Shane Lewis was born in Tallahassee, Florida. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1990 to 1995. He earned a bachelor's degree from Liberty University. His career experience includes working as an engineer, engineering technician, and failure analyst.[1]
Shane Lewis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lewis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Public office is a way for members of the community to serve neighbors, friends, and family. As a parent of four children that have been educated in the Santa Clara County public school system spanning over 25 years, I've seen the gradual and growing pressures our students, families, and teachers face.
With a combined experience that spans nearly 20-years, I've been fortunate to serve my community in various capacities such as a small business owner, a piano, voice, and guitar teacher, an Elder, a board member for a local church, and ministry leader. Professionally I've been deeply engaged in the lifeblood of the Bay Area- technology and research and development. My career, which spans over 30-years, has been in the fields of Failure Analysis, Reliability Engineering, and Electrical Engineering for commercial, military contract, and medical device companies. Finally, my military service as a United States Marine in the airwing has prepared me to lead. I also hold a B.S. in political science and, pending thesis defense, an M.S. in political science.
I'm not looking to start a movement. My reason and purpose for serving is simple and direct- I want public schools in our county to lay the groundwork for our students to succeed in life; an effort I believe am well-equipped to address given my diverse background. A vote for me is a vote for our children, our students, our families, our county, and a bright future full of opportunity and success for years to come.
The Santa Clara County Board of Education must support the parent-teacher partnership. Teachers impart life knowledge. Parents impart lifelong mentorship and support. Together the two establish a foundational framework upon which student success is most possible. I will first make sure that the governing board mission is precise enough to ensure policy that is passed by the county office of education policy board can be linked to the mission and parent-teacher partnership- the county board of education needs to be deliberate in its actions. This also includes assessing state policy, and where it is at odds with our community, I will vote no. Our teachers, parents, and students deserve a board that will support our communities.
I intend of informing Santa Clara County constituents about policies that the county is passing. Once county office of education policies is passed, districts are bound to abide by them. Our districts need to remain independent as much as possible to ensure each one reflects the diverse interests of the parents. The county office has been passive in this regard and is allowing state policy, even when it is mere guidance, to fall squarely on the shoulders of teachers. For instance, the state is encouraging teachers to keep the physical and mental well-being of a student from his or her parents. Policies like this is causing political tension- 32% of teachers aren't happy, and 20% of teachers want to leave in 3-years’ time.
As my first official act as a Trustee, I will get to know the many important interests and duties of the other Trustees. I intend to be a well-rounded governing board member assessing how each area of what the Trustees do affects the parent-teacher partnership. This will allow me to identify areas that are potentially adversely affecting it. My main areas of concern for the parent-teacher partnership however, is foster and homeless youth as well as Alternative Education which includes incarcerated youth. These areas naturally disadvantage student success and requires additional support. This is important because in the areas above requires reintegration into society through accountability structures,
Generally speaking, I am passionate about the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. The Preamble obliges government to , "...secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." this means that policy is to support the people to secure their own Blessings of Liberty rather than government trying to do it- the latter results in wasteful government spending.
Furthermore, establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defense, and promote the general welfare are each components necessary to allow the people to secure their own blessings of Liberty and must be integral to every policy government enacts. Passing a policy does not justify it, experience does.
Jesus Christ. He canvassed for 3-years, walked hundreds of miles to serve his constituents, and fulfilled what it means to be a public servant even to the point of destitution, humiliation, and physical death.
Yes. Read the federalist papers and Anti-federalist papers. Ignore the opinions of politicians and discover the purpose of government. Finally read Federalist 63 and what it takes to form a Tyrannical Aristocracy. Madison clearly demonstrates how close we are to it according to the party structure today.
It was made perfectly clear how the enumerated powers of the Constitution could allow a person with honorable intentions to bless the states and the people of the states when James Madison took it upon himself to justly use the power of government, and it's intended restraint, to allow North Carolina to observe the paths before them to ratify the Constitution.
