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Attention dedicated educators.

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As the school year kicks off, now is

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the perfect time to take control of your

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financial future.

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That's why I wanna introduce you to a

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trusted financial advisor who specializes in working with

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educators like you.

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Meet Alex Sierra, a certified financial planner with

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Cetera Investors.

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Alex provides educators with planning for their most

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important financial decisions. He has a deep understanding

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of the important strategies related to teachers and

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our retirement.

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The school pension system and retirement systems that

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are especially made for teachers.

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By taking the time to go and work

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with Alex, you can lay a solid foundation

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for your financial goals and secure

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a brighter future. Don't let the busyness of

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the school year hold you back from achieving

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your financial dreams.

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Visit Alex's website at www.torreyandalex.cetera,

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ceterainvestors.com/

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2dope, t o o d o p e.

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Make sure you spell that out. To schedule

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an initial virtual

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consultation.

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And here's the best part, if you mention

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the discount code 2dope, during your first consultation,

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you will receive a 25%

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off discount on their subscription

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based subscription based

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financial planning packages.

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Click the link in the description

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section of this podcast for more information about

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Alex and Cetera Investors. You can also find

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information about their great work for educators,

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at tudopeachers.com,

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as well as on our Patreon page.

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Remember,

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your financial success is just as important as

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your student success. So start putting together your

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financial

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plan today.

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Cetera Investors is the marketing name of Cetera

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Investment Services. Securities and insurance products are offered

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through Cetera Investment Services, LLC

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doing insurance business in California as CFGSTC

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Insurance Agency,

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LLC.

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Member,

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finra/sipc.

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Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisors,

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LLC,

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California

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insurance license number 0L05650.

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Alexander Sierra, CFP,

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is located at 155 North Lake Avenue, Suite

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430,

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Pasadena,

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California, 91101

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and can be reached at phone number 626-408-1333,

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extension

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306.

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My computer.

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No. Yeah. So I went to play one

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game today, and,

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it's an over 45 old guys' team. So

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you're nowhere near, like, being eligible to play

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on my, over 45 soccer team. And we

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played one game. We lost 1 nil.

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It was whatever.

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And literally,

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someone on my team had cracked a cold

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for me, like like,

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was handing it to me.

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And then another guy comes over. He's like,

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does anyone wanna play another game? We have

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7 players.

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And,

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and I'm like and I look over, and

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the guy who leads this team is actually

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he works in,

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he works on the technology floor at in

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the district where I work. I'm like, man,

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I can't let Dave down. I'm like, man,

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just, like, hold my beer. Like, literally, I

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was like, hold my beer,

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and I'm gonna go play another game, which

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was not a great choice. But so now

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I now I can't feel my legs. And,

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you know, so what bad choices have you

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made lately, John? I'm just kidding.

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You know, that's that's, like, kind of a

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flex. Like, oh, man. My bad choice was

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playing 2 90 minute games of, soccer. You

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know? My

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my bad choice is being a healthy athlete.

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What's your bad choice? I'm like, Well, I

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I mean, I I would say that I

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would say that the healthy athlete is really

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generous.

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I came over to the guys on the

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team, and I'm like, hey. I just wanna,

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like, let you know that what I lack

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in skill, I also lack in fitness. So

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let's go. Let's have fun. And we lost

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4 now. We didn't have subs and Hey.

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A thing. No. But it was cool. It

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was super fun. We're so we're so grown,

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man. My bad choice was, like, not taking

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my once daily Allegra the other day. And

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I I had, like, allergies.

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I'm I'm I'm turn I turned 42 this

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month, man. I'm only a few years away

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from that over 45 leagues. You're still too

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young, bro. Like, you're still too young. Like,

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most of us will probably be retired by

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the time that you're eligible to live away.

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No. I was thinking about that because I

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feel like,

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like, guys take it really seriously, which is

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cool, but a lot of us also are

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kinda like, we're just trying to extend our

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career as long as we can. Like, in

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the next 10 to 12 years, I will

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be extremely surprised if a lot of us

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are still playing, but,

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but that's why you just chase the game,

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man. You just chase the game. And, also,

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like, you're 42. That makes me feel bad

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because, like, you still look like you're in

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your thirties, bro. You have not aged since

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I met you.

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This will be a good time for us

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to do a real

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intro.

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Hello, everyone.

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Recording now from somewhere.

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That somewhere is the Mile High City,

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the 303.

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Welcome back to Tudo Teachers and a Mic.

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My name is Gerardo Munoz,

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your

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Philosopher King, your 20 21 Colorado teacher of

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the year.

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And,

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I'm just out here in this 2 Dope

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Nation,

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in these 2 Dope streets,

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trying to create some content that is too

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dope,

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for

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oppression,

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colonization,

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conquest,

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and destruction.

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We are imagining worlds here.

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We are

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become life.

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Creator of worlds out here. Yeah.

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Yeah. I'm in a playful mood today. It

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is a Saturday.

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The weather is perfect. My cat is a

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maniac, and I'm trying to get him, unsuccessfully,

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to come inside. I would like to go

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for a run. I would like to do

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my thing, but it is what it is.

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Folks, if you are new to Tudo features

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and a mic, we're brought to you by,

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Cetera,

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Investments LLC out of Cali.

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But more than anything, we're brought to you

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by

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our loyal supporters at patreon@patreon.com/tudoepeteachers.

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You can support the work of this podcast

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and help us continue to grow it, for

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as little as $5 a month.

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We do have a promotion going on, and

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I will be happy to fill you in

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on that one. Due to some technical difficulties,

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we are extending the Hispanic heritage,

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promotion that we were doing which was to

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get a collection of stickers that I've just

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kinda made. Like, keep your expectations, like, reasonable,

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but I think they're kinda cool.

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That

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that it if if you,

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easy for me to say.

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If you support 2 Dope Teachers and, Mike,

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and all of the 2 Dope productions at

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a rate of $10 a month or more,

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if you're an existing subscriber,

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I

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will personally

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see to it that you also receive these

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stickers. We we treat our old friends

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just as well as we try to treat

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our,

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potential new friends.

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Also, you can find us on social media.

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One of the easiest ways to support this

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work, we know that money is tight these

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days, is to share our content on social

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media. We are on all social media platforms,

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at 2doke teachers,

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and you can also find me, Gerardo Munoz

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on LinkedIn

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and other,

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platforms to share this content.

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But welcome aboard.

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You can reach out to us via email

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as well, 2dopeteachers@gmail.com.

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I'm really excited about today's conversation.

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Sunshine is back.

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And for those of you who don't know

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who I call sunshine,

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that is John Arthur,

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2021 Utah teacher of the year,

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national teacher of the year finalist from 2021,

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and now candidate

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for the Utah State Board of Education.

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In this conversation,

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I gotta tell you, I

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I was really

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pleasantly

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impressed

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with the way John brought

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his platform, and brought the imperative

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for serving in public office. It was really

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a beautiful thing.

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You know, John is a person that if

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you spend time with him, he's gonna make

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you smile. He's gonna make you laugh. He's

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gonna make you feel inspired. He's gonna make

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you feel good about yourself.

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But there's so much more to him.

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This is an educator who loves his students

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and school community deeply.

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He loves education deeply.

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There's times that I've like watched him do

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his thing and I'm like, man, if I

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could just tap just a little bit of

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the optimism that he brings and the joy

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that he brings on a day to day

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basis.

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I don't know. Maybe I would have more

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friends. No.

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I I don't know if I would have

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left the classroom if I have if I

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had a way to,

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understand and analyze and move through the world

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that he does. So I think I think

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if you have not experienced John Arthur,

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you're really gonna enjoy hearing what he's gotta

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say.

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It's interesting because we are in election season,

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and I would just encourage I would just

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say, y'all gotta vote. And even if the

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top of the ticket is lacking for you,

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down the ticket there are other things that

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really matter.

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A lot of states, I think at last

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count, 23 states are entertaining,

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either voucher bills, like outright

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or school privatization,

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legislation

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that the people have said over and over

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that they don't want,

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in education.

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If you listened to doctor Josh Cowan's interview

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with me,

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on the privateers

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and the voucher movement and the ways in

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which it reinforces,

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00:10:44,909 --> 00:10:46,929
oppression and white supremacy and,

277
00:10:48,269 --> 00:10:51,309
and undermines democracy, you gotta listen to that

278
00:10:51,309 --> 00:10:52,589
before you go to the booth and you

279
00:10:52,589 --> 00:10:55,324
gotta share it widely because even in

280
00:10:56,745 --> 00:10:59,304
Colorado, the, there's a there's a,

281
00:10:59,865 --> 00:11:02,024
there's a ballot initiative, 80, I think it

282
00:11:02,024 --> 00:11:04,985
is, that would open the door for vouchers

283
00:11:04,985 --> 00:11:07,384
and increase school choice. And these are these

284
00:11:07,384 --> 00:11:08,125
are all

285
00:11:08,745 --> 00:11:09,245
code,

286
00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,279
for things that will undermine public education. So

287
00:11:13,279 --> 00:11:14,500
you gotta check this out.

288
00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:18,079
So in this conversation, John and I talk

289
00:11:18,079 --> 00:11:20,899
a little bit about just sort of how,

290
00:11:22,674 --> 00:11:24,754
you know, his year of service as a

291
00:11:24,754 --> 00:11:27,095
national teacher of the year finalist in 2021

292
00:11:28,195 --> 00:11:30,754
kind of gave him a a platform and

293
00:11:30,754 --> 00:11:32,835
and sort of a vision of maybe doing

294
00:11:32,835 --> 00:11:33,815
something more.

295
00:11:35,259 --> 00:11:37,179
He talks with us a lot, not just

296
00:11:37,179 --> 00:11:39,419
about issues in Utah, but he talks about

297
00:11:39,419 --> 00:11:40,720
how we're just broadly,

298
00:11:41,579 --> 00:11:43,980
how those issues impact our kids no matter

299
00:11:43,980 --> 00:11:44,959
where we are,

300
00:11:45,740 --> 00:11:47,039
rural or urban,

301
00:11:47,419 --> 00:11:48,799
coastal or inland.

302
00:11:50,164 --> 00:11:52,924
These are issues that are showing up in

303
00:11:52,924 --> 00:11:55,445
a lot of different places. He also gives

304
00:11:55,445 --> 00:11:58,345
us ways that teachers and others can be

305
00:11:58,725 --> 00:11:59,225
involved,

306
00:12:00,565 --> 00:12:03,625
and tackling things like book bans,

307
00:12:04,009 --> 00:12:05,710
like these other kinds

308
00:12:06,889 --> 00:12:09,070
of conversations that need to be had.

