Ybarra and Jones vie for superintendent
November elections are fast approaching. The race for superintendent of Idaho public schools is on, after current Superintendent Tom Luna announced he would not run for re-election this year.
Candidates Sherri Ybarra and Jana Jones both said they are confident in their qualifications and possess the expertise needed for the job. Yet, a tumultuous election campaign has distracted from the platforms of the candidates.
Both candidates have spoken and listened to the public regarding aspects of the state’s education system that need improvement. Ybarra and Jones have similar ideas for what they plan to accomplish as superintendent, and both agree there is an issue with funding in school systems.
Sherri Ybarra
Sherri Ybarra
Ybarra has worked in the Mountain Home School District for 20 years in various capacities, including as a classroom teacher, vice-principal, principal and curriculum director. She is currently the federal programs director for the Mountain Home district and chief financial adviser for 4,000 students and more than 300 employees.
“We need an educational leader who has worked in all phases of education that can bring forth a vision to move us forward,” Ybarra said.
Ybarra was nominated for Teacher of the Year in Mountain Home in 2005 and 2006 and she said she once took a failing school to four-star status.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, as well as a master’s degree in educational leadership with a superintendent certification from the University of Idaho.
Ybarra has a vision for Idaho schools she calls “address the whole child.” She said her idea includes three main priorities — 21st century abilities, such as strong speaking, writing and problem solving abilities, as well as strong technology skills. The second priority is a system of safety and support.
“In order for kids to achieve they need to feel safe, and staff needs to feel supported,” Ybarra said.
The third priority in addressing the whole child is a testing system that focuses on the growth of a child over time. Ybarra described this as a “motion picture” of a child’s growth instead of a “snapshot” of one day in the life of a child.
She said this testing system would “break apart the myth” that the teacher is the only one responsible for a student’s success, and that focusing on the one test is letting parents, administrators and business leaders off the hook for their part in education.
“We all have to roll up our sleeves and get involved,” Ybarra said. “So that is why we have to take a motion picture over time.”
Ybarra said Idahoans are also concerned about education funding.
Examples of inadequate funding, according to Ybarra, are four-day workweeks, not having the basic supplies and a large classroom size. She said the “how much” is the job of the legislator, not the superintendent. The superintendent decides the “what to do with it” part of the funding.
“I will be the state superintendent who advocates for what we need to prove that we have adequate funding in Idaho,” Ybarra said.
Jana Jones
Jana Jones
Jones has 40 years of experience in the education system. She has been a classroom teacher in Idaho Falls, special education consultant for the state department of education and has owned and operated an early childhood preschool program. She also previously worked alongside three different superintendents including Jerry Evans, Anne Fox and Marilyn Howard.
She has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in special education from Utah State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Idaho State University, along with certifications that include special education teacher, special education director, principal and superintendent.
For eight years, Jones has worked for Maximus, a large international company out of Virginia that focuses on health care. She works for the company’s smaller K-12 division and works on student information systems, school based Medicaid and special education in 17 states.
“I have seen what’s worked and what doesn’t, and what would be applicable here in Idaho, and it gives me a very broad perspective from the (local level) to state level to a national level,” Jones said.
Unlike Ybarra, Jones said at the state and federal level, numbers are the only necessity, not student specific information.
“We need only to be collecting data that is absolutely necessary for our teacher and schools to meet the reporting requirements and not collecting any extra data that is not necessary,” Jones said.
Her goal is similar in that she feels the schools need to be safe and the staff need to feel valued and supported.
“My overarching goal is that we start feeling good about our schools again in Idaho,” she said.
Along with safety and support, she said there needs to be smaller class sizes and modern classrooms with technology that support the teachers and instructional process, as well as high standards that prepare students for the future of their choice.
Jones said Idaho ranks near the bottom on many of the indicators of education and has become frustrating to the people who work in the system. If these goals can be reached, she said it will turn the conversation to the good things that are happening in the schools instead of focusing on the bad.
“The conversation has turned to be so negative, and I want to just start feeling really good and proud about our public education system,” she said.
Jones said she has consistently heard from school board members, administrators and teachers that the state is not providing the resources to meet the needs of the schools. She said 94 school districts have supplemental levies that were used to enhance programs but are now being used to “keep the lights on and the busses running.”
“Supplemental [levies] have saved our schools, but it’s wrong that they are doing it for just the basic operations that the state is obligated to be doing,” Jones said
Mary Malone can be reached at [email protected]
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For more information about the candidates refer to their respective websites at ybarraforidaho.com