Although Madison and the Federalists argued that a Bill of Rights was not necessary in the Constitution because the powers of government were limited and enumerated, Madison himself demonstrated what the Anti-Federalists supposed- character of those in office must be regulated. Madison, was able to regulate his own actions while in office and used the enumerated powers of government to support Just actions that edified the state. This eventually caused North Carolina to ratify the Constitution through reason and experience. And, thanks to North Carolina, we now have in our Constitution, a Bill of Rights which aims to limit government (because those in government have proven time and again, they cannot regulate themselves).
This being said, the most important principles/characteristics a representative must have is the following: Restraint- to shackle oneself to the purpose of the office. Self-discipline- to keep oneself from being swayed. A strong moral compass- necessary for steadfastness and the pursuit of virtue. A servant's heart- willing to have the best interests of the constituents at heart even at his or her detriment. Humility- a continual act of thankfulness that prevents boasting and pride over the needs and interests of the community.
I don't profess to have all of the answers. A lot of times when people get into office they are asked, "why are you running"? I've always thought that to be a bit unfair. Coming from a failure analysis background, you typically start from a neutral position meaning that you don't form an opinion ahead of time and instead discover the answer. As such, it naturally encourages collaboration and an exchange of ideas, and discovery of facts and context. I don't necessarily latch on to an idea. instead, I look for root cause and tailor solutions to address it. Primarily, what I want to do is listen and learn the voice of my potential constituents. I am one man with a limited number of opinions and experiences. Trustee Area 4 is home to about 165,000 voters with an endless number of experiences regarding our education system, which is far more valuable when my experiences are integrated into theirs.
Anyone elected to this office is first responsible to the Constitution. Then, responsible to constituents that elected them. And finally, the state. The reason this order applies is because the Constitution is intended for the individual. The state is last because in a federalist society, state power is derived from the people. We are missing the voice of the people. The people are to regulate local government daily, weekly, and monthly- not just on election day. It is my responsibility to nurture that connection.
I was the child that could never keep a secret. If I knew my mother was getting a big present for Christmas, I simply couldn't keep it from her. My Dad told the kids that he got a bike for our mom and to not tell her. So, I went in the house and told Mom, "I know what you're getting for Christmas. Do you wanna know what it is"? My mom, knowing that it would be very easy to get it from me, replied, "no, son". In reply I said, "Well, I can tell you what it's not. It's not a bike"! Man my, Dad was so mad, but in my head I didn't think anything of it.
I worked for Publix as a Bag Boy. I found it fun because I had the chance to speak to a lot of people and make them smile. At the time Publix made it mandatory for Bag Boys to carry out groceries for customers. It values strong customer service.
The primary job of a school board member is to preserve the parent-teacher partnership. The public school system is an institution that is based on public liberty, or shared interests, therefore a school board member is to find ways where this partnership is able to be strengthened so that the student has a firm foundation for success upon which to gain and apply knowledge. A school board member must work to encourage teacher and parent cooperation so that they have a clear goal unimpeded by government to encourage creativity, hard work, and encouragement. Teachers are capable individuals; we need to keep them from getting bogged down in politics and leave them free to teach well.
My constituents is anyone that votes, pay property taxes, has a relative that attends public schools. Basically, if you live in my Trustee Area or you have a student that goes to school in my Trustee Area, I will work hard to make sure your student has the best possible shot at succeeding. 44% of YOUR property taxes fund k-12 education so get involved in policy!
The County BOE is primarily a service organization. This is further supported by the fact that Trustees are elected by constituents. Therefore, it is not just a service organization, is a public-servant organization. This means that Trustees are required to listen to the needs of districts and concerns of constituents in the respective Trustee Areas to ensure issues that arise are not propagating between districts, which would otherwise point to issues influenced by externalities perhaps caused by county policy or perhaps a lack of county BOE support.
When we fail to listen and start implementing corrective action and containment, we're simply creating another problem- we become the problem.