309
00:12:09,610 --> 00:12:11,850
And he reminds us of the promise of

310
00:12:11,850 --> 00:12:14,250
public education. And I think that's something that

311
00:12:14,250 --> 00:12:15,929
a lot of us I'm just gonna say

312
00:12:15,929 --> 00:12:18,725
a lot of us progressives will sometimes talk

313
00:12:18,725 --> 00:12:20,184
ourselves into our corner.

314
00:12:21,125 --> 00:12:23,125
We'll be the snake eating its own tail

315
00:12:23,125 --> 00:12:26,565
when we talk about what it means to

316
00:12:26,565 --> 00:12:27,865
support public education.

317
00:12:30,209 --> 00:12:31,909
We know that public education

318
00:12:32,610 --> 00:12:33,110
has

319
00:12:33,490 --> 00:12:35,490
a spotty record at best and a harmful

320
00:12:35,490 --> 00:12:36,629
record at worst

321
00:12:37,009 --> 00:12:39,490
when it comes to elevating the hopes and

322
00:12:39,490 --> 00:12:40,949
dreams of children of color.

323
00:12:42,449 --> 00:12:42,949
However,

324
00:12:45,164 --> 00:12:45,985
these initiatives

325
00:12:46,524 --> 00:12:47,504
around privatization,

326
00:12:48,205 --> 00:12:49,345
this wrong headed

327
00:12:50,365 --> 00:12:52,465
like, free market approach

328
00:12:53,085 --> 00:12:53,825
to schooling,

329
00:12:54,365 --> 00:12:57,485
that is in its worst form illustrated by

330
00:12:57,485 --> 00:13:00,059
vouchers. But there's other forms of this that

331
00:13:00,059 --> 00:13:01,840
maybe you're not super aware of.

332
00:13:03,259 --> 00:13:04,720
Like, that ain't it either.

333
00:13:05,259 --> 00:13:05,759
And

334
00:13:06,379 --> 00:13:07,759
if we still believe

335
00:13:08,460 --> 00:13:10,480
in an education for all

336
00:13:10,860 --> 00:13:12,720
that alters the trajectories

337
00:13:13,340 --> 00:13:14,704
of historically marginalized

338
00:13:15,084 --> 00:13:15,584
communities.

339
00:13:16,365 --> 00:13:19,004
I'm sorry, like, to turn away from this

340
00:13:19,004 --> 00:13:19,504
possibility

341
00:13:20,204 --> 00:13:20,704
is,

342
00:13:22,204 --> 00:13:23,184
is a problem.

343
00:13:24,365 --> 00:13:25,964
Do not be like the rats on the

344
00:13:25,964 --> 00:13:26,464
Titanic.

345
00:13:26,845 --> 00:13:27,345
Alright?

346
00:13:27,980 --> 00:13:30,079
Although, I think I just compared public education

347
00:13:30,139 --> 00:13:32,220
to the Titanic. It's not what I was

348
00:13:32,220 --> 00:13:34,379
trying to do. Anyway, y'all gotta check out

349
00:13:34,379 --> 00:13:35,120
this interview.

350
00:13:35,740 --> 00:13:38,139
At the end of the episode, John will

351
00:13:38,139 --> 00:13:40,799
talk about how to get involved.

352
00:13:41,575 --> 00:13:43,815
You don't necessarily have to run for office

353
00:13:43,815 --> 00:13:45,414
yourself, but there are ways to do that.

354
00:13:45,414 --> 00:13:45,914
So,

355
00:13:46,695 --> 00:13:49,034
right now, here it comes. Episode

356
00:13:49,495 --> 00:13:49,995
133,

357
00:13:51,414 --> 00:13:52,235
John Arthur

358
00:13:52,934 --> 00:13:53,434
and

359
00:13:54,399 --> 00:13:56,580
the maybe free and liberated

360
00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:58,899
board of Utah Education.

361
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,320
Stick with us here on 2 Dope Teachers

362
00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:03,220
and Mike.

363
00:14:08,174 --> 00:14:11,375
Yo. What's going on 2 Dope Nation? Welcome

364
00:14:11,375 --> 00:14:14,995
back to 2 Dope Teachers and a Mike.

365
00:14:15,134 --> 00:14:17,615
We are the most dangerous podcast in the

366
00:14:17,615 --> 00:14:18,115
schoolhouse.

367
00:14:18,574 --> 00:14:19,714
We are remixing

368
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:21,100
the conversation

369
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:22,940
on race, power,

370
00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:24,779
and education.

371
00:14:26,759 --> 00:14:28,379
I'm over on here on a Sunday,

372
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,639
and thinking about, like, how much I don't

373
00:14:31,639 --> 00:14:33,144
wanna work tomorrow. Anyway,

374
00:14:33,524 --> 00:14:35,284
but it's it's a thing. Right? It's a

375
00:14:35,284 --> 00:14:36,585
thing that we all go through.

376
00:14:36,965 --> 00:14:38,904
What's up? If you are somebody

377
00:14:39,445 --> 00:14:42,245
who is living in a different mountain state

378
00:14:42,245 --> 00:14:44,965
than Colorado, you may be listening to this

379
00:14:44,965 --> 00:14:46,730
podcast for the first time

380
00:14:47,029 --> 00:14:47,529
because

381
00:14:47,910 --> 00:14:48,389
we,

382
00:14:49,029 --> 00:14:51,450
let the people know that that our guest

383
00:14:51,910 --> 00:14:54,470
is, is out here, and he maybe brought

384
00:14:54,470 --> 00:14:55,990
us some listeners. So if you are new

385
00:14:55,990 --> 00:14:57,529
to the show, welcome.

386
00:14:57,904 --> 00:14:59,585
Welcome to 2 Dope Nation. Now,

387
00:15:00,544 --> 00:15:02,625
sunshine, it's not popular to say this right

388
00:15:02,625 --> 00:15:04,945
now, in a lot of quarters, but 2

389
00:15:04,945 --> 00:15:06,404
Dope Nation has open borders.

390
00:15:07,345 --> 00:15:07,845
Absolutely.

391
00:15:08,225 --> 00:15:11,105
We maintain open borders. We want anybody to

392
00:15:11,105 --> 00:15:13,509
come up in here. If you are 2

393
00:15:13,509 --> 00:15:15,990
DOPE or if you aspire to one day

394
00:15:15,990 --> 00:15:18,629
be 2 DOPE, yo, you're a citizen. You're

395
00:15:18,629 --> 00:15:20,730
a citizen already. So welcome

396
00:15:21,110 --> 00:15:22,730
to 2 DOPE nation.

397
00:15:23,990 --> 00:15:26,629
We, we are all over social media. You

398
00:15:26,629 --> 00:15:29,375
can find us on Instagram on x, formerly

399
00:15:29,375 --> 00:15:30,355
known as Twitter,

400
00:15:30,894 --> 00:15:33,455
at Tudoopteachers. We're on TikTok where we don't

401
00:15:33,455 --> 00:15:36,095
do anything, but we will one day. If

402
00:15:36,095 --> 00:15:38,414
Chris Dear would ever teach me something, like

403
00:15:38,414 --> 00:15:40,414
he said he's gonna Chris, I'm looking at

404
00:15:40,414 --> 00:15:40,894
you,

405
00:15:41,534 --> 00:15:42,034
and

406
00:15:42,389 --> 00:15:44,550
all these people are gonna know that I'm

407
00:15:44,550 --> 00:15:46,230
looking for the smoke with you, and and

408
00:15:46,230 --> 00:15:47,590
I'm gonna know if you listen to the

409
00:15:47,590 --> 00:15:48,649
podcast. Oh,

410
00:15:49,029 --> 00:15:50,470
yeah. If Chris would teach you how to

411
00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:52,790
be a TikToker like him, like, then then

412
00:15:52,790 --> 00:15:54,790
2 Dope Teachers would would have a fire.

413
00:15:54,790 --> 00:15:55,290
TikTok.

414
00:15:56,574 --> 00:15:58,674
For your grandparents, we are on Facebook.

415
00:15:59,134 --> 00:15:59,634
Facebook.com/2dopeteachers

416
00:16:00,975 --> 00:16:03,294
and a mic. All the dashes between the

417
00:16:03,294 --> 00:16:05,875
words. You can email us, 2dope teachers@gmail.com.

418
00:16:07,695 --> 00:16:09,695
Email us whatever you want. Like, I'm actually

419
00:16:09,695 --> 00:16:10,995
here for the slander too.

420
00:16:11,570 --> 00:16:13,169
Sometimes I just feel like I wanna mix

421
00:16:13,169 --> 00:16:14,769
it up, John. Right? Isn't that like so

422
00:16:14,769 --> 00:16:16,529
you just like I just wanna, like, knock

423
00:16:16,529 --> 00:16:18,769
some slobber for our kids. Right? Like, let's

424
00:16:18,769 --> 00:16:21,730
let's get getting into some slobber knocking. So

425
00:16:21,730 --> 00:16:23,649
send me love, send me hate, send me

426
00:16:23,649 --> 00:16:26,014
whatever. Like, I'm too old to care anymore.

427
00:16:26,394 --> 00:16:27,934
But send us your vibes.

428
00:16:28,794 --> 00:16:31,674
And if you are really excited about the

429
00:16:31,674 --> 00:16:32,174
possibility

430
00:16:33,034 --> 00:16:33,774
of supporting

431
00:16:34,315 --> 00:16:37,134
BIPOC created digital media and storytelling,

432
00:16:37,690 --> 00:16:38,750
you can go to patreon.com/tudoteachers,

433
00:16:40,570 --> 00:16:42,190
where for as little as

434
00:16:42,730 --> 00:16:43,870
$5 a month,

435
00:16:44,570 --> 00:16:47,129
you can contribute to maybe making this a

436
00:16:47,129 --> 00:16:49,610
full time job for me one day. Also,

437
00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:51,850
for Hispanic heritage month, you will hear this

438
00:16:51,850 --> 00:16:54,084
before the end of Hispanic Heritage Month.

439
00:16:54,704 --> 00:16:55,204
Anyone

440
00:16:55,584 --> 00:16:59,345
who opts in at $10 a month or

441
00:16:59,345 --> 00:16:59,845
more,

442
00:17:00,784 --> 00:17:03,904
will receive in the mail, in the mail,

443
00:17:03,904 --> 00:17:05,684
John, you will receive

444
00:17:06,464 --> 00:17:09,580
the series of Hispanic Heritage stickers that I

445
00:17:09,580 --> 00:17:12,400
am literally making with a printer right now.

