Congratulations to Donna Lewis, Matt Pittinsky and Mike Sharkey, the newest Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board members! Installing these three talents on the Governing Board illustrates the commitment of SUSD voters to ensuring that SUSD continues to provide the highest-quality education to our children.
Given SUSD’s vision is “engaging all students in world-class, future-focused learning,” it comes as no surprise that parents (and some students!) throughout the district elected board members that have long-demonstrated a commitment to quality education, while fully embracing Arizona’s school of choice policy. Indeed, the new board members ran a campaign that demonstrated their commitment to educating students and providing them the skills required to be successful in adulthood whether they pursue long-standing careers like public service or yet to-be-defined careers that leverage new technology to change the world.
School boards play a critical role in the education system – while they do not explicitly develop curriculum or hire educators, the SUSD Governing Board has jurisdiction to select and continue the superintendent, who does make such decisions. Moreover, school boards help to provide stability in a socio-political environment that increasingly villainizes education, particularly at the post-secondary level. In electing these board members, SUSD voters stated loud and clear, “We value our children’s education and safety and we will continue to vote in the interest of furthering these ideals.”