Name as it appears on the ballot: Christine Kushner
Age: 57
Party affiliation: lifelong Democrat running in nonpartisan race
Campaign website: facebook.com/christineforwake/
Occupation & employer: Board of Education Member, Wake County Public School System; self-employed policy analyst/writer
1. What do you believe are the three most important issues facing the Board of Education? What are your priorities for addressing these issues?
In Fall 2020, the three most important issues facing the Wake Board of Education are:
Safe and sustainable teaching and learning during the COVID pandemic.
Promoting equity and inclusion for all our students in all our schools.
Supporting policies that promote great working conditions for educators in our schools.
To address all three of these issues, the Board must focus on outcomes for people—our students, educators, and staff who support teaching and learning. We need to advocate for additional counselors, social workers, nurses, and school psychologists to support our students and school communities. Our curriculum must reflect our community values and diversity. To accomplish all of these, we need healthy and supportive working environments for our teachers, not only reducing the risk of COVID spread, but also structures, tools, and resources to help our educators engage and inspire their students.
2. What in your record as a public official or other experience demonstrates your ability to be an effective Board of Education member? This might include career or community service; be specific about its relevance to this office.
I have been a fierce advocate for public education since my now-25-year-old son entered WCPSS as a kindergartner in 2000. I have focused on advocating for needed funding for public schools, opportunities for students that promote equity and excellence, and fair and clear governing policies for our school system, including our 2020 Strategic Plan. As a Board member for more than nine years, I have served two terms as Chair and two as Vice-Chair of the Board, and led the Policy, Student Achievement, and Finance committees.
Before joining the Board, I served as an active classroom volunteer, in PTA leadership, and on advisory councils of the school system. My background and training in public policy lends itself to an analytical examination of School System policies and procedures. I started my career as a newspaper reporter—I enjoy talking with people, engaging in their stories, and listening to differing perspectives. These combined experiences have proven useful for serving on the School Board.
3. Research suggests that North Carolina’s schools are becoming more segregated by race and economic status. What do you think is driving this trend, and do you think this is an issue WCPSS needs to address? Please explain your answer.
Wake County schools must continue its leadership and work to integrate our schools across socio-economic status. Integrated schooling will allow our nation to fulfill its ideals of liberty and justice for all. Our community has a decades-long tradition of placing school integration as a high priority, dating to the city and county school systems merger in 1976. Our magnet and school choice programs and assignment policies are a testament to that commitment. However, state policies that are working to privatize education are enabling greater segregation, particularly in the current charter school movement (which now includes for-profit schools) and voucher programs, which divert public dollars to private schools, some of which discriminate against students and teachers on religious and other grounds. We must work with state leaders to fulfill the promise of public schools, using the WestEd report, as part of the latest finding in the Leandro case, to bring equitable funding and resources to public schools.
4. What effects do you believe the popularity of charter schools is having on the school system? Is it exacerbating segregation or draining resources from neighborhood schools, as some critics contend?
Yes, the current charter school movement is draining resources in inequitable ways and exacerbating segregation. Charter school laws in North Carolina make it difficult to hold charter schools accountable—there is a lack of transparency in finance, no system of integrating student populations, and no unifying accountability system or public election system that responds to taxpayers. Charter schools routinely push out students with special needs from their schools, and they also waste taxpayer dollars by lessening WCPSS’s ability to accurately plan for capital construction and building utilization. Charter schools use public dollars and were initially intended to have public benefits. They currently are not serving that initial intention, and instead are undermining public goals. Public money should support public education that accepts all students. Public education is a constitutional right for North Carolina’s children.
5. In light of the ongoing threat of COVID-19, do you believe it is safe for students to return to the classroom? What policies or protocols should be put in place to ensure the health and safety of students? If remote learning must continue in some form in the future, what can be done to ensure students are still receiving a quality education?
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the greatest challenge of my nine years on the School Board. In balancing the developmental risks of continued online learning with the risks of COVID, our schools should open to in-person instruction in an intentional and safe manner. I have supported a phased-in approach, beginning with students with special education needs and in early elementary grades, where class size limits allow for greater social distancing. Wake County worked hard to improve remote learning, including establishing a Virtual Academy that has enrolled about half our students. Continued remote learning for these VA students will facilitate greater social distancing in schools for those who wish to return. But WCPSS has crowded and large schools—it will be important to have clear protocols for the 3Ws—wearing a mask, waiting six feet for social distancing, and washing hands—so that we take care of each other in our buildings. For those students who need support for remote learning, the district has distributed hotspots and devices, so students have reliable internet service and computers. COVID is disproportionately affecting our Black and Latinx students, and we must recognize this in crafting responses during this COVID pandemic.
6. Do you support the placement of school resource officers in Wake schools? If so, what do you think their role should be? If not, what do you propose as an alternative?
I support re-imagining the roles and training of law enforcement/public safety officers in our community and our schools. I strongly support additional counselors, mental health professionals, and social supports for our students, educators, and public schools to de-escalate threatening situations and manage discipline and behavior. I support thorough agreements with local law enforcement agencies to outline school system expectations of how law enforcement officers engage with our school communities when their expertise is needed, such as when a crime occurs on a school campus. I also hope we implement a peacebuilders or similar program at the middle school level, to de-escalate disruptive behavior and hold students accountable without involving law enforcement.
I have supported restorative justice and restorative practices in our schools during my time on the School Board. I helped lead a collaborative effort, with then-District Judge Vince Rozier, to implement diversion programs for Wake County to prevent youth from entering the criminal justice system. We should think creatively about ways to give students agency over behavioral issues, support staff with tools and resources to support students, and build cooperative communities for staff and students.
7. Black students make up about a quarter of Wake County public school students, yet, according to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, are nearly eight times more likely to be suspended than their white peers. Are racial disparities an issue you think the board of education needs to address?
Yes, our district must recognize and address racial disparities in student outcomes. Again, I support restorative practices in our schools, and I also strongly support the work of the Office of Equity Affairs, whose work includes bringing culturally responsive teaching practices to our classrooms. Creating a more diverse teaching workforce also should be a priority.
8. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected that you suspect might cost you some points with voters.
I support science-based reproductive health education in our classrooms, instead of relying solely on abstinence-only education. Our students need accurate information in healthful living and science curricula, so they can make good decisions for their physical and mental health.
Comment on this questionnaire at backtalk@indyweek.com.
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