446
00:17:12,700 --> 00:17:14,140
Oh, man. Send those to you. You can

447
00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:16,059
throw them on your notebooks, your water bottles,

448
00:17:16,059 --> 00:17:17,180
all that kind of thing. John, do you

449
00:17:17,180 --> 00:17:17,839
like stickers?

450
00:17:18,140 --> 00:17:19,900
I love stickers, man. I love I'm an

451
00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:21,039
elementary school teacher.

452
00:17:21,474 --> 00:17:23,714
Of course. We we trade in the currency

453
00:17:23,714 --> 00:17:24,375
of stickers.

454
00:17:24,914 --> 00:17:26,994
That's right. I like, when I was teaching

455
00:17:26,994 --> 00:17:29,315
secondary, it was gum, but stickers was, like,

456
00:17:29,315 --> 00:17:31,315
catching up really cool. Good. Folks, I'm really

457
00:17:31,315 --> 00:17:33,634
excited about this conversation as you heard it

458
00:17:33,634 --> 00:17:34,454
in the open,

459
00:17:34,909 --> 00:17:35,730
in the intro.

460
00:17:37,390 --> 00:17:39,329
I'm just really excited to welcome

461
00:17:39,710 --> 00:17:42,289
John Arthur to the podcast. John, welcome.

462
00:17:42,589 --> 00:17:44,130
Thank you so much. It's great.

463
00:17:46,429 --> 00:17:48,589
Yes. Awesome. Oh, you glitched for a second.

464
00:17:48,589 --> 00:17:50,565
We're in the matrix now, but it's all

465
00:17:50,565 --> 00:17:51,065
good.

466
00:17:52,404 --> 00:17:52,724
So,

467
00:17:53,365 --> 00:17:55,065
so for those of you who

468
00:17:55,365 --> 00:17:57,605
have not been paying attention to,

469
00:17:57,924 --> 00:18:00,244
state politics in Utah, and, like, I'm not

470
00:18:00,244 --> 00:18:01,765
mad at you if you're not paying attention

471
00:18:01,765 --> 00:18:03,539
to that, if you're not in Utah.

472
00:18:04,420 --> 00:18:06,119
In in the Four Corners region,

473
00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:08,660
we definitely try to pay attention to this.

474
00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:09,160
But

475
00:18:09,539 --> 00:18:12,279
John is running for state board of education,

476
00:18:13,539 --> 00:18:15,539
and this is a super big deal. And

477
00:18:15,539 --> 00:18:17,535
so I reached out to him. I was

478
00:18:17,535 --> 00:18:18,595
like, yo, sunshine.

479
00:18:18,975 --> 00:18:21,134
Come on the show. Let's talk about your

480
00:18:21,134 --> 00:18:23,315
run for for office and stuff.

481
00:18:23,934 --> 00:18:25,955
John, served as 2021

482
00:18:26,494 --> 00:18:28,575
Utah teacher of the year. John was also

483
00:18:28,575 --> 00:18:30,670
a national finalist that year, so he got

484
00:18:30,670 --> 00:18:32,910
into all kinds of rooms that your boy

485
00:18:32,910 --> 00:18:34,849
could only hope to get into,

486
00:18:35,950 --> 00:18:36,690
but definitely

487
00:18:37,309 --> 00:18:40,049
a person so worthy of recognition

488
00:18:40,589 --> 00:18:43,070
past and present. And we're really excited to

489
00:18:43,070 --> 00:18:45,089
have you on here to talk about your

490
00:18:45,390 --> 00:18:47,815
run for the state board. So welcome. Thank

491
00:18:47,815 --> 00:18:49,815
you, brother. It's it's an honor to be

492
00:18:49,815 --> 00:18:51,335
on here. It's an honor to have the

493
00:18:51,335 --> 00:18:52,394
opportunity to

494
00:18:52,775 --> 00:18:55,095
share my experiences both as a as a

495
00:18:55,095 --> 00:18:57,494
teacher, but also as as a public school

496
00:18:57,494 --> 00:19:00,299
teacher wading into this political space, which is

497
00:19:00,299 --> 00:19:02,220
incredibly uncomfortable. It's nice to be back with

498
00:19:02,220 --> 00:19:04,539
folks who who who can help me feel

499
00:19:04,539 --> 00:19:06,720
that and talk about it and process it.

500
00:19:07,179 --> 00:19:09,519
Yeah. Definitely. Because I would not do that.

501
00:19:10,059 --> 00:19:10,559
So

502
00:19:11,019 --> 00:19:12,859
no. I mean, I think it's it's such

503
00:19:12,859 --> 00:19:15,194
a and here I am contributing to the

504
00:19:15,514 --> 00:19:17,274
toxicity around, like, oh, I would never do

505
00:19:17,274 --> 00:19:19,534
that. But we're gonna talk about that in

506
00:19:19,914 --> 00:19:20,654
the second

507
00:19:20,954 --> 00:19:23,835
and last segments, right, about how we can

508
00:19:23,835 --> 00:19:26,315
start shifting our mindsets as educators to get

509
00:19:26,315 --> 00:19:26,815
involved

510
00:19:27,115 --> 00:19:29,355
in civil service and policy. But I kinda

511
00:19:29,355 --> 00:19:30,509
wanna start with

512
00:19:31,470 --> 00:19:32,849
around the time that we met.

513
00:19:33,470 --> 00:19:35,309
I I still have that great picture of

514
00:19:35,309 --> 00:19:37,809
our feet, UMI, Arizona, and New Mexico,

515
00:19:38,349 --> 00:19:39,250
the four corners,

516
00:19:40,109 --> 00:19:40,609
2021

517
00:19:40,990 --> 00:19:43,390
teachers of the year. Yes, sir. So we

518
00:19:43,390 --> 00:19:47,025
met in 2021, which was a wild time.

519
00:19:47,025 --> 00:19:49,505
Right? We were coming out of quarantine. I

520
00:19:49,505 --> 00:19:50,785
will never say we were coming out of

521
00:19:50,785 --> 00:19:52,704
the pandemic. The pandemic is still with us.

522
00:19:52,704 --> 00:19:55,045
It's not going anywhere. Mhmm. And,

523
00:19:55,505 --> 00:19:57,025
you know, a lot of us were kinda

524
00:19:57,025 --> 00:19:58,049
thrust into

525
00:19:59,150 --> 00:20:01,490
the public view in varying degrees

526
00:20:02,190 --> 00:20:05,710
in, in pretty dramatic fashion, and it felt

527
00:20:05,710 --> 00:20:07,809
like we were all just kinda learning to

528
00:20:08,190 --> 00:20:10,190
ride a bike again, except the bike had

529
00:20:10,190 --> 00:20:11,714
4 wheels, and it was on fire.

530
00:20:12,674 --> 00:20:13,174
So,

531
00:20:14,275 --> 00:20:15,414
so what I I wanna

532
00:20:15,954 --> 00:20:17,894
and we attended a lot of the same

533
00:20:18,115 --> 00:20:19,335
events. And

534
00:20:19,875 --> 00:20:20,914
I think about

535
00:20:25,539 --> 00:20:28,119
We had been in DC for our Washington

536
00:20:28,259 --> 00:20:29,960
Week experience, which was

537
00:20:30,259 --> 00:20:32,339
getting to connect in a policy way, and

538
00:20:32,339 --> 00:20:35,000
we were both in the room when congresswoman

539
00:20:35,220 --> 00:20:37,779
Jahana Hayes, former teacher of the year, who

540
00:20:37,779 --> 00:20:39,480
had been elected to congress

541
00:20:39,845 --> 00:20:40,904
spoke, and something

542
00:20:41,605 --> 00:20:44,345
really electric went through the crowd. Now

543
00:20:44,644 --> 00:20:46,265
we didn't all run for office.

544
00:20:46,644 --> 00:20:49,224
So can you share a little bit about

545
00:20:50,085 --> 00:20:50,585
how

546
00:20:50,964 --> 00:20:51,464
serving

547
00:20:51,859 --> 00:20:53,640
as a national teacher of the year finalist

548
00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:55,480
and Utah teacher of the year in 2021

549
00:20:56,660 --> 00:20:58,660
was sort of a stepping stone in the

550
00:20:58,660 --> 00:20:59,160
direction

551
00:20:59,779 --> 00:21:02,980
of civil service in your own run for

552
00:21:02,980 --> 00:21:03,799
state board.

553
00:21:04,259 --> 00:21:04,759
Definitely.

554
00:21:05,524 --> 00:21:06,424
Yeah. 1st,

555
00:21:06,804 --> 00:21:09,784
meeting folks like Johanna Hayes as well as,

556
00:21:10,325 --> 00:21:11,764
and when you're a teacher of the year,

557
00:21:11,764 --> 00:21:13,924
you get broken up into these homerooms. Right?

558
00:21:13,924 --> 00:21:16,024
So we we go in little groups. And

559
00:21:16,085 --> 00:21:18,744
and one of our mentors in homeroom was,

560
00:21:19,125 --> 00:21:20,744
Sean Sheehan, who'd also

561
00:21:21,130 --> 00:21:23,710
run for office, who worked as a congressional

562
00:21:24,009 --> 00:21:24,509
staffer.

563
00:21:25,049 --> 00:21:26,970
And But we're in the same homeroom. I

564
00:21:26,970 --> 00:21:28,890
remember Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Town hall room.

565
00:21:28,890 --> 00:21:31,609
Oh my god. Exactly. And he Yeah. Listening

566
00:21:31,609 --> 00:21:33,609
to him talk about the the political side

567
00:21:33,609 --> 00:21:34,775
of education.

568
00:21:35,234 --> 00:21:36,994
You know, he and Rodney Robinson have their

569
00:21:36,994 --> 00:21:38,994
podcast, the the teacher caucus, and I was

570
00:21:38,994 --> 00:21:41,734
listening to teacher caucus. Yeah. Shout out.

571
00:21:42,515 --> 00:21:45,095
It was it was fascinating to me because

572
00:21:45,234 --> 00:21:47,875
it connected to this experience I was starting

573
00:21:47,875 --> 00:21:49,174
to have where people were,

574
00:21:49,579 --> 00:21:51,339
for the first time in my career, asking

575
00:21:51,339 --> 00:21:51,839
me,

576
00:21:52,220 --> 00:21:53,740
what do you think we should do about

577
00:21:53,740 --> 00:21:54,240
blank?

578
00:21:54,539 --> 00:21:56,380
You know? And and whether it was, what

579
00:21:56,380 --> 00:21:57,819
do you think we should do about masks

580
00:21:57,819 --> 00:21:59,259
in school? What do you think we should

581
00:21:59,259 --> 00:21:59,920
do about

582
00:22:00,299 --> 00:22:03,105
shutdowns, remote learning? Whatever it was that was

583
00:22:03,184 --> 00:22:05,585
the hot topic at the time. I suddenly

584
00:22:05,585 --> 00:22:08,065
had people asking me my my opinion about

585
00:22:08,065 --> 00:22:08,884
it, my perspective.