My platform: strengthening the parent-teacher partnership- is a platform that clearly resonates regardless of political affiliation. That's because it is not a platform, but is instead a principle. And, when you establish a principle as a platform, organizations, stakeholders, and the community at large naturally share in the responsibility, ingenuity, and creativity of the principle. The principle itself creates the vehicle for collaboration and encourages everyone to get involved. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together for our Santa Clara County communities.
Currently, the districts are failing on core competencies; literacy and Math. Therefore, we need to flush out these areas and focus on these areas. We also need to reintroduce strong courses in civics so our kids understand the importance of being engaged in their government to understand its role.
We need to expand civics from elementary through high school- we need leaders, critical thinkers, analyzers, creators, inventors. We also need to expand curriculum past teaching a skill and start teaching the different options on leveraging money for investment opportunities. This will help them leverage their salary and wages to continue to work for them.
We should also teach a job as a viable solution to basic needs, but we should integrate a job into a larger economic structure that includes the advantages of creating a business (as the tax code is not written for wage and salary earners, it is written for business owners).
Finally, Art and Music needs is a must as it opens up new avenues of teaching that encourages collaboration between teacher and student.
We can't make schools safe by simply saying we want them to be safe. For schools to be safe, it requires an honest vulnerability assessment of each school. We need to acknowledge the workforce capacity of police and fire fighters, and we need to assess what deterrents we have in place.
For conflict resolution in schools, accountability is key. School is a community and as such, we must begin to teach our students how a community works together. As such, guidance in difficult decisions should work toward personal accountability and corrective actions and not simply punishment- we need to teach conflict resolution and critical thinking. We can do this by offering alternative solutions to punishment that requires the student to take personal responsibility for actions. Each one of us has a responsible to our community and society, and so it's important that students start to grasp how individual actions also affects the community as well as their own interests.
I am taking mental health needs to mean not just addressing a diagnosis, but more importantly to navigate the normal pressures of life and helping students regulate them to acceptable levels. That being said, mental health needs don’t always mean disengagement. Many times, it can instead indicate, specific types of support structures and systems are required that help a student to navigate unknowns making them manageable- fear of the unknown can be daunting at times. Therefore, it is more important to identify areas where simple guidance is necessary to mitigate it before it becomes an issue that requires significant resources to address it.
We also need to find ways to reconnect our schools in the county with the community. COVID changed this interface significantly and we must make intentional strides to repair this incongruence.
The best action I can make on the county board is to ensure any policy the county passes allows the districts to remain independent as far as possible so those residing in the district can direct what they want for education in their district.
None. I have allies at the moment, but since I am running as an independent, candidates associated with political parties typically get endorsed over independents. I'm looking for the people of Santa Clara County to endorse me. We'll see if the people want an independent voice to give them the authority of their district to get their district back on track!
The ideal learning environment is one that promotes collaboration between the parent and teacher such that they help direct the student in a similar direction to encourage positive reinforcement of learning to establish successful habits and practices, while also working toward grasping fundamental concepts so that when more complex problems arise, the student can breaking down the problem in to smaller chunks and independently work it by asking constructive questions. Education is a process of discovery, not a method of memorizing facts.
The school district had very little choice in how to deal with the Corona Virus. Much of the policy was determined by the state, which placed teachers at odds with parents and required teachers to carry the brunt of dissatisfaction of state policy by parents. This type of state action continues to happen to this day, which is why the County BOE needs to play a more active role in attempting to understand what support parents, students, and teachers need in our county.
What should have happened is that as more was known about Corona Virus, policy should have changed to accommodate the changes. Each region should have been given local control of COVID policy so constituents had an avenue to address concerns other than expressing disatisfication to teachers.
I will do my job as their representative- I will inform anyone who will listen of the impact county policy has on the districts before it is passed so that teachers, parents, and other constituents will be able to contact the county and provide your input on policy that will most likely affect parents, teachers, and students the people can influence how policy is implemented.
I will also encourage parents, to speak at the county board of education on issues that arise at the district level so that the County Superintendent of Schools and other Trustees can follow-up to identify if the issue is more wide spread. We need to tackle issues in our county from the bottom-up and the top-down to prevent them from lingering in our county so we remain focused on student success.
