Ngoc Vuong

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Ngoc Vuong
Image of Ngoc Vuong

Nonpartisan

Wichita Public Schools, District 3
Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

1

Predecessor
Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Wichita State University, 2022

Personal
Birthplace
Wichita, Kan.
Profession
Researcher
Contact

Campaign website

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Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Ngoc Vuong is a member of the Wichita Public Schools Board of Education in Kansas, representing District 3. He assumed office on January 8, 2024. His current term ends on January 10, 2028.

Vuong ran for election to the Wichita Public Schools Board of Education to represent District 3 in Kansas. He won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Vuong completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ngoc Vuong was born in Wichita, Kansas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wichita State University in 2022. His career experience includes working as a researcher and graduate teaching assistant.[1]


Elections

2023

See also: Wichita Public Schools, Kansas, elections (2023)

General election

General election for Wichita Public Schools, District 3

Ngoc Vuong defeated Ken Carpenter in the general election for Wichita Public Schools, District 3 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ngoc Vuong
Ngoc Vuong (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
57.4
 
2,877
Image of Ken Carpenter
Ken Carpenter (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
42.5
 
2,131
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
8

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,016
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Ken Carpenter and Ngoc Vuong advanced from the primary for Wichita Public Schools, District 3.

Endorsements

Vuong received the following endorsements.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Ngoc Vuong completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vuong's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Hello! I'm Ngoc Vuong (English pronunciation: NOK VAWNG; Vietnamese pronunciation: NEE-YAWP VOONG), and I'm running for District 3 of the USD 259 Board of Education. I graduated from South High School in 2018, where I served as student body president. As student body president, I advocated for school-based mental health services, secured funding for a garden and sculpture, and regularly organized community service events. I was also in band and orchestra, and I mentored at two elementary schools. In college, I was a community mobilizer for Safe Streets Wichita. I provided guidance to USD 259 students on service-learning projects. Through a research lab I was part of, I was also a mentor at one elementary school and coordinated a pen pal program at two elementary schools. I graduated from WSU with an honors baccalaureate degree in psychology. I am getting my PhD in community psychology at WSU. Besides being a graduate teaching assistant, I also work for the Community Engagement Institute as a researcher/evaluator. My research interests are in behavioral health reform, drug policy reform, and education reform. Outside of school and work, I serve as a board member for Destination Innovation, a member of the Kansas Advocacy Committee for the American Heart Association, and as the the founder and evaluator of Safe Streets Wichita's free naloxone and fentanyl test strip program.
  • Ensure student success and school discipline.
  • Improve family and community engagement.
  • Strengthen and protect our public schools.
Given my strong, interdisciplinary background in psychology, public health, and economics, I am very interested in education policy, economic policy, and health policy.
As of 2022-2023, USD 259, with a budget of nearly $1 billion, more than 5,600 full-time employees, and nearly 48,000 students, is the largest school district in Kansas. 70% of USD 259 students are students of color. Nearly 80% of USD 259 students live in poverty. And 16% of students receive special education services. Members of the Wichita school board enact decisions that affect students, staff, the community, and the entire state for years to come. Sound policymaking; responsible stewardship of resources; and the assurance of improved educational, economic, and health outcomes are thus paramount to the role of a Wichita school board member.

Our school board members should be visiting our school buildings and facilities and attending/volunteering at school and community events a few times a month. Their responses to stakeholders’ concerns, questions, and recommendations should be individualized and timely. They should ask questions and seek feedback from students, school employees, families, and community members. They should build relationships with a broad, diverse array of stakeholders and actively seek to unlearn the misconceptions/preconceived notions they may have about USD 259 and public education. They should encourage improved attendance and public comment at school board meetings. They should inspire families and community members to attend school events and to serve on parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and booster clubs. They should help our families and communities provide mentorship to our students and show appreciation to our school employees. They should help our families and community members register to vote, to vote in all elections, and to visit and volunteer in our schools. I have been doing all of this.

For fellow voters deciding who to support, we should ask ourselves which candidates have actually attended and volunteered at Wichita Public Schools and can actually relate with our students, employees, and families.
There is a false narrative that proponents of public education believe we should indiscriminately increase local, state, and federal funding of our public education system. The reality is that excellent, sustained, and targeted investments in public education improve educational quality and outcomes, promote upward mobility, and protect democracy. Much of the challenges we see across school districts statewide (including Wichita Public Schools) are a reflection of systemic, chronic underfunding and defunding. This is coupled with the reality that our public schools have been expected to (1) address the various issues in our society without the necessary resources and infrastructure or (2) pretend these issues do not exist and ignore them altogether. We need school board members who understand the importance of fully funding Wichita Public Schools (especially our special education services) and will champion the cause toward our local, county, state and federal governments. Additionally, in alignment with my commitment to transparency, I support much greater financial transparency of Wichita Public Schools by our school district leadership. I also support responsible, community-driven oversight and decision-making by our students, school employees, and families of our school district’s budget and finances.
United Teachers of Wichita (UTW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 513, Wichita-Hutchinson Labor Federation (WHLF), and current District 3 USD 259 Board of Education member Ernestine Krehbiel
For all of our teachers and classified staff, it should be a nonstarter that they:

- Are paid living wages.
- Have adequate paid family, medical, and compassionate leave.
- Receive health care (including for mental and behavioral health) that is reasonably priced, accessible, and high-quality.
- Receive sufficient student loan forgiveness and grant options.
- Have affordable, safe housing and childcare options.
- Have enough time to do their jobs (mitigating red tape and bureaucracy).
- Are respected by our students, families, community, and our elected officials.

It is damning that we have school employees who live in poverty, who live paycheck-to-paycheck, who have to work additional jobs because of financial distress, who regularly incur out-of-pocket expenses for their students. I thus look at the conversation of compensation in the dual forms of recruitment and retention. Starting salaries and benefits should be high enough to encourage teachers and classified staff to choose to work at USD 259 over other school districts or work outside of K-12 education altogether. Our compensation for school employees must also be designed with the intention and effect of encouraging our teachers and classified staff to stay in Wichita Public Schools. Of course, compensation alone is not enough to ensure the recruitment and retention of high-quality school employees and addressing the low morale and workforce shortages our school district currently experiences. Much of this also entails the extent to which USD 259 effectively addresses problematic student behaviors; ensures responsive, empowering school and district administration (and in general, a positive school climate and culture); and provides meaningful opportunities for professional development and growth.


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.

Other survey responses

Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Vuong completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.

See also

2023 Elections

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External links

Candidate

Wichita Public Schools, District 3
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    Personal

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 14, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Ernestine Krehbiel     		Wichita Public Schools, District 3
    2024-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
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