586
00:22:09,505 --> 00:22:11,904
And at first, I felt uncomfortable with that.

587
00:22:11,904 --> 00:22:14,544
I'm a you wouldn't probably know this about

588
00:22:14,544 --> 00:22:17,365
me, but I'm by nature an intro introverted

589
00:22:17,585 --> 00:22:20,289
kinda human. I I like to kinda keep

590
00:22:20,289 --> 00:22:20,950
to myself.

591
00:22:22,690 --> 00:22:25,429
Sorry. Which, again, you you probably wouldn't guess.

592
00:22:25,569 --> 00:22:27,250
But just by nature, that's that's what I'm

593
00:22:27,250 --> 00:22:28,849
about. So when I'm talking about You are

594
00:22:28,849 --> 00:22:31,649
a super deep and present person. You're a

595
00:22:31,649 --> 00:22:33,569
really peaceful person, and I think that's

596
00:22:34,184 --> 00:22:36,345
I think, like because you're very good with

597
00:22:36,345 --> 00:22:39,025
people. You're very comfortable around people. But Yeah.

598
00:22:39,144 --> 00:22:40,765
But, yeah, there's definitely

599
00:22:41,625 --> 00:22:42,125
there's

600
00:22:42,745 --> 00:22:43,884
sunshine space,

601
00:22:44,345 --> 00:22:46,184
and then there's, like, the pace of a

602
00:22:46,184 --> 00:22:48,539
lot of the nonsense around us. So Yeah.

603
00:22:48,539 --> 00:22:49,659
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at

604
00:22:49,659 --> 00:22:51,659
you. I'm No. No. No. I appreciate that.

605
00:22:51,740 --> 00:22:52,940
Friendly. I think it's But but I think

606
00:22:52,940 --> 00:22:55,839
you're right. I'm an introvert who loves people.

607
00:22:55,899 --> 00:22:58,640
I just I love humans. I I love

608
00:22:59,019 --> 00:22:59,919
everything about

609
00:23:00,904 --> 00:23:02,345
us, you know, and the way that we

610
00:23:02,345 --> 00:23:03,244
have to navigate

611
00:23:04,265 --> 00:23:06,924
times, like like you said, like the pandemic

612
00:23:07,065 --> 00:23:08,924
that that continues and and how

613
00:23:09,544 --> 00:23:12,184
how little grace we give ourselves too often.

614
00:23:12,184 --> 00:23:14,204
And and when people ask me these questions,

615
00:23:14,265 --> 00:23:16,524
it was often coming from a place where

616
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,360
people were looking for quick solutions, not not

617
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:21,759
allowing for the idea that we needed time

618
00:23:21,759 --> 00:23:23,860
for healing, for for introspection

619
00:23:24,559 --> 00:23:26,559
before we could move on to to doing

620
00:23:26,559 --> 00:23:28,559
the business that we've had before us. And

621
00:23:28,559 --> 00:23:30,640
so as people would ask me for my

622
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,724
opinion on different things, I started to recognize

623
00:23:32,724 --> 00:23:34,025
that my opinion had power.

624
00:23:34,484 --> 00:23:37,044
And not just mine, but teachers generally. We

625
00:23:37,044 --> 00:23:38,025
were the experts

626
00:23:38,484 --> 00:23:40,664
on the front lines living through this experience

627
00:23:40,884 --> 00:23:42,964
that other people were kind of imagining. Right?

628
00:23:42,964 --> 00:23:44,724
They were imagining what was happening in our

629
00:23:44,724 --> 00:23:45,224
classrooms.

630
00:23:45,765 --> 00:23:46,265
And

631
00:23:46,730 --> 00:23:49,309
at the same time, you also saw people

632
00:23:49,930 --> 00:23:52,170
losing their minds. You saw people going into

633
00:23:52,170 --> 00:23:54,250
school board meetings and just shouting down the

634
00:23:54,250 --> 00:23:56,250
place. We had one in Utah that that

635
00:23:56,250 --> 00:23:58,830
turned into a just a hot mess where

636
00:23:59,049 --> 00:24:01,674
the the school board members exited the room

637
00:24:01,674 --> 00:24:03,295
and the this crowd of people,

638
00:24:03,994 --> 00:24:07,035
like, assumed controls, started sitting in their seats

639
00:24:07,035 --> 00:24:09,275
and saying, we're now school board members. The

640
00:24:09,275 --> 00:24:11,195
the old school board has been dissolved. This

641
00:24:11,195 --> 00:24:12,955
is the new school board in one of

642
00:24:12,955 --> 00:24:13,934
our local districts.

643
00:24:14,630 --> 00:24:16,869
And as I watch this happen, it 2

644
00:24:16,869 --> 00:24:18,250
things occurred to me. 1,

645
00:24:18,630 --> 00:24:20,330
this is crazy. But 2,

646
00:24:20,789 --> 00:24:23,190
you know, it's not insane to think that

647
00:24:23,190 --> 00:24:25,830
we need different people in those seats. You

648
00:24:25,830 --> 00:24:28,390
know? Even though I completely disagree with these

649
00:24:28,390 --> 00:24:30,684
these folks, what they're shouting about, I I

650
00:24:30,684 --> 00:24:32,365
could still humanize them. I could still see

651
00:24:32,365 --> 00:24:33,345
them as as

652
00:24:33,805 --> 00:24:34,305
terrified,

653
00:24:34,684 --> 00:24:35,184
worried,

654
00:24:36,045 --> 00:24:37,964
concerned about children. And in a lot of

655
00:24:37,964 --> 00:24:39,744
ways, I was feeling the same things.

656
00:24:40,924 --> 00:24:43,085
In that moment, compelled to to start to

657
00:24:43,085 --> 00:24:44,224
picture a path

658
00:24:44,759 --> 00:24:47,900
toward moving in the policy making spaces,

659
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,839
while at the same time not giving up

660
00:24:50,839 --> 00:24:52,680
my my place in the classroom. I I

661
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,400
love teaching. I'm still I'm still young enough

662
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,000
in my career where I'm I'm excited to

663
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,144
go every day, And and I I'm not

664
00:24:59,144 --> 00:25:00,605
ready to give up my dream job.

665
00:25:00,984 --> 00:25:03,085
But I'm also not satisfied

666
00:25:03,464 --> 00:25:06,825
delivering 2 minute public comment meet public comments

667
00:25:06,825 --> 00:25:09,565
at, school board meetings. I'm not Yeah. Satisfied

668
00:25:09,704 --> 00:25:11,650
writing op eds anymore. I want a sit

669
00:25:11,650 --> 00:25:13,329
at the table with a with a finger

670
00:25:13,329 --> 00:25:15,009
on the button that lets me talk as

671
00:25:15,009 --> 00:25:16,210
long as I need to to try to

672
00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:17,349
move us into more

673
00:25:17,650 --> 00:25:19,589
productive, effective places.

674
00:25:20,130 --> 00:25:22,769
Yeah. I I love this point too because

675
00:25:22,769 --> 00:25:23,429
I think

676
00:25:23,965 --> 00:25:26,225
what you're referring to

677
00:25:26,684 --> 00:25:28,384
is kind of this graduated

678
00:25:29,325 --> 00:25:32,205
civic engagement that we experience as teachers of

679
00:25:32,205 --> 00:25:34,365
the year because at first, it is go

680
00:25:34,365 --> 00:25:36,765
speak at public comment. I remember, like, going

681
00:25:36,765 --> 00:25:39,005
off at public comment about, you know, coming

682
00:25:39,005 --> 00:25:40,579
back to in person,

683
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:43,839
too soon. And then it's like, write the

684
00:25:43,839 --> 00:25:46,400
stop it. Do this one minute, like, you

685
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,039
know, this 2 minute interview, like, real quick

686
00:25:49,039 --> 00:25:50,799
on the news and that kind of thing.

687
00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:52,179
And that kind of dissatisfaction

688
00:25:52,845 --> 00:25:55,325
with that saying, these are cool things. You

689
00:25:55,325 --> 00:25:57,565
know, I'm hungry for more. Mhmm. So you're

690
00:25:57,565 --> 00:25:59,585
you're kind of leading into a really important,

691
00:26:00,845 --> 00:26:01,984
you know, sort of

692
00:26:02,605 --> 00:26:04,765
issue, and I I I wanna get your

693
00:26:04,765 --> 00:26:05,744
thoughts on it.

694
00:26:06,750 --> 00:26:07,250
So,

695
00:26:07,630 --> 00:26:09,970
you know, I'm in my graduate school program,

696
00:26:10,029 --> 00:26:11,470
and one of the classes I took that

697
00:26:11,470 --> 00:26:14,430
was absolutely transformative for me was,

698
00:26:14,990 --> 00:26:16,369
critical policy analysis

699
00:26:16,830 --> 00:26:18,529
in education systems.

700
00:26:18,964 --> 00:26:21,285
Shout out doctor Tabron. I hope you listen

701
00:26:21,285 --> 00:26:22,664
to my pod. You're on sabbatical?

702
00:26:23,205 --> 00:26:24,884
Like, listen to my pod. Because I I

703
00:26:24,884 --> 00:26:26,805
keep on so you talk about somebody who's

704
00:26:26,805 --> 00:26:30,345
who's, introverted. Doctor Tabron is very introverted.

705
00:26:31,140 --> 00:26:32,660
I'm gonna I'm gonna go on a bunny

706
00:26:32,660 --> 00:26:34,519
trail for a second real quick. So

707
00:26:36,259 --> 00:26:38,259
so, we had to do a project that

708
00:26:38,259 --> 00:26:39,400
was quantitatively,

709
00:26:39,940 --> 00:26:40,440
like,

710
00:26:41,220 --> 00:26:42,119
found like

711
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:45,274
like, grounded. Right? Like, something around stats.

712
00:26:45,575 --> 00:26:47,815
And I had just sent a tweet that,

713
00:26:47,815 --> 00:26:50,375
like, went viral for, like I have no

714
00:26:50,375 --> 00:26:51,835
idea why. It was about,

715
00:26:53,095 --> 00:26:55,654
it was about grading at the university level.

716
00:26:55,654 --> 00:26:57,254
And, you know, if you head over to

717
00:26:57,254 --> 00:26:59,410
my Twitter account, especially to my personal Twitter

718
00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:01,089
account, it's like, oh, look. You got 4

719
00:27:01,089 --> 00:27:03,269
likes. Oh, you got 3 likes. That's great.