Lastly, the most important aspect of board meetings is input romf the public. I will stay for as long as is needed to hear input from the public because I want to know what's going on in my Trustee Area. Therefore, I will advocate we return to 3 minutes for public comment (currently it is typically only 1 minute).
We need to get our literacy and math up to acceptable levels. Then, we need to get our literacy and math up to exceptional levels. That means, we're going to need to be much more intentional. I recently attended a back-to-school night and I think there is room for improvement in how we're interfacing with students and what we expect from them. We need to make sure that the tools we're using are the best tools for the job. We also need to identify the tools that are nice to have, but aren't positively impacting student success or knowledge retention. Furthermore, we also need to find ways to offload some of the political weight from teachers. That means the County needs to create a concise and measurable mission statement that its actions center on. This will help hone in on areas where the county can actually a positive impact on the districts. We want our teachers to be excited to come to school and teach. When teachers are excited about teaching, they can have a much more meaningful impact on students. Currently, all of the weight is falling squarely on our teachers, students also need to have the opportunity to be accountable as it promotes personal growth.
In everything the government does there should be transparency and accountability. The reason is because there are two facets to sovereignty: 1. Rights (authority). 2. Liberty (Power). The state and federal government does not have rights, it possesses public and general liberty respectively (i.e. Power). Some books call this rightful Authority, but there is no such thing. Every power a state or federal government has is derived from the will of the people. Even state interests in the Senate are interests that are derived from revenue the people in the state, and which is reconciled to the Constitution. Only the people are Sovereign in that they possess both individual unalienable Rights and Individual Liberty. Individual liberty from which public (State) and general (Federal) liberty is derived. Someone with Authority as described by Aristotle, is a Man of Action, and as such always reserves the right to ensure the power enumerated to government is carried out in an honorable and just manner. This allows government to quickly understand its role and helps to ensure it works closely as a public service organization to support the ability of the people to secure their own Blessings of Liberty and posterity. Without transparency and accountability, both authority and power is concentrated in the office, and the people are irrelevant. Do you want to be irrelevant? I didn’t think so.
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.
Note: Lewis submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on September 27, 2024.
Public office is a way for members of the community to serve neighbors, friends, and family. As a parent of four children that have been educated in the Santa Clara County public school system spanning over 25 years, I've seen the gradual and growing pressures our students, families, and teachers face.
With a combined experience that spans nearly 20-years, I've been fortunate to serve my community in various capacities such as a small business owner, a piano, voice, and guitar teacher, an Elder, a board member for a local church, and ministry leader. Professionally I've been deeply engaged in the lifeblood of the Bay Area- technology and research and development. My career, which spans over 30-years, has been in the fields of Failure Analysis, Reliability Engineering, and Electrical Engineering for commercial, military contract, and medical device companies. Finally, my military service as a United States Marine in the airwing has prepared me to lead. I also hold a B.S. in political science and, pending thesis defense, an M.S. in political science.
I'm not looking to start a movement. My reason and purpose for serving is simple and direct- I want public schools in our county to lay the groundwork for our students to succeed in life; an effort I believe am well-equipped to address given my diverse background. A vote for me is a vote for our children, our students, our families, our county, and a bright future full of opportunity and success for years to come.
The Santa Clara County Board of Education must support the parent-teacher partnership. Teachers impart life knowledge. Parents impart lifelong mentorship and support. Together the two establish a foundational framework upon which student success is most possible. I will first make sure that the governing board mission is is precise enough to ensure policy that is passed by the county office of education policy board can be linked to the mission and parent-teacher partnership- the county board of education needs to be deliberate in it's actions. This also incudes assessing state policy, and where it is at odds with our community, I will vote no. Our teachers, parents, and students deserve a board that will support our communities.
I intend of informing Santa Clara County constituents about policies that the county is passing. Once county office of education policies are passed, districts are bound to abide by them. Our districts need to remain independent as much as possible to ensure each one reflects the diverse interests of the parents.
