Standing with Arizona's working families

I am grateful for the endorsement of the Arizona Pipe Trades 469.  Here's the press release we sent out today:

Union endorses Jason Williams for state schools superintendent
Arizona Pipe Trades 469 calls Williams “best advocate for Arizona’s working families” 

Phoenix, Ariz. – Jason Williams, one of the leading candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, announced today that he accepted the endorsement of UA Local 469 Plumbers and Pipefitters, also known as Arizona Pipe Trades 469. In a letter announcing their decision, Arizona Pipe Trades 469 said Williams “will be the best advocate for Arizona’s working families.”

“I am proud to stand with the members of Arizona Pipe Trades 469 to advocate for hardworking Arizonans,” said Williams. “As Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will continue to advocate for working families by ensuring every child in Arizona has access to an excellent public education.”

In 2006, Williams secured the Democratic Party nomination for Superintendent of Public Instruction with a majority of votes in 14 of 15 counties. In the general election against the Republican incumbent, Williams received more votes than any other non-incumbent Democrat in the closest of all the statewide races.
Since then, Williams has continued his work to ensure every child in Arizona has access to a quality public education. He currently serves as a Managing Partner for BlueDynamic and was the founder of AZ School Works. In addition to working with the Roosevelt School District, Williams is a faculty member for Arizona State University’s Beat the Odds Institute Parent Liaison Academy, meets weekly to mentor to an eighth grade student through Arizona Quest for Kids, and serves on several education-related Boards of Directors and Advisory Committees, including College Depot, Communities in Schools, Genesis City, and Phoenix Collegiate Academy.

From 2000 - 2005, Williams served as Executive Director of Teach For America (TFA) in Phoenix. During his tenure, local funding for the program doubled, teacher placements increased 150%, and the number of schools and districts partnering with TFA increased 100%. In addition, under his leadership, student achievement levels for the Phoenix program increased significantly, turning the region from TFA’s lowest to its highest performing region in the U.S. in just three years.

UA Local 469 Plumbers and Pipefitters was chartered in 1910, two-years before the state of Arizona became the 48th state. For over 95 years they’ve been protecting the health of the nation through their Plumbing, Pipefitting and HVAC Service work.

For more information about Jason Williams, visit www.WilliamsForArizona.com. To learn about Arizona Pipe Trades 469, visit www.ualocal469.org.

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The unusual John "Hole in the Wall" Huppenthal

After delivering the following speech at the Arizona Democratic Party State Committee Meeting on Saturday, April 24th in Tucson, I’ve had several requests to post it online. So as not to disappoint, I've posted the text of my address below.  To learn more about my campaign, please visit www.WilliamsForArizona.com.

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Text of Speech:

With your help in winning the primary, I’ll likely be running this fall against an unusual opponent: John Huppenthal. What’s unusual is that he is best known for wrestling away a campaign sign from a 78-year-old woman, and, more recently, for taking a drill to Saguaro High School and drilling holes in a wall to hang a massive campaign banner.

So, in honor of my odd opponent, I brought along this (holds up power drill), and I’d like you to join me in honoring John “Hole in the Wall” Huppenthal with a poem that I’ve put together. It goes like this:

Johnny has a big old drill,
whose bite is quite severe
For everywhere that Johnny goes,
holes do appear

I ask you to remember that last part because in every stanza it’s going to end with that, and you all did so well at our last meeting that I need you help join me with that. So, can we all say that together.

For everywhere that Johnny goes, holes do appear. For everywhere that Johnny goes, holes do appear.  Now I know you can do that with more gusto as we get going here. It says:

Johnny wants no kindergarten
He would make it disappear
For everywhere that Johnny goes,
holes do appear

If tests are too hard to pass,
then standards he will sheer
For everywhere that Johnny goes,
holes do appear

Johnny thinks our schools are fine
Although, his logic isn’t clear
For everywhere that Johnny goes,
holes do appear

Johnny has a big old drill
Don’t let our kids come near
For everywhere that Johnny goes,
holes do appear

Yes, you know, sadly, everywhere John goes, holes appear – holes in budgets, holes in standards and holes in logic. I say we have enough holes. We need to fix our schools. They’re broken but John “Hole in the Wall” Huppenthal seems to be unable to find the holes we need to fix.

You know, there are people who say that Johnny lacks any educational background or experience. Well, that’s not exactly true. You see, Johnny led the team that created the system we have right now, the system that took us from above the national average to dead last in the country. So I say that it’s not that we need more drill, baby, drill. We need more learn, baby, learn.

I’m Jason Williams, and with your help and support, I want to become Arizona’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction. Because as I shared earlier, public education is near and dear to us as Democrats. I’m proud to say that we’re from the party that started our public education system in the United States and it’s time for us to come together and support our children. So I ask for your vote on August 24th and November 2nd. Since I see Don behind me I’m going to finish by also asking you, since I saw the applause for Clean Elections, to please help me because Johnny qualified two months ago, and we need to finish up qualifying. So if you haven’t given a $5 please give a $5 today, and if you want to be a high performing student, please collect additional $5s for us. Our team will be coming around. Thank you so much everyone again.
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Click here to download a $5 Clean Elections Qualifying Contribution Form or visit our website at www.WilliamsForArizona.com.  Return it with your $5 check or cash to: Committee to Elect Jason Williams 2010, P.O. Box 33395, Phoenix, AZ 85067.

Protecting Clean Elections

This morning I joined Linda Brown and members of the Arizona Advocacy Network at the state capitol to submit testimony against two pieces of legislation that threaten Arizona’s Clean Elections System. SCR 1009 (publicly financed elections; prohibition) and SCR 1043 (clean elections; funds; transfer) were scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee today. Both bills were held in committee and may be heard at a later time.

SCR 1009 would bar the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from providing campaign funds to qualifying candidates who choose not to take special interest money. SCR 1043 would completely gut the funds allocated by the voters specifically to Clean Elections by transferring the funds out of that account.

Here’s an excerpt from the written testimony I submitted:

“For democracy to work, we need the participation of a broad cross-section of people. Campaigning for public office is expensive. Clean Elections ensures every Arizonan, regardless of personal wealth, has the opportunity to seek public office. Further, Clean Elections allows candidates to spend more time connecting with voters and less time appealing to donors so we, as candidates, can engage in deeper conversations with voters about public policy. Finally, Clean Elections limits the involvement of special interests in our elections, guaranteeing the voter is always a candidate’s top priority.” 

These bills are another attempt by lawmakers who have taken advantage of Clean Elections to undermine that very system. Politicians like Republican Senator John Huppenthal continue to participate in Clean Elections while regularly voting to eliminate it. Senator Huppenthal voted yes for both SCR 1009 and SCR 1043 on the final vote in the Senate but is still running with Clean Elections funds in 2010. This seems both inconsistent and disingenuous.

To learn more about this issue, I encourage you to visit the Arizona Advocacy Network’s website on Clean Elections at http://www.azadvocacy.org/issues/cleanelections.html.