720
00:27:03,330 --> 00:27:05,109
This one hit 50 k.

721
00:27:05,410 --> 00:27:07,410
Wow. And it was oh, you know what

722
00:27:07,410 --> 00:27:08,869
it was about? It was about

723
00:27:09,410 --> 00:27:11,910
how doctor Taber and this professor of mine

724
00:27:12,454 --> 00:27:12,954
had

725
00:27:13,255 --> 00:27:13,755
insisted

726
00:27:14,214 --> 00:27:15,994
on putting the full URLs,

727
00:27:17,494 --> 00:27:19,734
of articles we were reading and then insisted

728
00:27:19,734 --> 00:27:22,075
on having us actually find the articles

729
00:27:22,454 --> 00:27:24,934
because it bumps engagement for scholars of color.

730
00:27:24,934 --> 00:27:26,069
You may not other get

731
00:27:26,630 --> 00:27:28,789
those. Man, that sets some stuff off. It

732
00:27:28,789 --> 00:27:30,630
was wild. So but doctor Tabron. I've been

733
00:27:30,630 --> 00:27:32,389
trying to get doctor Tabron on the pod

734
00:27:32,389 --> 00:27:34,389
for 3 years now, and I I feel

735
00:27:34,389 --> 00:27:35,769
like I will not be successful.

736
00:27:36,470 --> 00:27:36,970
Anyway,

737
00:27:37,429 --> 00:27:39,669
I'm sitting in that's okay. Doctor t, it

738
00:27:39,669 --> 00:27:42,525
is okay. You keep doing Keep the faith.

739
00:27:42,525 --> 00:27:44,644
I can have it. You keep you keep

740
00:27:44,644 --> 00:27:47,285
working, and it's great. So I'm I'm in

741
00:27:47,285 --> 00:27:49,765
this critical policy analysis class, and one thing

742
00:27:49,765 --> 00:27:51,305
that starts to really

743
00:27:51,765 --> 00:27:53,305
come to life for me

744
00:27:53,684 --> 00:27:54,664
is how

745
00:27:54,965 --> 00:27:56,960
important it is to be knowledgeable

746
00:27:57,259 --> 00:28:00,539
about policy questions around education. And now Mhmm.

747
00:28:00,619 --> 00:28:02,619
You and I have been in education for

748
00:28:02,619 --> 00:28:03,440
a good minute.

749
00:28:03,900 --> 00:28:04,400
Mhmm.

750
00:28:05,179 --> 00:28:07,599
My experience has been I've heard teachers,

751
00:28:08,059 --> 00:28:11,414
great teachers, wise teachers, teachers with so much

752
00:28:11,414 --> 00:28:13,414
knowledge and experience of what it means to

753
00:28:13,414 --> 00:28:15,994
be a teacher in these streets today,

754
00:28:16,615 --> 00:28:17,515
say to me,

755
00:28:18,454 --> 00:28:20,454
I can't do the policy thing. It's just,

756
00:28:20,454 --> 00:28:23,335
like, it's confusing. It's frustrating. I don't feel

757
00:28:23,335 --> 00:28:24,154
like I fit.

758
00:28:24,470 --> 00:28:27,509
Right. Can you speak to that? Because, actually,

759
00:28:27,509 --> 00:28:29,670
one of those people I am sure is

760
00:28:29,670 --> 00:28:30,970
listening to this episode,

761
00:28:31,269 --> 00:28:34,390
and that person needs to seek public office.

762
00:28:34,390 --> 00:28:37,990
But but what how do you react to

763
00:28:37,990 --> 00:28:39,049
hearing teachers

764
00:28:39,964 --> 00:28:40,464
verbalize

765
00:28:41,325 --> 00:28:43,184
that sort of feeling of disillusionment

766
00:28:43,565 --> 00:28:46,065
and anxiety when it comes to policy?

767
00:28:46,924 --> 00:28:49,424
Yeah. It sounds like somebody who's already overwhelmed

768
00:28:49,964 --> 00:28:51,825
by the hardest job in the world

769
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,919
imagining stacking something on top of it. It's

770
00:28:54,919 --> 00:28:56,619
the most it's the most natural,

771
00:28:57,399 --> 00:29:00,519
frankly, sane reaction that anybody could have to

772
00:29:00,519 --> 00:29:01,179
the idea

773
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,759
of of, you know, going outside your classroom

774
00:29:04,759 --> 00:29:07,815
and wading into the murky space that is

775
00:29:07,974 --> 00:29:10,554
policy because that that space is informed

776
00:29:11,254 --> 00:29:12,634
and and driven by,

777
00:29:13,014 --> 00:29:14,394
you know, state legislatures,

778
00:29:15,494 --> 00:29:17,674
state school boards, local school boards.

779
00:29:18,054 --> 00:29:18,714
You know?

780
00:29:19,174 --> 00:29:20,454
A lot of us have a hard enough

781
00:29:20,454 --> 00:29:23,559
time working just with our building admin. You

782
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:25,480
know what I mean? And trying to affect

783
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,299
change in our classroom or in our schools

784
00:29:28,759 --> 00:29:30,940
that that it can feel overwhelming

785
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:32,619
just in our own house.

786
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,000
So then you you throw in the idea

787
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:35,660
of of

788
00:29:36,144 --> 00:29:38,565
talking to voters or trying to move

789
00:29:38,865 --> 00:29:41,265
public opinion on an issue so that that

790
00:29:41,265 --> 00:29:41,765
legislators

791
00:29:42,144 --> 00:29:44,325
or policymakers will do something different.

792
00:29:44,625 --> 00:29:47,125
Frankly, I think it's nuts not to think

793
00:29:47,345 --> 00:29:49,000
I'm gonna stay in my classroom and just

794
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,160
keep doing what I can control because within

795
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,559
these four walls, I I have I have

796
00:29:53,559 --> 00:29:56,839
more power. And these, you know, these sort

797
00:29:56,839 --> 00:29:58,679
of I don't mean to be true too

798
00:29:58,679 --> 00:30:01,724
dramatic, but these invasions of board meetings at

799
00:30:01,724 --> 00:30:04,464
the Mhmm. At the local and state level,

800
00:30:04,845 --> 00:30:05,345
like,

801
00:30:05,644 --> 00:30:07,744
why would somebody wanna be subjected

802
00:30:08,125 --> 00:30:10,464
to that? We have elected officials

803
00:30:11,085 --> 00:30:12,945
in these United States of America

804
00:30:13,325 --> 00:30:16,349
who are getting death threats. You know, governor

805
00:30:16,569 --> 00:30:19,289
Whitmer, like, there's a whole plot to abduct

806
00:30:19,289 --> 00:30:22,009
her. Like, just wild stuff. So, I mean,

807
00:30:22,009 --> 00:30:24,029
it it is actually really understandable.

808
00:30:24,569 --> 00:30:25,069
Yeah.

809
00:30:25,690 --> 00:30:27,529
I'll take it one step further, though, as

810
00:30:27,529 --> 00:30:28,910
the guy who has decided

811
00:30:29,765 --> 00:30:32,184
to to wait out into that murky space.

812
00:30:32,325 --> 00:30:34,964
The reason why I ultimately decided I had

813
00:30:34,964 --> 00:30:36,505
to is because

814
00:30:37,524 --> 00:30:38,585
at some point,

815
00:30:38,964 --> 00:30:41,284
if you're not going out there and trying

816
00:30:41,284 --> 00:30:43,944
to affect change, then you've just you've accepted

817
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,320
the idea that you're just gonna take it.

818
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,720
Whatever decisions they make, you're just gonna take

819
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,320
it until you can't take it anymore, and

820
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:51,299
then you're gonna leave.

821
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,480
And I I'm still in that that point

822
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,640
where I I just I'm not willing to

823
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,039
take it. I I I have to go

824
00:30:59,039 --> 00:30:59,700
out there

825
00:31:00,214 --> 00:31:01,455
and and fight the good fight. That's why

826
00:31:01,455 --> 00:31:04,934
I joined my my education association in my

827
00:31:04,934 --> 00:31:07,015
1st year of teaching. I recognized that there

828
00:31:07,015 --> 00:31:09,255
are these amazing teachers who are stepping outside

829
00:31:09,255 --> 00:31:11,255
the comfort of their classroom to make things

830
00:31:11,255 --> 00:31:12,955
better for the children in mine,

831
00:31:13,259 --> 00:31:14,859
And and I just wanted to be a

832
00:31:14,859 --> 00:31:17,500
champion along with them for for children and

833
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:18,799
teachers in our profession.

834
00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:20,720
And by by

835
00:31:21,019 --> 00:31:24,859
watching the example of leaders within my within

836
00:31:24,859 --> 00:31:28,000
the Salt Lake Education Association, Utah Education Association,

837
00:31:28,934 --> 00:31:31,894
resisting in a deep red state policies that

838
00:31:31,894 --> 00:31:32,634
were not

839
00:31:33,575 --> 00:31:35,575
moving public education in the direction that it

840
00:31:35,575 --> 00:31:37,914
needs to, I I I recognized,

841
00:31:38,294 --> 00:31:38,794
1,

842
00:31:39,494 --> 00:31:42,214
it's it's hard, but we have to. And

843
00:31:42,214 --> 00:31:42,714
2,

844
00:31:43,349 --> 00:31:45,829
in in recent years, it's gotten particularly bad,

845
00:31:45,829 --> 00:31:47,750
and I started looking around at my friends

846
00:31:47,750 --> 00:31:50,009
saying, who you guys see what I'm seeing?

847
00:31:50,069 --> 00:31:52,309
Like, we someone's gotta run. Right? Someone's gotta

848
00:31:52,309 --> 00:31:54,150
run for these offices. Who's gonna do it?

849
00:31:54,150 --> 00:31:55,694
And nobody else's hand went up.

850
00:31:56,654 --> 00:31:58,494
And I just I I became that guy

851
00:31:58,494 --> 00:32:00,115
that just said, alright. Let's go.

852
00:32:00,494 --> 00:32:03,394
Yeah. I have I imagine, like, will somebody

853
00:32:03,694 --> 00:32:05,774
step forward to run for state board and

854
00:32:05,774 --> 00:32:08,414
everybody step back? Yeah. Seriously. Didn't hear John

855
00:32:08,414 --> 00:32:09,634
didn't hear the directions.

856
00:32:10,700 --> 00:32:12,640
No. I think I think that's really beautiful,

857
00:32:12,700 --> 00:32:13,680
and I think,

858
00:32:14,299 --> 00:32:16,000
I think it's a really powerful thing.

