Tucson area family physician Dr. Ravi Shah would like to be re-elected to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board and continue the work he started in his first term.
If re-elected, he would continue to work on:
- Promoting an inviting and appreciative culture for the district’s teachers and staff.
- Continuing to foster programs designed to enhance student growth and achievement.
- Being a sound steward of the district’s finances.
- Ensuring that “all our kids can get the best public education they can.”
Dr. Shah graciously took the time to discuss his candidacy to return to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board.
The questions and his responses are below.
- Please tell the readers why you would like to seek re-election to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board.
“It’s been a real honor to serve these last three and a half years on the Governing Board. I’ve been really happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish working together as a Governing Board as well as with our leadership of the district and others in our community to make important changes over these last three and a half years that have led to more successes and better outcomes for our students. However, I know that the work is not yet finished and I’m hoping the voters will give me another four years to continue the process that we’ve started and continue work that’s so important for my three children, in TUSD middle and elementary schools, and the 40,000 plus students that go through to TUSD every single year.”
- What two or three main issues you will be running on in this re-election campaign? Please explain.
“I think that most of the issues that we will be running on this year are similar to what we ran on four years ago.”
“For example, I want to continue supporting our teachers and staff. That’s so important. It was important to my campaign in 2020 and that’s essential to my campaign in 2024 because we know that we’re not going to be successful as a district or as a community if we’re not able to recruit and retain the best and brightest throughout the region to come and work for TUSD. We do this by addressing pay and benefits, fighting to limit health insurance costs for our teachers and staff, continually updating our Code of Conduct, ensuring our schools have the resources to meet student needs, and advocating for the work environments our teachers and staff need to be successful.”
“The second issue is really focused on academic achievement for our students and making sure that our students throughout our district are learning and growing. Work needs to go into making sure we have the resources for the kids to be ready to learn. This past year, we were able to get free lunches and breakfast for every student, regardless of having to show any income or show any qualifications. That’s a huge barrier to learning that’s reduced when we know that our students are not hungry. We need to make sure we’re addressing all the different teaching and resource positions that can make sure learning and growth outcomes are better for our students, pushing for evidence-based interventions with a continued focus on academic achievement.”
“Finally it’s the financial sustainability of our district. We started looking at our district finances and long-term projections which is something that’s new for the district. I’ll make sure that we continue working on sound financial stewardship. It has been important bringing my skills as a business leader as well as with an MBA and my financial ability to look at these numbers and really make appropriate financial decisions and work with our district leadership to continue being that fiscally responsible organization that our taxpayers and our community need.”
- What is your view on Republicans’ attempts to restrict what books can be read, what history can be taught, and how LGBTQ children should be treated? Please explain.
“Well, I’m glad to be part of a district that values all students and all families regardless of their backgrounds and we have been very firm in our approach to making sure that we aren’t banning books based on an ideology or based on factors that aren’t in the best interest of our students and that we’re teaching truth in terms of what happened in American and World History and that we’re addressing these things in the best way possible for our students. I think our district has really stood up against a lot of the efforts to indoctrinate students to certain viewpoints and that we’re really focusing on equity, diversity, and inclusion of all students and families.”
- What is your view on Republicans not supporting a full, waiver/repeal repeal of the Aggregate Expenditure Limit while supporting Empowerment Scholarship Accounts? Please explain.
Well, I am of the opinion, and I think the majority opinion in our state that public funds should be used for public schools that are accountable to the public. We’ve had ballot initiatives on this issue that have passed with the majority vote in our state which our legislature has ignored, and I think that’s really unfortunate because we’re doing a disservice to our communities and our schools. The supermajority — almost every student in our state of Arizona — is being taught in a public school and to short-change them through these ESAs and other unaccountable means of funding is just doing a disservice to our community and I hope our community stands up against this.
- Please describe your get-out-the-vote operation and how your campaign will appeal to Democrats Independents and like-minded Republicans.
“I think it’s going to be focusing on just improving our schools and making sure we have successful public education for our community. A significant plurality of the students in our region get their education with TUSD. I think you just talk about the issues important to our community. Some of these are not partisan issues, such as financial responsibility, making sure that our schools are well-run, and making sure we have the best and brightest teachers and staff staying in our district and coming to our district. Those are nonpartisan issues that I hope will cross party lines and political affiliations to folks who want to make sure that nearly every student who’s going to public schools has the best public school possible. So, we’ll be appealing that way across the board and then really using our volunteers and working with other candidates around the region to make sure that we’re getting our message out as much as possible, whether it’s door-to-door with our ground game, and with direct outreach through mailers and digital ads so that people know who I am and what I stand for. That I’m a family physician. That I’m a parent of three kids in our district. That I’m committed to making sure that this district is working not just for the next election cycle, but for the next generation. I’ll be a TUSD parent for my twins are entering first grade for the next 12 years. I’m committed to making sure our district is working for the next generation to come.”
- Is there anything not covered in the first five questions you would like the readers to know about you and your candidacy for re-election to the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board? Please explain.
“I think that the last piece in this is knowing my commitment to making sure our district is working for the long term. A lot of people are concerned that people who get elected are only looking out for their next re-election. But you have a slate of parents that are governing board members. A few years ago, all five of us were TUSD parents and now four out of the five of us are TUSD parents and three of us have kids in elementary school in TUSD. Having a slate of parents who are committed to making sure that TUSD works for their family for the next dozen years is I think really important and making sure that people are researching us, researching our backgrounds, why we’re running, why we’re supporting our schools and what we really want to do, I think it’s important.”
Please click here to find out more information about Dr. Ravi Shah and his candidacy for re-election to the Tucson Unified School District.
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