Election season is upon us and in doing your research for candidates in your area, do you know who supports your child’s education? We will update this post with results as we receive them.

Unsure of your legislative district, click here to search by zip code!

District 6

Senate Candidates

Wendy Rogers

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Our son is gifted, so we placed him into a demanding charter school which enabled him to reach his fullest potential. He is now a PhD electrical engineer. Our son’s daughter is gifted and is homeschooled. I am happy to support programs that give gifted children options and help them reach their full potential.

Felicia French

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

After reading the AZ.LEG.GOV revised statutes on ARS 15-779, I am in favor of supporting with funding.

House Candidates

Walter Blackman

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Gifted students are essential part of the over-all K-12 program. It’s an honor and I am thankful I’m able to help these students, parents and teachers.

 

District 8

House Candidates

Sharon Girard

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

I was put in gifted for a short time in school. Gifted education is for children who show extra talents, ability and intelligence.

District 10

House Candidates

Michael Hicks

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Gifted education (GATE), is providing for special classroom procedures, and theories for use in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. I supported GATE during my 8 year tenure on the TUSD #1 Board of Education.

District 11

Senate Candidates

JoAnna Mendoza

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Gifted education encompasses a wide variety of services and programs to meet the needs of each individual student. There is no one perfect example of giftedness or “one size fits all” approach for gifted education. Flexibility is important for designing programs that take into consideration the different skills and needs of each student. We have a responsibility to invest in our students and provide them with the resources and support that they need in order to reach their full potential and be successful.

I fully support maintaining our gifted education programs in Arizona and guaranteeing that our students have access to academic programs that fit their needs and allow them to fully develop and reach their full potential

District 14

House Candidates

Ronnie Maestas-Condos

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: No

I apologize for my lack of knowledge or understanding of gifted education, I have no experience in this area.

I am not aware of the language in the above statute and cannot make an informed statement or choice at this time.

Kimberly Moschetti

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Programs that extend beyond the regular rigorous curriculum and center more on extreme problem solving in an unconventional manner.

Would like to see more “gifted” teaching in the regular classroom to find the potential of all students.

District 16

House Candidates

John Fillmore

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: No

Understanding of Gifted Education: Students are placed on a fast track in addition to regular classes.

I cannot commit to the amount at this point as I am not sure what the budget shall be because of the pandemic

 

District 17

Senate Candidates

J.D. Mesnard 

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

I have supported the addition of gifted funding in the state budget in the past.

 

Ajlan “AJ” Kurdoglu

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

District 18

House Candidates

Jennifer Jermaine

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

My sister went through the gifted program and benefited from early collaborations between her school district and our local university. Arizona can do so much more for these students if we properly funded gifted education.

I co-sponsored Representative Pawlik’s gifted education legislation in the 2020 legislative session.

 

 

District 20

Senate Candidates

Paul Boyer

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

Sometimes these students will struggle in class because they’re bored and teachers can sometimes get frustrated with them. I’ve been happy to support Gifted Education since I became aware of the issue.

Douglas Ervin

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

The gifted students I have met over the years clearly demonstrate that education needs to be tailored to best fit each student’s needs. During my own experiences with gifted students, I have seen them be bored in class until the additional challenges from gifted programs were introduced. These challenges allowed the students to get inspired, stay focused, and thrive.

District 23

House Candidates

Eric Kurland

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

My wife is the gifted specialist for two elementary schools in Scottsdale and I was a teacher for 24 years. Funding is a major issue because and should be more on par with SPED dollars. Too often these kids are not challenged enough and that leads to some poor outcomes beyond educational outcomes. Really, all teachers should have training to work with gifted students. Overall funding for education in AZ is so low and that leads to the second largest class sizes in the nation…and that leads to more students slipping through the cracks. We have so much work to do in order to give all of our young folks the education they deserve.

District 24

Senate Candidates

Ray Michaels

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

The student is able to excel beyond the “normal” curriculum and is given the opportunity advance far above current limitations of grade levels. A properly educated populace is required for effective self governess.

District 26

House Candidates

Bill Loughrige

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: No

Gifted programs should be designed to allow students with extraordinary talent and/or abilities to grow and improve those abilities. The program needs to be flexible enough to allow for the differences each individual brings. For instance an artist might not be the best academic student, the top academic student might have social issues. The program (and actually all education) should make allowances for those differences and let the kids blossom.

I have made it my practice to not pledge support for any specific legislation before I have an opportunity to study it as a legislator.. I will promote and support all efforts to create programs that encourage our gifted youth.

 

District 27

Senate Candidates

Rebecca Rios

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

I have supported legislation to provide additional assistance for gifted children.

 

Garland Shreves

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: Yes

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

 

District 29

Senate Candidates

Charles Carpenter

Have you had personal experience with a gifted student?: No

Will you support fully funding AZ Statute ARS §15-779 at $5,000,000?: Yes

I haven’t had a chance to help yet but will if I’m elected!