About Daeja's Platform
Amplify the voices of students of all backgrounds
There are about 10% students of color in the district, students struggling with mental illness, and a community of queer students in the district as well. There is also a rising immigrant community of ESL student learners. As a queer, disabled, Black woman I believe that my lived experience of navigating resources for myself helps me to understand the needs of our most vulnerable students in the district. I also believe that the organizing work that I have done around youth, immigrant protections, and racial justice will qualify me to understand the needs of even more students. When we make sure that our most marginalized students are able to succeed in the district it benefits every student as we make more pathways for students to learn. I am excited to work with teachers and administrators to come up with ways to make sure that our students are protected and able to learn in whatever way they need.
Push Tirelessly for Additional Classroom Supports
Bringing more money back to the district will allow us to place classroom supports and paraprofessionals in every classroom where they are needed. Our children are individuals and as individuals they do not all learn the same way. Having additional classroom supports will ensure that our students have the support and multi-option methodologies for learning that each individual student may need. It will also ensure that teachers can focus on teaching curricula and the classroom supports will help students stay on track during those lessons.
Our students need more than IEP’s and 504 plans. They need hands-on support to ensure that they are staying on track with their plan and outgrowing those needs so that they can succeed academically and grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Every student deserves to thrive and I will do everything I can to make sure that we have more classroom support for students so that they get the attention and tools they need to graduate successfully and be prepared for their future.
Limit tax increases + ensure that taxpayer dollars are responsibly invested into our district
We have raised taxes twice in four years and are about to raise taxes again. This is unacceptable. The burden should not be on residents of our district, and the school board should have more financial support from the county and the state. I will work with legislators at all levels of government to bring more money back to the district from Harrisburg and from downtown on Grant Street. I support the Stabilization of Education Fund bill that is currently before the Finance Committee in Harrisburg. As school board director I will work with other school board members, community organizations and legislators to research and apply for grants that support school funding needs.
Support SASD teachers by fighting for a truly livable wage
Our teachers should not have to worry about how they will make ends meet for their families while taking care of our students. I will work with legislators in Harrisburg to fight for a truly livable wage for our teachers, administrators, and support staff. I also support the Minimum Hourly Wage and Minimum Wage legislation before the Education Committee in Harrisburg that provides a minimum wage that we must pay teachers and school supports.
Ensure that SASD’s facilities continue to be safe + adequate for the evolving needs of our student body
Only one school in the district has air conditioning. Buildings have roofs and doors in need of replacement, among other needed repairs. Bringing more money back to the district and working to obtain facilities grants will help us keep our buildings up and running. With the age of our buildings more repairs WILL come up and we need to be financially prepared to take care of those needs so as to not disrupt the learning of our students.
Protections
There is a lot going on at the federal level that can be summed up as attacks on human rights that are spilling down to the state and local level. People are being picked up off the streets by ICE. We are losing funding for education. Our disabled community is being targeted. Our unhoused community is being targeted. And people of color are being targeted through the government challenging the legality of DEI programming. I want to protect our students and teachers against the changes in government that negatively impact them, and all of us by working with legislators and the school ecosystem to find ways to resist these changes.
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As a part of my platform and plans for if I become a school board director I am more than committed to working to shield students from adverse impacts of federal government proceedings, I am prioritizing this. I believe that we have to use the powers that we have as local government officials to make sure that federal level government decisions do not negatively impact our students by working with other elected officials to put policies in place to combat the harm being done by the federal government.
