepare our children to be successful as they are promoted from one grade to another. Instead of lowering standards when students fail, we must hold ourselves to high expectations and find ways to succeed. What should Arizona do to increase the high school graduation rates? All students entering high school should graduate. I will work hard to ensure that the percentage of students graduating from high school increases by 50% during my first term in office. We can begin to increase high school graduation rates by focusing on mentorship, support staff, and vocational trades. First, we need to assign our children mentors beginning in the middle grades. If we do not find individuals to support our children as they progress through the educational system beyond the student-teacher relationship, our at-risk children too often turn to gangs and other dangerous options. Second, we need to stop the cuts to guidance counselors and social workers. Third, we need to provide a diversity of options in the curriculum for our students (so they are inspired to pursue their passions: vocational trades, art, music, languages, etc.) and ensure they graduate ready to succeed. What should Arizona do to attract more and better teachers, particularly in high-needs schools and subject areas? Exemplary teachers are critical to student success, which is why the State Superintendent should take a leadership role in the recruitment, training, and retention of our teachers. Under my leadership, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will create, implement and execute an aggressive, statewide teacher recruitment program in conjunction with colleges of education and non-profit agencies. Our recruitment efforts need to include access to additional stipends for education professionals who select to teach in high-need areas such as rural and low-income communities, mathematics, science and special education. With regards to training, the ADE must provided targeted professional development opportunities for our teachers based on the specific needs/challenges of their particular districts, schools and classrooms. These opportunities should be on-going and organized across the state, not just in Maricopa County. And, we cannot forget about retention. In addition to higher starting salaries and expansion of career ladders, we should also institute performance incentives based on a gains-based analysis model. As we’ve learned from so many other professions, you pay for what you want to get! Should the state funding formula be adjusted for English Language Learners? In accordance with the decision of Flores v. Arizona, the state funding formula should be adjusted. The majority leaders in the state legislature like to highlight the private schools as successful models for teaching ESL/ELL students. They seem to forget, however, that the private schools spend an average of $4,000 per child compared to the $354 per child that is allocated to our public schools. Significantly more money should be allocated given this huge discrepancy. We should use these dollars to fund aggressive language acquisition programs that we know work for our students to become proficient in English as quickly as possible. Do you support the use of vouchers? I do not support tax credits or vouchers for private school programs or tuition. Every child has a right to a free and excellent public education, which is why I believe, as does the majority of Americans, we should focus on improving the public schools rather than siphoning scarce tax dollars away from them through tax credits or voucher programs. I encourage everyone to visit the National Education Association website where they can review the research that highlights facts that public school educators, like myself, know all too well: vouchers do not improve student achievement, vouchers undermine accountability for public funds, vouchers do not reduce public education costs, and vouchers do not give parents real educational choice. What is your position on charter schools? Since charter schools receive public dollars as part of the public school system, they should be held accountable to the same standards and expectations as the traditional public schools. All charter school teachers should be required to obtain a teaching certificate, and the schools should be held to the specifics of their charters with five-year evaluation cycles instead of fifteen-year cycles. Should the state fund pre-kindergarten classes for all children? If we are going to set our children up for long-term success, the earlier we start the better. I fully support the Governor’s all-day kindergarten initiative. And, I would be excited to see us take another important step towards ensuring our children start school ready to learn. All families should have the option of enrolling their children in pre-kindergarten classes. |
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Stanford 9 test results for 2002 and 2004Terra Nova test results for 2005"National Assessment For Education Progress" NAEP results for 2000, 2002, and 2003
National Education Association Research (June 2005)2003-4 Public Elementary and Secondary School Spending per StudentMorrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State UniversityMorrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University
"Cutting statewide public K12 education per student by $1 reduces small business starts by 0.4% in the long run."
"Cutting statewide public K12 expenditure by one percentage point of the state’s personal income reduces the state’s employment by 0.7% in the short run and 1.4% in the long run."
"School quality has positive effects on economic development…"