859
00:32:16,460 --> 00:32:19,359
Before we go to a a quick break,

860
00:32:19,579 --> 00:32:22,319
one one follow-up I wanna ask you is

861
00:32:22,875 --> 00:32:24,954
a couple of times in this conversation, you've

862
00:32:24,954 --> 00:32:27,295
referred to the policy space,

863
00:32:27,835 --> 00:32:29,775
particularly the ed policy space

864
00:32:30,154 --> 00:32:32,714
as as being really murky in in terms

865
00:32:32,714 --> 00:32:34,634
of, like, wading out into these waters. Like

866
00:32:34,875 --> 00:32:37,115
Yeah. I picture I picture, like, all kinds

867
00:32:37,115 --> 00:32:39,140
of stuff floating around. You don't even know

868
00:32:39,140 --> 00:32:41,380
what's wrapped around your ankle. Can you talk

869
00:32:41,380 --> 00:32:42,759
a little bit about

870
00:32:43,140 --> 00:32:45,240
because I don't I don't believe in just

871
00:32:45,779 --> 00:32:48,019
telling people, get out there and do it

872
00:32:48,019 --> 00:32:48,839
without knowing

873
00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:51,845
what's waiting for you, especially if you're a

874
00:32:51,845 --> 00:32:54,424
powerful voice. What are some of the things

875
00:32:54,565 --> 00:32:55,784
that feel particularly

876
00:32:56,244 --> 00:32:58,105
murky that you can talk about,

877
00:32:58,884 --> 00:33:00,884
that folks should just kinda be aware of

878
00:33:00,884 --> 00:33:03,304
if they're considering a run for any office?

879
00:33:03,924 --> 00:33:06,679
Yeah. So the first thing that I would

880
00:33:07,220 --> 00:33:07,960
point to

881
00:33:08,500 --> 00:33:09,240
even before

882
00:33:09,539 --> 00:33:11,940
looking into the Merc is just putting on

883
00:33:11,940 --> 00:33:14,019
your life vest, your your water wings, you

884
00:33:14,019 --> 00:33:15,859
know, making sure that you're straight before you

885
00:33:15,859 --> 00:33:16,919
go out there because,

886
00:33:17,220 --> 00:33:19,059
you know, I've gotta think about

887
00:33:19,654 --> 00:33:21,174
I'm a I'm an employee of a school

888
00:33:21,174 --> 00:33:23,654
district. I don't wanna jeopardize my job by

889
00:33:23,654 --> 00:33:25,774
by posting the wrong thing, by using Yep.

890
00:33:25,894 --> 00:33:27,575
My work email when I should have used

891
00:33:27,575 --> 00:33:30,154
my personal email. So before before

892
00:33:30,534 --> 00:33:33,014
even jumping into these waters, it's all about

893
00:33:33,014 --> 00:33:33,835
making sure

894
00:33:34,170 --> 00:33:36,730
I'm I'm I'm coming right. I I've I

895
00:33:36,730 --> 00:33:37,630
have a principal,

896
00:33:38,330 --> 00:33:40,330
not not principal in my building, but personal

897
00:33:40,330 --> 00:33:42,090
principal that I live by. And

898
00:33:43,130 --> 00:33:45,369
principal. As I yeah. Exactly. As I do

899
00:33:45,369 --> 00:33:47,769
this work, I I teach 5th and 6th

900
00:33:47,769 --> 00:33:48,269
graders,

901
00:33:48,644 --> 00:33:51,125
and I am committed to making sure that

902
00:33:51,125 --> 00:33:52,505
nothing I put out there,

903
00:33:53,125 --> 00:33:54,884
would embarrass me in front of my students.

904
00:33:54,884 --> 00:33:57,045
Like, I want every 5th and 6th grade

905
00:33:57,045 --> 00:33:59,445
child, 10 through 12 years old, to be

906
00:33:59,445 --> 00:34:02,005
able to read my stuff and and not

907
00:34:02,005 --> 00:34:02,505
be,

908
00:34:04,340 --> 00:34:05,960
shocked by it, not be,

909
00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:08,659
turned off. I want them to say that's

910
00:34:08,659 --> 00:34:10,659
that's what that's what captain's always told us

911
00:34:10,659 --> 00:34:12,340
to do with our writing, what to do

912
00:34:12,340 --> 00:34:13,880
with our words, to come respectfully,

913
00:34:14,340 --> 00:34:15,320
to come with dignity,

914
00:34:15,780 --> 00:34:18,099
and and also humanizing everybody that I'm talking

915
00:34:18,099 --> 00:34:20,864
about in these spaces. So that's, you know,

916
00:34:20,864 --> 00:34:22,864
that's that's that's my guiding star, and then

917
00:34:22,864 --> 00:34:24,945
I I make sure that I'm, again, using

918
00:34:24,945 --> 00:34:27,985
just my personal phone number, personal email. Right.

919
00:34:28,065 --> 00:34:30,305
And then also the things, right, that will

920
00:34:30,305 --> 00:34:31,285
undo campaigns

921
00:34:32,380 --> 00:34:34,320
if you if you do something by accident

922
00:34:34,780 --> 00:34:35,599
that can be,

923
00:34:36,300 --> 00:34:38,380
that can be viewed as impropriety or That's

924
00:34:38,380 --> 00:34:40,940
exact sort of, like, question. Yep. Yeah. Yep.

925
00:34:40,940 --> 00:34:44,139
Exactly. I I can't use resources from my

926
00:34:44,139 --> 00:34:45,820
district. I couldn't even when I film my

927
00:34:45,820 --> 00:34:48,025
first political ad, I couldn't film in my

928
00:34:48,025 --> 00:34:49,565
own classroom. I had to use,

929
00:34:50,344 --> 00:34:52,684
a a friend's classroom in a charter school

930
00:34:52,985 --> 00:34:55,465
because I that it can't be seen that

931
00:34:55,465 --> 00:34:57,945
I'm using public resources to run this campaign.

932
00:34:57,945 --> 00:34:59,617
You just have to be thoughtful about all

933
00:34:59,617 --> 00:35:01,808
these things. Mhmm. And then And get good

934
00:35:01,808 --> 00:35:03,757
advice, I would imagine. Right? Get good advice.

935
00:35:03,757 --> 00:35:05,705
There there are so many people who have

936
00:35:05,705 --> 00:35:07,653
already gone and done this. There there are

937
00:35:07,653 --> 00:35:09,602
people out there who blaze these trails. We

938
00:35:09,602 --> 00:35:11,550
just need to fill up the trails with

939
00:35:11,550 --> 00:35:14,204
with with new champions. Yeah. So that's that's

940
00:35:14,204 --> 00:35:15,744
the main advice I would put out there.

941
00:35:16,125 --> 00:35:18,444
It makes me think of a Talib Kweli

942
00:35:18,444 --> 00:35:20,204
lyric where he says, you know, make make

943
00:35:20,204 --> 00:35:21,664
sure your business is straight.

944
00:35:22,125 --> 00:35:24,684
Mhmm. And, make sure your cruise is tight

945
00:35:24,684 --> 00:35:27,005
as you. Mhmm. Because when homies start falling

946
00:35:27,005 --> 00:35:28,019
off, they're gonna bring you

947
00:35:29,219 --> 00:35:31,059
down too. So it's important to do that.

948
00:35:32,019 --> 00:35:33,640
It also occurs to me

949
00:35:34,420 --> 00:35:36,260
that you know, and I I was just

950
00:35:36,260 --> 00:35:37,800
doing a little bit of web research,

951
00:35:38,260 --> 00:35:40,119
before we got on here, and

952
00:35:40,644 --> 00:35:42,485
it was actually a lot of former classroom

953
00:35:42,485 --> 00:35:44,744
teachers who are running for office currently.

954
00:35:45,125 --> 00:35:47,125
Most notably, Tim Wall is running,

955
00:35:47,605 --> 00:35:48,105
as,

956
00:35:48,644 --> 00:35:51,305
Kamala Harris vice president. Kamala Harris is running.

957
00:35:51,765 --> 00:35:54,025
Do you think that we're seeing

958
00:35:54,644 --> 00:35:55,949
do do you think that we're seeing kind

959
00:35:55,949 --> 00:35:58,289
of a groundswell of teachers who

960
00:35:58,670 --> 00:36:01,150
are fed up, but not fed up like,

961
00:36:01,150 --> 00:36:03,250
I'm gonna quit this job, but

962
00:36:03,630 --> 00:36:04,530
fed up because

963
00:36:04,829 --> 00:36:06,510
there's a world out there that I need

964
00:36:06,510 --> 00:36:07,170
to engage?

965
00:36:07,550 --> 00:36:08,610
Yeah. I think that,

966
00:36:08,925 --> 00:36:11,985
frankly, teachers have a skill set that is

967
00:36:12,364 --> 00:36:13,985
uniquely suited to

968
00:36:14,765 --> 00:36:17,244
seeking public office and and and pub public

969
00:36:17,244 --> 00:36:20,144
service. We're already public servants, and we teach

970
00:36:20,445 --> 00:36:23,105
critical thinking. We teach analysis. We teach

971
00:36:23,579 --> 00:36:25,739
children and young people how to pay attention

972
00:36:25,739 --> 00:36:26,940
to the what's going on in the world

973
00:36:26,940 --> 00:36:28,400
so that they can view themselves

974
00:36:28,940 --> 00:36:31,039
as change makers and problem solvers.

975
00:36:31,340 --> 00:36:33,180
And then at some point, we as the

976
00:36:33,180 --> 00:36:35,660
adults have to recognize, ah, is it is

977
00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:37,715
it practice what I preach time? Is it

978
00:36:37,715 --> 00:36:39,474
is it Yeah. Is it walk the walk

979
00:36:39,474 --> 00:36:39,974
time?

980
00:36:40,275 --> 00:36:43,075
And and in these days, in these times

981
00:36:43,075 --> 00:36:43,575
where

982
00:36:43,954 --> 00:36:46,515
where where things are so challenging and we're

983
00:36:46,515 --> 00:36:47,655
seeing so much

984
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,679
so much nonsense. People being dragged down these

985
00:36:51,679 --> 00:36:53,139
rabbit holes of insanity

986
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:55,519
that that at some point, you just gotta

987
00:36:55,519 --> 00:36:57,760
say, I I can't I cannot abide this.

988
00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,119
We have to put our money where our

989
00:36:59,119 --> 00:37:00,639
mouth is. I'm gonna go do this thing.

