Lauretta Harris
From Ballotpedia
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Lauretta Harris ran for election to the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education to represent District 2 in New Mexico. Harris lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.
Harris completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Harris was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended Baylor University and Tarleton State University. She worked as an accountant for 10 years and as a teacher for 26 years. As of 2019, Harris was affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education District 2
Incumbent Peggy Muller-Aragon defeated Lauretta Harris in the general election for Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education District 2 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Peggy Muller-Aragon (Nonpartisan) | 57.7 | 6,910 |
Lauretta Harris (Nonpartisan)  | 42.3 | 5,059 | ||
| Total votes: 11,969 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sergio Trujillo (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Harris was endorsed by the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, Central New Mexico Labor Council, and the Carpenters Southwest Regional Council.[2]
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lauretta Harris completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Harris' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As an educator of 26 years, Laurie Harris has the experience needed to represent District 2 on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education. Laurie has resided on the west side of Albuquerque since 1997. Her grown children attended Marie Hughes, LBJ, and Cibola High School and now her grandchildren are currently students on the west side. Laurie has worked as an advocate for teachers and students by serving as a union steward for 16 years with the Albuquerque Teachers Federation. For the past 3 years she has been the Technology Coordinator at Jefferson Middle School until she retired this past December. Laurie's expertise in the classroom and with technology will aid her to make educational decisions for Albuquerque's children. Her spare time is filled with genealogy research, travel, and grandchildren. This website is full of proof of her love for education and children.
- Currently we are suffering an exodus of educators. We need to recruit and retain the best and brightest and provide them with the resources they need.
- My experience in secondary education gives me insight into the needs of our Albuquerque students who are 11+ years old. I want to work to improve and expand our Career and Technical education. I also believe we need more training for teachers in the best ways to use technology and provide them with the support to use it.
- Community Schools are a great way to improve education. I will work to make this a feasible and sustainable option in our city.
Our children deserve the best education available, and that requires the best educators. Budget cuts over the past decade and a punitive evaluation system have driven many of our best away, and left classrooms unsafe. There is a crisis in fully staffing our schools. We have suffered losses of adequately trained people to fill critical positions like teachers, librarians, nurses, therapists, counselors. Tech Coordinators like myself have been cut from almost every APS school. Even administrators and school safety officers are in short supply. Before and after school care is not always available. We can do better.
Diane Ravitch is one of the people I really respect. She has written and spoken about the current educational issues facing our country.
My life has been about raising and teaching children. I would like to continue to be involved in education and improve opportunites for the children of Albuquerque. I want to be the voice of the those who are still out there teaching and learning.
I would like to help my community understand the value of investing in our kids and our future.
I was in elementary school during the moon landings. I vividly remember sitting in the hallway watching some of them on tiny television screens with other students.
I worked in my family's lariat rope business. I worked there through high school college and later returned to be the family accountant for 5 years.
I lost my husband in 2005 to a tragic trucking accident when my son was just 13. It has been a struggle to maintain our home and support him through high school and college.
The first job of a board is to hire an effective Superintendent. They should also work with others in the district and community to use funds wisely and solve problems.
All of the students and parents of Albuquerque Public Schools will be my constituents if elected. I will represent the Northwest section of Albuquerque.
I will make my self available to learn about the needs and problems of students, faculty, staff and the community at board meetings, by email, social media, and neighborhood meetings. I will always voice these concerns to the board and work collaboratively with other members to get things accomplished.
I will continue to work with the teacher's union to stay current on what is happening in the classrooms. I have already started a dialogue with the building and trades unions about possible opportunities for our students. And I will work with the mayor and city council to improve education in Albuquerque.
Having been a parent I will use the past experience to support parents in their incredibly important work of raising the future of our community. Electronic communication could be improved in our district. I believe my technology experience will help with that. I also believe in the community school model and would like to see it expanded to more schools.
I do believe we need a more diverse faculty and staff. With our shortages we need to find ways to attract more educators. I believe it starts in the high schools. I support more Career and Technical opportunities for our students. Perhaps we need a special program through CEC that could speed the process of getting teacher candidates through school the same way we do nursing.
Mostly money! Classroom teachers need support. The budget cuts of the last decade have caused shortages in counselors, social workers, therapists, etc. As more money becomes available, we must work to fund more support staff in every school. The other issue that has reduced the quality of our education is over-testing. In 2014, we were only losing a week at most to testing. Since then, the demand for data has driven schools to ridiculous amounts of time lost to test prep, testing, and more testing. It has to stop.
Teacher autonomy results in good teaching. I will not measure, I will support good teaching. I believe that we need to stop blaming educators and start giving them the tools and training they need.
Students need to learn how to use their technology in collaborative methods to solve problems and express themselves. The ISTE standards need to be implemented in more classrooms across the district. I also support more STEM training for educators. I have worked with GenYES and CyberPatriots and have seen huge benefits from these type of programs. We should expand these type of opportunities to more students.
We just need to make sure that all students have access to earning a diploma. Our graduation rate must improve.
I support expanding Career and Technical opportunities for students. Technology skills are essential in our workplaces of the future. I would also like to see more programs like our nursing program at CEC, that give students certifications and advancement towards college degrees.
I would like to see school based management instead of top-down management. Our schools are not all the same and shouldn't be treated that way. I will also work with legislators to ask for funding as necessary.
Children need to feel safe in their schools. I don't believe in arming staff and I support our gun-free zones in schools. I think the answers are in safety technologies and in designs of our schools.
We need more mental health personnel at our schools. We need increased numbers of nurses, social workers, counselors, and therapists.
Technologies are changing quickly and our children need to be prepared. I support more STEM training for our faculty and adding Computer Science as a science credit in high school. I would also like to see more tech based clubs and activities. I believe we are already using technology well as writing and research tools.
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See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 18, 2019
- ↑ Lauretta Harris 2019 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 22, 2019