The county office has been passive in this regard and is allowing state policy, even when it is mere guidance, to fall squarely on the shoulders of teachers. For instance, the state is encouraging teachers to keep the physical and mental well-being of a student from his or her parents. Policies like this is causing political tension- 32% of teachers aren't happy, and 20% of teachers want to leave in 3-years time.
As my first official act as a Trustee, I will get to know the many important interests and duties of the other Trustees. I intend to be a well-rounded governing board member assessing how each area of what the Trustees do affects the parent-teacher partnership. This will allow me to identify areas that are potentially adversely effecting it.
My main areas of concern for the parent-teacher partnership however, is foster and homeless youth as well as Alternative Education which includes incarcerated youth. These areas naturally disadvantage students success and requires additional support. This is important because in the areas above requires reintegration into society through accountability structures,
Generally speaking, I am passionate about the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. The Preamble obliges government to , "...secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." this means that policy is to support the people to secure their own Blessings of Liberty rather than government trying to do it- the latter results in wasteful government spending.
Furthermore, establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defense, and promote the general welfare are each components necessary to allow the people to secure their own blessings of Liberty and must be integral to every policy government enacts. Passing a policy does not justify it, experience does.
This is going to sound corny, but I would have to say Jesus Christ. The reason is because he was the ultimate public servant. So, if anyone in a position of government needs to understand what it means to be a public servant, Jesus is the ultimate example. He didn't compromise his and yet he
Yes. Read the federalist papers and Anti-federalist papers. Ignore the opinions of politicians and discover the purpose of the government. Finally read Federalist 63 and what it takes to form a Tyrannical Aristocracy. Madison clearly demonstrates how close we are to it according to the party structure today.
It was made perfectly clear how the powers of the Constitution could allow a person with honorable intentions to bless the states and the people of the states when James Madison took it upon himself to justly use the power of government, and it's intended restraint, to allow North Carolina to observe the paths before them. Therefore, although Madison and the Federalists argued that a Bill of Rights was not necessary in the Constitution because the powers of government were limited and enumerated, Madison himself demonstrated what the Anti-Federalists supposed- character of those in office must be regulated. Madison, was able to regulate his own actions while in office and used the enumerated powers of government to support Just actions that edified the state, which eventually caused North Carolina to ratify the Constitution. And, thanks to North Carolina, we now have in our Constitution, a Bill of Rights which aims to limit government (because those in government have proven time and again, they cannot regulate themselves).
This being said, the most important principles/characteristics a representative must have is. Restraint to shackle oneself to the purpose of the office. Self-discipline- to keep oneself from being swayed. A strong moral and value compass- necessary for steadfastness and the pursuit of virtue. A servant's heart- willing to have the best interests of the constituents at heart even at his or her detriment. Humility- a continual act of thankfulness that prevents boasting and pride.
I don't profess to have all of the answers. A lot of times when people get into office they are asked, "why are you running"? I've always thought that to be a bit unfair. Coming from a failure analysis background, you typically start from a neutral position meaning that you don't form an opinion ahead of time and instead discover the answer. As such, it naturally encourages collaboration and an exchange of ideas, and discovery of facts and context. I don't necessarily latch on to an idea. instead, I look for root cause and tailor solutions to address it. Right now, the County has many issues that need addressing and I believe I can help.
Anyone elected to this office is first responsible to the Constitution. Then, responsible to constituents that elected them. And finally, the state. The reason this order applies is because the Constitution is intended for the individual. The state is last because in a federalist society, state power is derived from the people. State power regulates federal power. Federal power regulates individuals. And, the public in a state regulates the state.
I was the child that could never keep a secret. If I knew my mother was getting a big present for Christmas, I simply couldn't keep it from her. My Dad told the kids that he got a bike for our mom and to not tell her. So, I went in the house and told Mom, "I know what you're getting for Christmas. Do you wanna know what it is"? My mom, knowing that it would be very easy to get it from me, replied, "no, son". In reply I said, "Well, I can tell you what it's not. It's not a bike"! Man my, Dad was so mad, but in my head I didn't think anything of it.
