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Kriekard: Kurland is a champion of Scottsdale’s children

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I am in my 42nd year of working to improve the lives of young people in our public schools, moving from teaching in the classroom to leading both the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley districts as superintendent.

In that time I’ve seen how the state legislature has defunded our kids’ schools and the challenges they’ve thrown at administrators, teachers, and parents alike to educate Arizona’s future on famine budgets.

That’s why I am enthusiastically supporting Eric Kurland in his campaign to represent LD23 in the Arizona House.

I know Eric will make a difference in the lives of our over 1 million students, which will benefit our economy today and tomorrow. I’m excited LD23 has a candidate committed to protecting the public education system that provides so much value to our communities, as well as our economy.

My passion for our kids and our schools even led me to run for the state legislature a decade ago. When you’re committed and passionate about keeping the promise of public education you do whatever is necessary. And that sometimes takes on the thankless task of being a public servant at the capitol. It is where the most change needs to happen. Arizona families deserve more than broken promises when it comes to public education.

Eric has the passion necessary to protect our schools from the special interests bent on privatizing them, to stand up for our kids and the investments we’ve made continuously as a community.

Eric has spent his education career in our Title I schools of SUSD. I remember him saying that he first got a finance degree because he wanted to be rich but he went back to become a teacher because he wanted to make a difference.

He has taught exclusively at our Title 1 schools as a 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade teacher. He was the first teacher to sit on the district’s Learning Leadership Team. It’s no wonder that Superintendent John Baracy endorses his candidacy as well since they worked together to move SUSD forward.

Eric also spent time nurturing a K-8 behavior program as he always spoke about how those were the children that he was growing up. Smart, troubled by events out of his control, but only needing someone to believe in him. He then went on to be the coordinator of alternative education and began a credit recovery program for high school students.

We used to have politicians like Republican Carolyn Allen who didn’t let their party affiliation stand in the way of standing up. She was a champion of our schools; always doing what’s right for our students. We need to return to a time of mutual respect among our elected leaders. We need to get back to a place where education is rightfully a nonpartisan issue.

Eric Kurland is that kind of champion. Our children can’t cast a ballot; they don’t have a voice. I am asking you to join me and my teacher wife Janey to speak for all of them by voting for Eric Kurland.

Editor’s Note: Dr. John Kriekard is the former superintendent of Scottsdale Unified School District.