On the Bill Buckmaster radio show today on KVOI, Democratic candidate Dustin Williams announced his candidacy for Pima County School Superintendent in Nov. 2016. He spoke with Bill about various educational issues in Arizona.
Listen to the interview here:
Dustin’s campaign website: http://www.dustinwilliamsforeducation.com/. He can be reached at 520-272-6676, dustinjohnwilliams@gmail.com.
Here’s his bio:
Dustin Williams is a life long Native Tucsonan who prides himself on bettering the Old Pueblo. He graduated from Amphitheater High School in 1992 and began working with local youth- coaching youth softball in the Frontier Little League- a job he maintained throughout his university studies. He entered the University of Arizona in 1992 and began studying business and accounting and considered taking over his grandfather’s accounting firm.
Ultimately, Dustin’s coaching experiences lead him to the epiphany that he wanted to work educating Tucson’s youth thus inspiring him to change his major to Education. While completing his degree in education at the University of Arizona he continued working with students and the community in Flowing Wells 21 Century after school programs. Dustin described his involvement in the program as, “truly the best way to get first hand teaching experience.”
Dustin began his career teaching in Title One schools including: Keeling, Craigin and Menlo. During his tenure several accomplished leaders and administrators mentored Dustin and encouraged him to pursue his passion for education and explore his natural ability to lead and inspire students, staff, and communities. Dustin followed his heart and decided to become an administrator and enrolled at Northern Arizona University where he successfully completed a Masters in Educational Leadership.
Upon the completion of the program Dustin accepted a position as Assistant Director of a Native American Charter called Ha:san Preparatory & Leadership School. He accepted the position and began working to improve the school’s cultural diversity and academic test scores. In his first year as A.D., the school’s AIMS scores showed a 30% combined increase in the areas of reading and writing and an increase of 8% in mathematics. During his time at Ha:san, he truly learned about the beautiful culture of the Tohono O’odham people and will forever be grateful that the community embraced his leadership.
Dustin has now traveled full circle and is back educating students in Tucson Unified School District. His passion for Public Education and his ability to excel as a leader in our community has energized him to take the next step in his life. Dustin Williams is running for the Pima County Superintendent of Education and is excited about the future. He is ready to be our leader in the educational systems throughout Pima County. As always, Dustin has an open door policy and invites all to contact him to discuss ideas about student achievement.
The current Pima County School Superintendent is Dr. Linda Arzoumanian, a Republican who has served in that office for 4 terms. Her website:http://www.schools.pima.gov/about-us/meet-the-superintendent. I understand that she is retiring from this position at the end of her term, so this will be an open seat in Nov. 2016.
I have learned that Dr. Arzoumanian is retiring from her School Superintendent seat after 4 terms, so this will be an open seat in Nov. 2016. Stay tuned for other candidates.