990
00:37:00,639 --> 00:37:02,320
That's why you're seeing so many teachers step

991
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:03,059
up. And,

992
00:37:03,364 --> 00:37:05,364
frankly, teachers who made it through the pandemic

993
00:37:05,364 --> 00:37:07,444
were were built different. You know? This is

994
00:37:07,444 --> 00:37:09,224
a this is this is a new generation

995
00:37:09,364 --> 00:37:11,304
of of teachers that are survivors

996
00:37:12,085 --> 00:37:14,164
and and who are who are like, I

997
00:37:14,164 --> 00:37:14,905
taught through

998
00:37:15,444 --> 00:37:16,424
online learning,

999
00:37:16,964 --> 00:37:17,464
masks,

1000
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:18,380
shields.

1001
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,400
I'm not scared of nothing. I'm I'm ready

1002
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:23,159
to step up in ways that we were

1003
00:37:23,159 --> 00:37:24,380
not ready to before,

1004
00:37:25,159 --> 00:37:27,099
but that's also not to to discount

1005
00:37:27,559 --> 00:37:29,400
all the teachers who have who have run

1006
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,264
for office even before these hard times. Yeah.

1007
00:37:32,424 --> 00:37:34,505
Absolutely. It's a legacy. And Mhmm. I think

1008
00:37:34,505 --> 00:37:35,484
that I think that's,

1009
00:37:35,944 --> 00:37:38,844
something I hear in in your message is,

1010
00:37:39,224 --> 00:37:41,464
you know, we you know, this is something

1011
00:37:41,464 --> 00:37:44,184
that has been normalized, and we continue to

1012
00:37:44,184 --> 00:37:45,349
normalize it.

1013
00:37:45,730 --> 00:37:47,730
Mhmm. And, yeah, we are built kinda different.

1014
00:37:47,730 --> 00:37:49,030
There's a type of resiliency,

1015
00:37:49,489 --> 00:37:50,230
I think,

1016
00:37:50,610 --> 00:37:52,869
that some of us who came out of,

1017
00:37:53,650 --> 00:37:56,390
that that really difficult period in education

1018
00:37:57,250 --> 00:37:58,885
Mhmm. That can be said.

1019
00:37:59,425 --> 00:38:00,724
So when we come back,

1020
00:38:01,105 --> 00:38:03,204
we're gonna talk a little bit about,

1021
00:38:04,464 --> 00:38:07,264
issues in Utah. And so don't fast forward,

1022
00:38:07,264 --> 00:38:09,025
though, y'all, because they're probably gonna sound a

1023
00:38:09,025 --> 00:38:11,664
little bit familiar Yeah. To what we're dealing

1024
00:38:11,664 --> 00:38:12,885
with in other states.

1025
00:38:13,340 --> 00:38:15,760
We'll talk a little bit about issues broadly,

1026
00:38:16,139 --> 00:38:16,960
and then,

1027
00:38:18,139 --> 00:38:18,639
future

1028
00:38:19,019 --> 00:38:21,260
member of the Utah State Board of Education,

1029
00:38:21,260 --> 00:38:24,380
John Arthur, is going to, share with us

1030
00:38:24,380 --> 00:38:26,059
top five ways to be involved in these

1031
00:38:26,059 --> 00:38:27,519
policy spaces. But first,

1032
00:38:28,780 --> 00:38:30,364
I just wanna take a minute and shout

1033
00:38:30,364 --> 00:38:30,684
out,

1034
00:38:31,324 --> 00:38:32,385
Tori and Alex.

1035
00:38:32,764 --> 00:38:34,945
John, when you started teaching, were you

1036
00:38:35,724 --> 00:38:37,105
were you thinking about,

1037
00:38:37,405 --> 00:38:39,744
cool. Now I can start building generational

1038
00:38:40,125 --> 00:38:40,625
wealth.

1039
00:38:41,724 --> 00:38:43,859
No, man. I I started teaching, I taught

1040
00:38:43,859 --> 00:38:45,219
kids there are 2 things you could do

1041
00:38:45,219 --> 00:38:47,380
with money, either save it or spend it.

1042
00:38:47,380 --> 00:38:50,440
It wasn't for many years I recognized, oh,

1043
00:38:50,579 --> 00:38:52,260
invest as well. That's a thing that we

1044
00:38:52,260 --> 00:38:52,920
can do.

1045
00:38:53,539 --> 00:38:54,980
I mean, for some of us, like, I

1046
00:38:54,980 --> 00:38:57,319
just remember sign like, signing my first contract

1047
00:38:57,815 --> 00:38:59,675
and, in 1999,

1048
00:39:00,135 --> 00:39:02,635
and, like, I was gonna get paid $25,000

1049
00:39:04,295 --> 00:39:06,695
a year. I was like, oh my god.

1050
00:39:06,695 --> 00:39:09,655
This is awesome. I can go out now

1051
00:39:09,655 --> 00:39:11,434
and buy clothes and get haircuts,

1052
00:39:12,140 --> 00:39:14,480
and then you learn very quickly that 25,000

1053
00:39:15,019 --> 00:39:15,660
is, like

1054
00:39:16,380 --> 00:39:18,960
it's just not a great place to start.

1055
00:39:20,140 --> 00:39:20,640
So,

1056
00:39:21,739 --> 00:39:23,500
so for a lot of us, there's also

1057
00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:25,295
the the lack of an understanding,

1058
00:39:25,675 --> 00:39:27,775
first of all, that investing was a thing

1059
00:39:27,914 --> 00:39:29,914
and also not enough money to really do

1060
00:39:29,914 --> 00:39:32,315
it. And, you know, I've I've heard a

1061
00:39:32,315 --> 00:39:34,315
lot of folks say, I mean, the best

1062
00:39:34,315 --> 00:39:35,295
way to

1063
00:39:35,675 --> 00:39:38,909
build generational wealth is to be born with

1064
00:39:38,909 --> 00:39:39,650
it. Like,

1065
00:39:40,510 --> 00:39:41,010
but,

1066
00:39:41,389 --> 00:39:42,929
John, I got good news for you.

1067
00:39:43,789 --> 00:39:45,710
Tori and Alex Sierra from,

1068
00:39:46,030 --> 00:39:47,010
Seterra Investors,

1069
00:39:48,349 --> 00:39:50,449
they're doing some dope stuff, bro.

1070
00:39:50,795 --> 00:39:51,614
Nice. Like, what?

1071
00:39:52,315 --> 00:39:54,394
They're doing yeah. Oh, see. I love how

1072
00:39:54,394 --> 00:39:56,094
you picked that up. So good.

1073
00:39:56,954 --> 00:39:59,035
This is why you've guest hosted before because

1074
00:39:59,035 --> 00:40:00,894
you know. So they have a subscription

1075
00:40:01,195 --> 00:40:03,055
based plan that,

1076
00:40:03,909 --> 00:40:05,989
doesn't require that you're investing a ton of

1077
00:40:05,989 --> 00:40:08,070
money in order to make money and start

1078
00:40:08,070 --> 00:40:09,909
building that wealth. And you can start at

1079
00:40:09,909 --> 00:40:10,650
any point.

1080
00:40:11,750 --> 00:40:13,989
I actually have started doing some work with,

1081
00:40:14,550 --> 00:40:14,949
with,

1082
00:40:15,349 --> 00:40:16,329
Tori and Alex,

1083
00:40:17,510 --> 00:40:17,623
even though I'm fairly close to retirement because

1084
00:40:17,623 --> 00:40:17,735
Alex actually knows a lot about state retirement

1085
00:40:17,735 --> 00:40:17,829
systems. And,

1086
00:40:19,885 --> 00:40:21,724
retirement because Alex actually knows a lot about

1087
00:40:21,724 --> 00:40:22,945
state retirement systems,

1088
00:40:23,485 --> 00:40:25,885
and he just loves teachers, man. I mean,

1089
00:40:25,885 --> 00:40:28,845
who doesn't love teachers? But he loves teachers,

1090
00:40:28,845 --> 00:40:31,025
and he wants to be sure

1091
00:40:31,325 --> 00:40:33,805
that teachers have a way to start saving

1092
00:40:33,805 --> 00:40:36,230
that money and start building that wealth, and,

1093
00:40:36,690 --> 00:40:37,890
you don't have to have a ton of

1094
00:40:37,890 --> 00:40:39,110
money to do it.

1095
00:40:39,809 --> 00:40:40,550
If you,

1096
00:40:41,090 --> 00:40:43,410
go to the website that is in the

1097
00:40:43,410 --> 00:40:44,150
show notes,

1098
00:40:44,690 --> 00:40:46,690
and that would that I shared with you

1099
00:40:46,690 --> 00:40:48,469
at the top at the open,

1100
00:40:49,525 --> 00:40:50,664
You can get 25%

1101
00:40:51,284 --> 00:40:53,784
off of their subscription based services

1102
00:40:54,324 --> 00:40:56,985
simply by using the code 2 dope.

1103
00:40:57,684 --> 00:41:00,324
Click on that link. Check it out. And,

1104
00:41:00,324 --> 00:41:03,605
shoot, John, maybe there's maybe there's generational wealth

1105
00:41:03,605 --> 00:41:05,340
for our kids. Like, that might be a

1106
00:41:05,340 --> 00:41:05,840
thing.

1107
00:41:06,539 --> 00:41:08,539
Let's go, man. My wife is more successful

1108
00:41:08,539 --> 00:41:10,700
than me. The she's their best shot. But

1109
00:41:10,860 --> 00:41:12,860
Yeah. I'd like to I'd like to be

1110
00:41:12,860 --> 00:41:14,559
on the team. I'd like to contribute.

1111
00:41:14,860 --> 00:41:17,180
No doubt. Yeah. Exactly. Well, we don't yeah.

1112
00:41:17,180 --> 00:41:19,525
We we like, Mary well is a good

1113
00:41:19,525 --> 00:41:21,125
thing. And then if you can't do that,

1114
00:41:21,125 --> 00:41:22,664
you have Tori and Alex.

1115
00:41:23,684 --> 00:41:24,244
I think,

1116
00:41:24,724 --> 00:41:27,144
it's funny you say that because I, like,

1117
00:41:27,204 --> 00:41:29,204
I feel like there there were times when

1118
00:41:29,204 --> 00:41:31,684
my spouse was working in finance, when people

1119
00:41:31,684 --> 00:41:32,965
would be like, wow. Your house is so

1120
00:41:32,965 --> 00:41:34,320
nice. I'm like, this is not a teacher's

1121
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,980
house. This is Mm-mm. This is a finance

1122
00:41:37,039 --> 00:41:37,760
expert's house.

