Brian Martin (Yuma Union High School District, At-large, Arizona, candidate 2024)

Brian Martin

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Yuma Union High School District, At-large

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Western Washington University, 1991

Graduate

Oregon State University, 2008

Personal

Birthplace

Washington

Profession

Teacher

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Brian Martin ran for election for an at-large seat of the Yuma Union High School District in Arizona. Martin was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Martin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Brian Martin provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 30, 2024:

• Bachelor's: Western Washington University, 1991
• Graduate: Oregon State University, 2008
• Profession: Teacher
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign Facebook

Elections

General election

General election for Yuma Union High School District, At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Yuma Union High School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Carlos Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	David Lara (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Chris Larson (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Virginia Legros (Nonpartisan)
		Brian Martin (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Shelley Jones Mellon (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Lizeth Servin (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Edward C. Thomas (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Martin in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Brian Martin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Martin's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am from Washington state, where I taught at the community college level for 8 years. In December 2020 I moved to Yuma, Arizona, and I taught at the high school level here for about 3 years.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• For the past 5 years, Arizona has had the highest teacher turnover in the country. Teachers quit here more than anywhere else. The Arizona Department of Education reports that about 35% of teachers in the Yuma Union HS District are inexperienced, and this is an indication of the high turnover in this district. A survey has shown that the top 3 reasons that teachers quit here are: burnout, not feeling respected (by administrators and school board), and student behavior problems. These reasons are the result of bad school board policies that I hope to change if I am elected.
• An example of a bad school board policy is "no penalty for late homework." As a result, for the past several years, students have become accustomed to not doing their homework until the end of the semester. This policy has turned education here into a joke. Look at the student proficiency rates reported on the Arizona Department of Education website. It's there for all to see. For the past 6 years proficiency in Mathematics and Reading have been between 14% and 20% — yet graduation rates have been 90%-plus.
• Standards-Based Grading is a motivation-killer. This method of grading makes it almost impossible to both fail students or recognize their excellence.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The school district needs to really reach out to parents in the district, so that parents are aware of the dismal proficiency rates and become more involved in their kids' education.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

School board members must be concerned above all with the education of their students. The very low student proficiency rates that are a result of the board's ruinous policies tells me current board members have lost sight of this.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

When I was 14 I got a job delivering newspapers.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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Candidate

Yuma Union High School District, At-large

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