Defeated in September 22 special election

1. What is your experience with K-12 public schools, personally and/or with your children or family? I’m a graduate of Hinds County Agricultural High School, actually a product of the Mississippi public school system. I have worked as a substitute teacher in the Hinds County School System.

2. Do you agree that the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) should be fully funded every year? If yes, what actions will you take to ensure full funding? If no, explain why. The MAEP is the funding mechanism for our state’s public schools. See https://tpcref.org/mississippi-adequate-education-program-maep/ for information.  Yes, I support MAEP because this program has never been fully funded. I understand that no one person can do anything alone. I will work with my colleagues in the legislature to secure their support, regardless of political affiliation, to ensure that public educators and public schools will receive the funding that they have been promised.

3. What will you do to ensure state revenue that is sufficient to provide all of the services Mississippi’s citizens need to lead productive lives? I would reevaluate how the revenue collected is disbursed and work to ensure that a plan is in place to equitably disburse the monies already collected to the agencies that need it the most.

4. Will you oppose vouchers that send taxpayer dollars to private schools, religious schools, home schools, or virtual schools? Why or why not? Yes, I oppose vouchers as the program is currently implemented. If the funding that follows the student TO the private school would come back when the student LEFT the private school, then I might be in support of that. The voucher system must be fully utilized. Meaning if a student leaves a private school and returns back to a public school that funding for that student would follow the student back to that public school.

5. Do you agree that all K-12 schools that receive taxpayer dollars, including private voucher schools, should be accountable to taxpayers for the quality of education they provide, using the same accountability measures as public schools? Yes,I do agree that all schools receiving taxpayers’ money should be held accountable and held to the same standard as the other. Teachers should be state certified in private schools like they are in public schools. They should be required to pass the same testing as a public school teacher. Students in private schools should be required to pass the same state tests that public school students are if they are going to receive tax dollars from local, state, and federal government.

6. Public schools serve the vast majority of Mississippi students with disabilities. Do you agree that special education services in public schools should be fully funded every year? (Special education has been underfunded by the state every year since 2008.) If yes, how will you accomplish full funding? If no, explain why. Yes, I do agree that special education needs to be fully funded. There’s not a need for increasing taxing when the money already being allocated is not being disbursed equitably to the programs that most need the funding.

7. Do you agree that Mississippi should provide high quality early childhood education statewide? Yes, of course I do. In order for our students to get a jump on their education they need to have access to high quality early childhood opportunities. Our pre and kindergarten students need that boost to be more successful in their k-12 years.

8. The nation’s top teachers say that the greatest barriers to school success for K-12 students are family stress, poverty, and learning and psychological problems. What steps do you believe legislators should take to alleviate these obstacles for Mississippi children? Legislators should be aware of, and work toward, mitigating the stresses of family by making sure that funding is provided to agencies that give support to family stress, poverty, learning and psychological problems. The legislature can provide adequate funds to agencies that do support these stressors so that we can reach the population who may be most affected. E.g. Department of Human Services.

9. Do you support raising teacher salaries at least to the level of our neighboring states and raising pay for teacher assistants? Yes, because it is unheard of that our teachers, and our assistant teachers, receive such low pay. Some of them do not earn a living wage. We are expecting the people who provide opportunities for our children to not have opportunities themselves. These individuals have families just like we do. The quality of work that they provide for our students should not be negatively impacted by a low salary. These teachers even use their salaries to supplement their meager supply budgets to provide supplies for students. Yes, they need to at least reach the midpoint for the Southeast region because we are losing some of our best teachers to the neighboring states because these states are offering higher salaries than we are. Not saying that they have better schools, but they are offering them more financial opportunities.

10. Do you agree that retired educators (and other retired state employees) should be able to draw their retirement while serving in the Legislature? Yes, I do agree that retired educators should be able to keep their retirement while serving in the Legislature. If we have retired educators or individuals who have been in the education system we can have policies written that would be the most beneficial to our schools across the state.

11. Legislators have little or no staff to help them understand the many bills they must consider. Before introducing or supporting a bill that could affect public education, will you commit to seeking input from teachers, principals, superintendents, and parents of public school students in your district? Who will be advising you on education policies? I will have a focus group pulling from areas of education k-12 and higher ed to keep me abreast on issues that are at the forefront of these groups. I will meet with the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE), the Association of Federated Teachers (AFT), and other groups that are in place so I can get input from them on the issues that are most important.

12. In the past, legislators have received tremendous pressure from the leaders of their chamber (House or Senate), state and party leaders, and corporate lobbyists, to vote in ways that could contradict the will of their constituents and harm their communities. How would you respond to such pressure? I’m indebted to the people that put me in office and it is my responsibility to make sure that I represent you to the best of my ability. I’m not here to represent special interests through lobbying.