President, Arizona School Boards Association, 2016

As a former President of the Arizona School Boards Association, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and engage with school districts around the state. The Northwest Valley is fortunate to have the Peoria Unified School District, with its impressive reputation, exemplary graduation rate and incredibly diverse opportunities for all students. The failure to pass recent local ballot measures to support neighborhood schools is concerning. This sends a dangerous message to the broader business community about the Northwest Valley. As our region tries to compete with other parts of the Valley for higher paying jobs and greater opportunities, other communities, in every other region in the valley, that have embraced and supported their schools, will have a distinct competitive advantage. We know that both employers and employees seek out good schools. We cannot afford to lose a generation of youth to the challenges of the pandemic or allow those challenges to be worsened by denying the local support our neighborhood schools need. The long-term responsibility to fund education belongs to the state, but our neighborhood schools need local support right now. Vote Yes for Peoria Unified!