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Joshua Christ (California)
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Joshua Christ ran for election to the Fontana Unified Board of Education to represent Area 4 in California. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Christ completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joshua Christ was born in Rochester, New York. He earned a high school diploma from Neuqua Valley High School, a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University in 2013, and a graduate degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City in 2016. His career experience includes working as a teacher.[1]
He has been affiliated with the Mt. San Antonio College Faculty Association, Community College Association, California Teachers Association, National Educator Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, United States Institute of Theater Technology - California Section, and the California Community College Association for Occupational Education.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Fontana Unified School District, California, elections (2024)
General election
General election for Fontana Unified School District Board of Education Area 4
Danielle Holley defeated Joshua Christ in the general election for Fontana Unified School District Board of Education Area 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Danielle Holley (Nonpartisan)  | 65.3 | 5,232 |
 | Joshua Christ (Nonpartisan) | 34.7 | 2,786 | |
| Total votes: 8,018 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Christ received the following endorsements.
- Robert Garcia (D) -
- Eloise Gomez Reyes (D) -
- Jesus Sandoval (Nonpartisan) -
- San Bernardino County Democratic Party
- Fontana Teachers Association
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joshua Christ completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Christ's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am, first and foremost, a teacher. I teach Career and Technical Education at Mt. San Antonio College, and have spent the entirety of my career preparing students for high-wage, in-demand, real world jobs. I have collaborated with unions to set up partnerships between MtSAC and the local affiliate, so that when students earn their skills certificate, they have an easy pathway into high paying, union work that will sustain them throughout their lifetime.
I am the only Democrat in this school board race, with the endorsement of the local, county and state Democratic Party. As a board member, I’m willing to cross the aisle to champion any policies that improve the educational experiences for our students. The Fontana Teachers Association, the United Steel Workers (Fontana Classified Support Staff Union), and other Inland Empire labor unions, such as Teamsters 1932, have also endorsed me in this race, because I have ideas and plans that will ensure our Fontana student’s success are the primary focus within the district. I will ensure that all collaborations undertaken by the district are in service of students, and do not disproportionately benefit outside entities or special interests, at the detriment to the student educational experience.
- I believe in the equity of rigorous Career and Technical Education that integrates applicable skills learning into academic classroom curriculum. I will work to ensure that students are aware of careers that align with their interests and passions, and can follow the required pathways towards these careers regardless of the school they attend within Fontana Unified School District. I want all students to be prepared with the financial literacy skills to make an informed decision about career, community college, or university pathways, and comprehend all of the financial impacts this monumental decision can have on their adult lives.
- I will ensure that FUSD spending is always student centered, guaranteeing that EVERY student has the resources they need to be successful in their education, and is prepared to achieve their dreams. This includes fully funding our special education and ESL/DLI programs, as well as the necessary wrap around services that enable each student to spend their time in the classroom learning. Our public tax dollars belong in public classrooms, and you can count on me to resist efforts that promote the inequity created by independent charter school and voucher programs.
- I will represent ALL students on the FUSD Board, making sure that every person is free to be themselves without fear of judgment, reprisal, or prejudice. Our schools should be a safe place for all students to learn, foster community and civic responsibility, and grow into their adult selves.
Since the turn of the century, we’ve experienced the ever quickening pace of life and technology in the information age. The decades to come will bring more change than we can imagine at a pace few are prepared for. As a district, we must set forward-thinking policies that ready our students to adapt to these changes. We’ve seen the rise of a world where the entirety of human knowledge is accessible at our fingertips, but have lost our skill at deciphering fact from opinion. Preparing our students for the future means teaching them to think critically to seek the truth, fostering skills that can adapt to changing workforce requirements, and preparing them to be engaged stewards of our environment, diverse community, and democratic republic.
I am running for this board position to serve the Fontana community and give back to the place that has welcomed me and my family. I hope that my legacy is seen and observed in the high quality education that Fontana students receive from our district, and is reflected through their success. I have no desire for awards or accolades, and would much rather my focus on uplifting student success be experienced everyday within a Fontana population that is filled with educated adults, treating each other with respect, equity and kindness, all values they learned in the Fontana school system. I want to see our school district become a tool for social and economic justice, helping students to break generational income ceilings through a mastery of skills and the ability to navigate a competitive job market because of the experiences they have as Fontana students.
The primary responsibility of a school board member is to enable the best possible learning environment for student growth within a community. This means school board members need to first listen to the challenges that face the district they represent and govern. Only by listening can these challenges be understood and addressed in a way that ensures the equity, inclusivity and nuance required to give direction to a school population as wonderfully diverse as our Fontana students. After listening, a school board member should move to action to find opportunities with which to overcome the challenges facing the school district. Sometimes these challenges are financial, sometimes they are cultural, sometimes they have to do with safety or workers rights and benefits, but always, the decisions being made will have a profound and lasting impact on the students, and the students’ outcomes should be centered within any decision that is made.
My constituents include the parents and community of Fontana Unified School District Area 4. They are also the teachers, the classified and the management employees of Fontana Unified School District. Most importantly, my constituents include every single student of Fontana Unified School District. As a board member, these are the people whose voices I will raise up, and whose interests I will represent with my governing board vote.