I worked for Publix as a Bag Boy. I found it fun because I had the chance to speak to a lot of people and make them smile. At the time Publix made it mandatory for Bag Boys to carry out groceries for customers. It values strong customer service.
The primary job of a school board member is to preserve the parent-teacher partnership. The public school system is an institution that is based on public liberty, or shared interests, therefore a school board member is to find ways where this partnership is able to be strengthened so that the student has a firm foundation for success upon which to gain and apply knowledge. A school board member must work to encourage teacher and parent cooperation so that they have a clear goal unimpeded by government to encourage creativity, hard work, and encouragement. Teachers are capable individuals, we need to keep them from getting bogged down in politics and leave them free to teach well.
My constituents is anyone that votes, pays taxes, has a relative that attends public schools. Basically, if you live in my Trustee Area or you have a student that goes to school in my Trustee Area, I will work hard to make sure your student has the best possible shot at succeeding.
The County BOE is primarily a service organization. This is further supported by the fact that Trustees are elected by constituents. Therefore, it is not just a service organization, is a public-servant organization. This means that Trustees are required to listen to the needs of districts and concerns of constituents in the respective Trustee Areas to ensure issues that arise are not propagating between districts, which would otherwise point to issues influenced by externalities perhaps caused by county policy or perhaps a lack of county BOE support.
When we fail to listen and start implementing corrective action and containment, we're simply creating another problem- we become the problem.
My platform- strengthening the parent-teacher partnership- is a platform that clearly resonates regardless of political affiliation. That's because it is not a platform, but is instead a principle. And, when you establish a platform as a principle, organizations, stakeholders, and the community at large naturally share in the responsibility, ingenuity, and creativity of the principle. The principle itself creates the vehicle for collaboration and encourages everyone to get involved. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together for our Santa Clara County community.
Currently, the districts are failing on core competencies; literacy and Math. Therefore, we need to flush out these areas and dedicate resources in these areas. We also need to reintroduce strong courses in civics so our kids understand the importance of being engaged in their government and also understand its role.
We need to expand civics from elementary through high school- we need leaders, critical thinkers, analyzers, creators, inventors. We also need to expand curriculum past teaching a skill and start teaching practical skills such as basic investing and the different types of investing to help them leverage their salary and wages once they enter the workforce.
We should also teach a job as a viable solution to basic needs, but we should integrate a job into a larger structure of looking at creating a personal business understanding the advantages of creating a business (as the tax code is not written for wage and salary earners, it is written for business owners).
Finally, Art and Music needs to be a must as it opens up new avenues of teaching that encourages collaboration between teacher and student.
We can't make schools safe by simply saying we want them to be safe. For schools to be safe, it requires an honest vulnerability assessment of each school. We need to acknowledge the workforce capacity of police and fire fighters, and we need to assess what deterrents we have in place.
For conflict resolution in schools, accountability is key. School is a community and as such, we must begin to teach our students how a community works together. As such, guidance in difficult decisions should work toward personal accountability and corrective actions and not simply punishment- we need to teach conflict resolution and critical thinking. We can do this by offering alternative solutions to punishment that requires the student to take personal responsibility for actions. Each one of us has a responsible to our community and society, and so it's important that students start to grasp how individual actions also affects the community as well as their own interests.
I am taking mental health needs to mean not just addressing a diagnosis, but more importantly to navigate the normal pressures of life and helping to regulate them to acceptable levels. That being said, mental health needs doesn't always mean disengagement. Many times it can instead mean, what kind of support structures and systems can be put in place that help to navigate unknowns making them manageable- fear of the unknown can be daunting at times. Therefore, it is more important to identify areas where simple guidance is necessary to mitigate it before it becomes an issue that requires significant resources to address it.
Also, we need to find ways to reconnect our schools in the county with the community. COVID changed this interface significantly and we must make intentional strides to repair this incongruence.
