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.

Tea Party Challenged on Education Ideas

I don’t know how else to say it. Arizona is failing its students.

• 65% of children in Arizona are not proficient in math by the 4th grade
• 71% of children in Arizona cannot read at grade level by the 4th grade
• 1/3 of our kids are dropping out of school every year, giving Arizona the 2nd highest dropout rate in the nation.

Our political leaders are clearly taking us in the wrong direction, and since I ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction four years ago, lawmakers have managed to make things worse. In recent days, we’ve witnessed some of the largest cuts to public education in the history of the state of Arizona. We now rank 51st in per pupil funding, putting Arizona behind all the states and the District of Columbia. Those in charge of education at the state capitol clearly have the wrong priorities.

You can help make public education Arizona’s top priority. Please consider giving a $5 clean elections qualifying contribution to my campaign today.

As you may have heard recently, I’ve started to take the fight directly to conservative voters and to my likely Republican opponent, should I have the privilege of being the Democratic nominee once again, because I believe we need to challenge them on their turf if things are going to change. I stepped into the “lion’s den” last week when I attended the Scottsdale Tea Party meeting, where I challenged those in attendance on the misinformation they’ve been fed from Republican politicians.

That’s what we’ve got to do if we are not only going to change the conversation, but change the direction in which our state is headed. It’s critical we build a broad, diverse coalition so we can support our kids by ensuring every child in Arizona has access to a quality public education.

Let’s do this together for our children. Please give $5 today so we can change direction and move Arizona forward by moving ALL our children forward!

Thank you for supporting my campaign. Your clean elections qualifying contribution helps me reach voters across the state to confront the misinformation they’ve been hearing so we can put our kids first once again.

Please give $5 today and help us take our message to the people. Visit my website at http://www.williamsforarizona.com to download and return the clean elections qualifying contribution form with your $5 to the address at the bottom of the form.

Give $5 today

The Arizona Legislature is at it again, proposing to balance the state budget on the backs of kids once more.  Their special session bills include more cuts to education, which makes today’s day of action even more critical.

Education must be the top priority in Arizona, and it will be when we elect new leadership in November. 

Please join me for Putting Kids First: Day of Action for Jason Williams.  To qualify for clean elections funding, I need your help to collect $5 clean elections qualifying contributions from registered voters in Arizona.

Tonight, I’m joining my campaign team in calling voters to ask for their support.  We ask that you join us by hosting your own virtual house party -- give $5 and, between now and March 20th, find 2 more people to give $5.  Please ask your friends, family and neighbors to support my campaign.  All you have to do is call, email or ask in person for a $5 contribution.

Download your Clean Elections Contribution form here: http://www.williamsforarizona.com/docs/5_Qualifying_Contribution_Form.pdf

Between now and March 20th, return the completed form with your $5 to:

Committee to Elect Jason Williams 2010
P.O. Box 33395, Phoenix, AZ 85067-3395

Thank you for your support.

March4Schools: Take Action and Post Your Thoughts

Tonight I will be showing my support for public education in my local community by attending the annual Roosevelt School District Legislative Forum, which brings together educators, parents and community members to talk with their legislators about the direction our state leaders are taking education. Be sure to show your support today for public education by participating in the March4Schools Day of Action. I encourage you to attend an event in your local community, too! To find an event near you, please visit: http://www.arizonaea.org/politics.php?page=506.

Please share your thoughts about the importance of providing every child in Arizona access to a quality public education. You can post your response on my facebook fanpage discussion board: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=75799625919&topic=13072

Putting Kids First: A Platform for Improving Educational Outcomes in Arizona

We released the following press statement today announcing the release of my campaign platform:

State Superintendent candidate Jason Williams releases campaign platform
Plan emphasizes ‘kids first’ approach to improve educational outcomes

Phoenix, Ariz. – Jason Williams, one of the leading candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, released his campaign platform today outlining his plan for improving educational outcomes in Arizona. In the platform, which can be accessed online at www.WilliamsForArizona.com/platform, Williams emphasizes all actions of the Department of Education will be fair, innovative and accountable to ensure the best possible outcomes for Arizona’s students.

“Putting kids first is central to my campaign,” said Williams. “As Superintendent of Public Instruction, my responsibility, and the focus that will always be central in everything I do, will be to ensure every student in this state has access to an excellent public school, through which they will have the opportunity to pursue greater life prospects and reach their full potential.”

Among the priorities outlined in his platform, Williams’ plan includes:

• Redesigning the state assessment system as a first priority by bringing stakeholders together to develop a system based on multiple indicators of student achievement, while raising the bar on the level of difficulty for state assessments
• Developing incentive plans to attract highly effective teachers to high-needs schools
• Ensuring school principals are “true instructional leaders,” empowering them to build their teams while charging them with providing teachers the necessary support to lead their teams to excellence
• Rewarding teacher success with a more robust performance-based compensation system tied to the new state accountability system, using multiple indicators of student achievement and professional growth
• Assembling a nonprofit council to bring resources into schools, particularly under-resourced schools
• Providing local support to schools and districts, including assistance with identifying and applying for federal and private grants so no money is left on the table
• Reinforcing accountability systems so they honestly assess where students in Arizona stand
• Implementing three “gateway years” - 3rd grade, 8th grade and 12th grade – at which point students who are not performing will not be promoted to the next grade. This system will incorporate appropriate interventions to help underperforming students meet proficiency before each gateway year
  

“The challenges facing our public schools will not be solved overnight, but they can be solved,” said Williams. “Innovative programs and policies are necessary to adapt to our changing environment. Too often in our schools today, the word ‘accountability’ is just a catchphrase. Because educational outcomes are so aligned with our state’s economic strength, we must have real accountability in our schools. Arizonans can be assured all programs and policies will be fair, innovative, and accountable. Together, we can make Arizona’s public schools excellent and ensure all of our students have the opportunity to reach their potential.”

To read the full platform, visit www.WilliamsForArizona.com/platform.