I believe the best way to support the needs of students, faculty, staff and community within the district is to build coalitions between these groups, and help guide towards and achieve the ideas that are agreed upon. To often, district stakeholders struggle negotiating and resolving issues related to specific grievances, and miss the clear and obvious wins for students that can be met with few compromises from all interested parties. I believe in and follow a social justice lens that centers the most important opportunities districts have to improve the education of students, and builds coalitions of students, teachers, community members, and staff into the central solution for these opportunities of growth.
As a board member, the outreach that I do with students, parents and the community will be targeted to focus on those whose voices are less heard and represented through traditional channels. I will invite parents and families of students covered by IEPs to engage in listening sessions and round table discussions,looking to see how the district can improve the supports and resources provided to ensure a full and meaningful educational experience. I will also work closely with our local trade unions (Teamsters 1932, Carpenters 909, IATSE 614, etc) to enhance the apprenticeship and career education opportunities for students exploring career pathways, aligning with the forthcoming California Master Plan for Career Education. Additionally, I will host virtual community listening hours to ensure that all people are able to have my attention and be heard on the issues within the Fontana school district impacting the quality of education for our students.
One of my primary goals as a school board member will be to incorporate career and technical education as an expanded part of the curriculum. I wholeheartedly believe in an educational system that prioritizes student outcomes in life as a measure of success, and this means that students should be informed and empowered to make the life altering decision of college or career when they complete high school. For too many students, this isn’t a real choice, or it isn’t an informed choice, and I believe that students should be given all the avenues when presented with such a monumental decision. To accompany this idea, I would also like to see an expansion of everyday skills cross-trained throughout our existing curriculum. This could look like practical examples of accounting and financial literacy embedded into our language arts and social sciences courses, or, it could be interpersonal and communication skills embedded within technical education, natural sciences or mathematics courses. The future is brightest for our students who are able to utilize skills in new and innovative ways, and with a focus on the soft-skills required in every job, we can ensure that our Fontana students are prepared to be the leaders of tomorrow.
I believe ensuring school funding requires a two-pronged approach. The first requires local control and careful budgeting, ensuring that our highest priorities (the students) remain centered and that all major expenditures are related back to how that expense will ensure future student success. The second prong requires collaboration with our state-wide legislators in the Assembly and Senate, to guarantee and enhance school funding when available. We must protect the Prop 98 funds that give our schools a baseline budget each year, and make sure that our future state revenues are spent (at least partially) on enhancing the future of California through an investment in California’s public education students.
As with all of my policies, the principle that drives my plan for school safety is making student centered decisions. Safety in a K-12 unified school district is an expansive umbrella, and I believe that if we keep the impact our decisions have on the student educational outcomes at the center of these processes, we will always do what is best for the district. I believe that students deserve a school with air that is safe to breathe, and not polluted with exhaust emissions from traffic at the newly-built warehouses next door. I believe that students learn best when they can focus on the lesson from the instructor, and not be concerned with violence entering the classroom, which means we should invest in mental health and resource referral specialists that are available to students. I believe that students today are more in tune with themselves, and less in tune with their community than previous generations of school children, and that the district should support and foster community efforts to weave the tapestry of collaboration and help students to feel that they ae a part of the Fontana community.
In our ever-accelerating 21st century world, mental health has become as much a risk to a person’s overall well being as their physical health. We are seeing an increased frequency of students and adults dealing with anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness, and loss of agency over how to improve their lives. We must support these students and individuals in our schools by hiring mental health professionals to serve in our school sites and provide this aid and support, just as we employ school nurses and safety/resource officers.
Fontana Teachers Association
USW 8599
Teamsters 1932
Assembly Leader Emerita & State Senate Candidate Eloise Gómez Reyes
Candidate for California Assembly Robert Garcia
San Bernardino County Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
Fontana City Council Member Jesse Sandoval
Fontana School Board Member Mary Sandoval
Run For Something
Inland Empire United
Planned Parenthood
My ideal learning environment for students includes accessible classrooms that cater to all learning styles, utilizing diversified delivery methodologies. Our classrooms should have more one-to-one interactions, which can only happen with fewer students per certificated instructor. Additionally our learning environments should be forward thinking and preparing students for the future they will graduate into, utilizing emerging technology as part of the educational process to unlock those required skills for a post-educational life.
As a teacher, I have always had an “open door” policy with my students, meaning if they have anything at all they need to talk about, they could visit my office, call me, or send me an email and I would help them with whatever I could. As a board member, I will have a similar policy with students, parents, and community members. I cannot promise to enact every change that someone might want, but I will ensure that there is space for all stakeholders to be heard about district business, and that I will listen to and research the issues that are brought to me.
Here in Southern California, especially in the Inland Empire, there is fierce competition to recruit and retain the best talent in our schools for our students both inside and outside the classroom. Fontana Unified School District must prioritize the retention and recruitment of these talented educational professionals, to ensure that our students are given the best possible opportunities during their time in the classroom. The obvious strategy is to say that we will raise salaries and benefits for school employees, but that is not always the most practical solution. I will aim to present creative solutions to recruitment and retention that speak to the needs of the district, and use my experience as a teacher to help ensure that our school employees feel respected, fairly compensated, and taken care of by the district. This prioritization for long and fulfilling careers will benefit our students with stability and experienced leadership in their schools, and create opportunities for further growth that are not possible during constant recruiting efforts.
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
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Fontana Unified School District Board of Education Area 4 |
Personal |
Footnotes