As an individual running for County BOE, it would not be within my lawful jurisdiction to directly affect district policies. Instead, we can generally handle brick and mortar issues and assist with training and best practices. We can, if it is a found to be a county-wide issue, find that it is beyond the scope of the districts and address it from a county-wide perspective.
None. I have allies at the moment, but since I am running as an independent, candidates associated with political parties typically get endorsed over independence. I'm looking or the people of Santa Clara County to endorse me. We'll see if the people want an independent to help our county get back on track!
The ideal learning environment is one that promotes collaboration between the parent and teacher such that the help direct the student in a similar direction to positive reinforcement of learning and establishing successful habits and practices, while also working toward grasping fundamental concepts so that when more complex problems need to be solved, the student can problem solve by breaking down the problem in to smaller chunks and independently work it to ask constructive questions to the teacher to allow an even greater understanding of the material.
The school district had very little choice in how to deal with the Corona Virus. Much of the policy was determined by the state, which placed teachers at odds with parents and required teachers to carry the brunt of dissatisfaction of state policy. This type of state policy continues to happen to this day, which is why the County BOE needs to play a more active role in attempting to understand what parents and students in our county needs.
What should have happened is the more was known about Corona Virus, policy should have changed to accommodate the changes. Each region should have been given local control of COVID policy so constituents had an avenue to address concerns other than teachers.
I will do my job as their representative- I will inform anyone that will listen of the impact of county policy on the districts before it is passed so that teachers, parents, and other constituents will be informed as to how the policy, if implemented will affect the parent-teacher partnership, BEFORE it is passed. This way, you will be able to contact the county and provide your input on policy that will most likely affect you and students so that you can influence how policy is implemented.
I will also encourage parents, to speak to the county board of education on issues that arise at the district level so that the County Superintendent of Schools and other Trustees can follow-up to identify if the issue is more wide spread. We need to tackle issues in our county from the bottom-up and the top-down to prevent them from lingering in our county so we can concentrate on student success.
Lastly, the most important aspect of board meetings is input of the public. I will stay for as long as is needed to hear input from the public because I want to know what's going on in my Trustee Area. Therefore, I will advocate we return to 3 minutes for public comment (currently it is typically only 1 minute).
We need to get our literacy and math up to acceptable levels. Then, we need to get our literacy and math up to exceptional levels. That means, we're going to need to be much more intentional. I recently attended a back to school night and I think there is room for improvement in how we're interfacing with students and what we expect from them. We need to make sure that the tools we're using are the best tools for the job. We also need to identify the tools that are nice to have, but aren't positively impacting student success or knowledge retention. Furthermore, we also need to find ways to offload some of the political weight from teachers. That means the County needs to create a concise and measurable missions statement that it's actions center on. This will help hone in on areas where the county actually impacts the districts. We want our teachers to be excited to come to school and teach. When teachers are excited about teaching, they can have a much more meaningful impact on students. Currently, all of the weight is falling squarely on our teachers, students also need to have the opportunity to be accountable as it promotes personal growth.
In everything the government does there should be transparency and accountability. The reason is because there are two facets to sovereignty: 1. Rights (authority). 2. Liberty (Power). The state and federal government does not have rights, it possess liberty (i.e. Power). Some books call this rightful Authority, but there is no such thing. Every power a state or federal government has is derived from the will of the people. Even state interests in the Senate are interests that are derived from revenue the people in the state produce, and which is reconciled to the Constitution. Only the people are Sovereign in that they possess both individual unalienable Rights and Individual Liberty. Individual liberty from which public (State) and general (Federal) liberty is derived. Someone with Authority are described by Aristotle as Men of Action, and as such always reserve the right to ensure the power enumerated to government is carried out in an honorable and just manner. This allows government to quickly understand its role and ensure it works closely as a public service organization to support the ability of the people to secure their own Blessings of Liberty and posterity.
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.
Note: Lewis submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on September 24, 2024.
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