Down ballot races: Education

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I rarely struggle with the "big" candidates but I'm often uncertain about the down ballot candidates for judge, school board, etc.

It might help if we had threads devoted to these. I'm familiar with some of the school board candidates in some districts so I'm starting here.

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1. Mesa School Board

Here are some candidate recommendations from the Mesa Education Association:

Joe O'Reilly
Kiana Sears
Cara Steiner

I posted a thread on fb asking...here is an analysis of candidates by one person:

"Kiana Sears is a voice that needs to be in the room and brings attention to issues that aren't often talked about. She also has experience for where we have been through in recent events - and I think that should hold a lot of weight. She has a clear idea of where we have been and where we are headed.

Joe O'Reilly has an incredibly good reputation around the district - a solid numbers/budget guy and known to be a good team player and problem solver. I have met him - he is a even tempered, kind person.

Cara Steiner also has a long history in MPS - I have yet to hear a bad thing about her. She's been a teacher & a principal, and seems to be very data driven. I've sat down with her and you could tell her heart was in it for the right reasons and is incredibly passionate about MPS.

Lara Ellingson seems like a very nice person. I know she and her family have been instrumental in pushing schools to return to in person for the past month+. She is a mom in the district and has experience with special education as a mom. I have never met her which means she hasn't been to any of the traditional educational circle events.

Vikki Johnson is also a mom from MPS. She is eager to learn more about MPS, bi-lingual. I have met her several times at different education events and not only is she genuinely interested in what is happening in MPS, she tends to go the extra mile to learn more."

Notice that Rich Crandall is not among these - He chaired the AZ Senate Education Committee. I can't remember the specifics but think he's pro-voucher. He didn't do anything to increase accountability of charters.

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2. Chandler School Board

Sharon Tuttle is running as a write-in candidate. She has strong support among teachers and was opposed to reopening schools for in person instruction too soon.

Jason Olive is supposedly part of Purple 4 Parents, the group formed in opposition to Red for Ed. He filed a suite against Board Member David Evans for invalid signatures. Evans decided not to run again as a result.

https://communityimpact.com/phoenix/chandler/education/2020/08/21/chandler-usd-governing-board-member-david-evans-withdraws-from-election-after-challenger-questions-petition-signatures/?fbclid=IwAR31zcLbT91J8SBDMK20FSmpY913dpGaAXyE4V1mAA7L7m9JkUvcW-mvOf4

Barb Mozden is currently the President of the Chandler School Board.

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3. Here are recommendations from SOS

SOS = Save Our Schools

https://sosarizona.org/pspboard/

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4. Scottsdale School Board

The Scottsdale Education Association recommends:

Julie Cieniawski
Zach Lindsay
Rose Smith