1123
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,480
But Tory and Alex are gonna change that

1124
00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:42,239
for you. So head over there to their

1125
00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:43,699
website, Cetera Investors

1126
00:41:44,079 --> 00:41:47,460
out of beautiful Pasadena, California. Congrats on Renewbaby.

1127
00:41:49,065 --> 00:41:51,484
And, yes, start building that wealth today.

1128
00:41:53,945 --> 00:41:55,005
Alright, man.

1129
00:41:55,385 --> 00:41:57,804
So let let's get into the nitty gritty

1130
00:41:57,864 --> 00:41:58,925
as it were.

1131
00:41:59,864 --> 00:42:02,445
So what are some of the issues

1132
00:42:03,144 --> 00:42:03,644
that

1133
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,059
are education

1134
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,780
related that you will be positioned

1135
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:09,059
to address

1136
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,000
once you're elected to the Utah State Board

1137
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:12,579
of Education?

1138
00:42:13,039 --> 00:42:14,800
And I guess I I guess maybe for

1139
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:15,860
those who

1140
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:17,025
are less,

1141
00:42:17,505 --> 00:42:20,144
you know, kind of informed as to what

1142
00:42:20,144 --> 00:42:22,224
a state board of education even does, maybe

1143
00:42:22,224 --> 00:42:25,025
give us just a quick overview of what

1144
00:42:25,025 --> 00:42:27,125
is it that the state board of education

1145
00:42:27,184 --> 00:42:28,324
in Utah does.

1146
00:42:28,704 --> 00:42:31,105
Yeah. I I like to use the metaphor

1147
00:42:31,105 --> 00:42:31,924
of an hourglass.

1148
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:32,860
Right?

1149
00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:35,980
So in Utah, as in many other states,

1150
00:42:36,119 --> 00:42:38,280
you've got your your state legislature at the

1151
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,760
top. And they they write laws. They pass

1152
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:41,260
bills.

1153
00:42:41,719 --> 00:42:42,219
And,

1154
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,320
you know, related to education, those bills will

1155
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:45,820
then

1156
00:42:46,155 --> 00:42:48,974
rain down as laws upon the the children,

1157
00:42:49,035 --> 00:42:49,535
teachers,

1158
00:42:50,315 --> 00:42:52,235
schools, districts down at the bottom of the

1159
00:42:52,235 --> 00:42:54,715
hourglass. And that choke point in the middle

1160
00:42:54,715 --> 00:42:56,954
is the state board of education in Utah

1161
00:42:56,954 --> 00:42:59,775
and state agencies of education across the country.

1162
00:42:59,994 --> 00:43:02,360
That's where the bills go, and they will

1163
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,160
get turned in our state into administrative rules

1164
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:05,900
and policies

1165
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:08,599
that the the state board will then send

1166
00:43:08,599 --> 00:43:10,599
out to districts so the districts can say,

1167
00:43:10,599 --> 00:43:12,119
hey. What is it we're supposed to do

1168
00:43:12,119 --> 00:43:14,059
with this law that was passed last session?

1169
00:43:14,199 --> 00:43:15,900
The state board is entrusted,

1170
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:17,534
with with

1171
00:43:18,014 --> 00:43:20,674
providing that guidance. And and in Utah,

1172
00:43:20,974 --> 00:43:23,375
it's in our state constitution that the state

1173
00:43:23,375 --> 00:43:26,034
board of education has general supervision and control

1174
00:43:26,574 --> 00:43:27,875
over public education.

1175
00:43:29,375 --> 00:43:31,534
So that's that's the body that I wanna

1176
00:43:31,534 --> 00:43:33,480
join. I wanna get in there so that

1177
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:34,619
as these bills,

1178
00:43:35,159 --> 00:43:37,719
for better or worse, come down, I can

1179
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:39,719
I can use my experience and expertise from

1180
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:40,380
the classroom

1181
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:42,300
to help craft policies,

1182
00:43:43,159 --> 00:43:46,214
that that will benefit those who will receive

1183
00:43:46,214 --> 00:43:48,694
them down the line? And, also, our state

1184
00:43:48,694 --> 00:43:49,514
board determines,

1185
00:43:50,295 --> 00:43:52,295
standards, the standards by which all kids are

1186
00:43:52,295 --> 00:43:54,074
taught, the the the levels

1187
00:43:54,375 --> 00:43:56,454
of mastery that we hold our children to,

1188
00:43:56,454 --> 00:43:57,114
the proficiencies

1189
00:43:57,739 --> 00:44:00,619
that we expect from our teachers, licensing, all

1190
00:44:00,619 --> 00:44:01,119
those

1191
00:44:01,500 --> 00:44:02,639
those organizational

1192
00:44:03,099 --> 00:44:05,839
pieces, the state school board has some

1193
00:44:06,219 --> 00:44:07,359
role in affecting.

1194
00:44:08,219 --> 00:44:08,719
Yeah.

1195
00:44:09,420 --> 00:44:11,054
That's so well explained.

1196
00:44:11,594 --> 00:44:13,755
That's really good. Because as you kind of

1197
00:44:13,755 --> 00:44:16,175
explain it, I start thinking about,

1198
00:44:16,795 --> 00:44:18,954
you know, all the various things in our

1199
00:44:18,954 --> 00:44:21,195
own state that have sort of started to

1200
00:44:21,195 --> 00:44:23,860
make their way into school districts and BOCES.

1201
00:44:23,860 --> 00:44:27,059
Right? And, you know, and how those things

1202
00:44:27,059 --> 00:44:27,800
are operationalized.

1203
00:44:28,260 --> 00:44:29,079
We're the biggest

1204
00:44:29,539 --> 00:44:31,400
school district in the state

1205
00:44:31,780 --> 00:44:33,559
and I think in the mountain region.

1206
00:44:33,860 --> 00:44:37,085
And so we get some extra latitude because

1207
00:44:37,085 --> 00:44:39,005
of how many students we serve as far

1208
00:44:39,005 --> 00:44:41,164
as that goes. But but that's just such

1209
00:44:41,164 --> 00:44:43,885
a such an interesting and important thing to

1210
00:44:43,885 --> 00:44:46,444
think about. And so it it almost seems

1211
00:44:46,444 --> 00:44:46,944
like

1212
00:44:47,484 --> 00:44:48,625
you would be positioned

1213
00:44:49,670 --> 00:44:51,930
to be a buffer between even

1214
00:44:52,390 --> 00:44:56,309
bad legislation that's passed or harmful legislation that's

1215
00:44:56,309 --> 00:44:56,809
passed

1216
00:44:57,349 --> 00:44:59,750
because it's your job to convert it into

1217
00:44:59,750 --> 00:45:02,309
practice. Am I understanding that right? That's exactly

1218
00:45:02,309 --> 00:45:05,204
right. It's it's both a position of

1219
00:45:05,605 --> 00:45:08,405
of buffering, but also, you know, it's kinda

1220
00:45:08,405 --> 00:45:10,405
like in the movie where, like, a wizard

1221
00:45:10,405 --> 00:45:12,565
has their wand and, you know, spear gets

1222
00:45:12,565 --> 00:45:14,965
thrown and the wizard transforms the spear into,

1223
00:45:14,965 --> 00:45:15,704
like, a butterfly.

1224
00:45:16,005 --> 00:45:18,644
Right? And that's that's that's Kinda of spears

1225
00:45:18,644 --> 00:45:19,809
out there, so I really like that analogy.

1226
00:45:19,829 --> 00:45:21,204
Lot a lot of things coming our way.

1227
00:45:21,204 --> 00:45:21,561
But with with experience and expertise applied to

1228
00:45:21,561 --> 00:45:22,070
them, you you might not be able to

1229
00:45:22,070 --> 00:45:24,630
turn it into a butterfly, but you can

1230
00:45:24,630 --> 00:45:26,730
turn it into something that is hopefully blunted

1231
00:45:26,789 --> 00:45:28,970
that's not gonna hurt anybody. And, ideally,

1232
00:45:34,014 --> 00:45:34,514
transform

1233
00:45:35,375 --> 00:45:36,835
good bills into

1234
00:45:37,295 --> 00:45:37,795
outstanding

1235
00:45:38,574 --> 00:45:41,215
policy and and things that are gonna be

1236
00:45:41,215 --> 00:45:41,715
resourceful,

1237
00:45:42,414 --> 00:45:43,715
resources that are useful

1238
00:45:44,255 --> 00:45:46,734
to teachers in the classroom, to students in

1239
00:45:46,734 --> 00:45:49,530
their seats, and to that will uplift and

1240
00:45:49,530 --> 00:45:51,369
elevate the work that our public schools are

1241
00:45:51,369 --> 00:45:51,869
doing.

1242
00:45:52,170 --> 00:45:54,490
The other thing that that happens is in

1243
00:45:54,490 --> 00:45:56,090
our state school board so I'll take an

1244
00:45:56,090 --> 00:45:57,930
issue like book banning. Right? This is a

1245
00:45:57,930 --> 00:46:00,650
thing that's across the country. People are dealing

1246
00:46:00,650 --> 00:46:01,789
with it in our state.

1247
00:46:02,644 --> 00:46:04,964
When these laws are written around books that

1248
00:46:04,964 --> 00:46:05,625
get banned.

1249
00:46:06,405 --> 00:46:07,224
We have a

1250
00:46:07,525 --> 00:46:10,164
a process in place by which districts can

1251
00:46:10,164 --> 00:46:10,664
review

1252
00:46:11,125 --> 00:46:13,224
books. And this last session,

1253
00:46:13,605 --> 00:46:15,510
a law was passed that said that if

1254
00:46:15,750 --> 00:46:19,110
3 school districts out of the 41 school

1255
00:46:19,110 --> 00:46:21,449
districts that we have determined that a book

1256
00:46:21,510 --> 00:46:22,409
is indecent

1257
00:46:22,710 --> 00:46:25,590
material, that it's objectively sensitive material, that's the

1258
00:46:25,590 --> 00:46:27,670
language in our law, then then it gets

1259
00:46:27,670 --> 00:46:28,650
banned statewide.

1260
00:46:29,505 --> 00:46:31,984
The only body that could reverse a book

1261
00:46:31,984 --> 00:46:34,404
ban is the Utah State Board of Education

1262
00:46:34,784 --> 00:46:37,764
because the the idea is that this body

1263
00:46:38,464 --> 00:46:39,364
will be

1264
00:46:39,904 --> 00:46:40,804
manned and

1265
00:46:41,599 --> 00:46:44,480
equipped with the the the expertise amongst its

1266
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:45,699
staff and then also,

1267
00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:48,079
knowledge amongst its board members to make good

1268
00:46:48,079 --> 00:46:49,679
decisions on these things to look at the

1269
00:46:49,679 --> 00:46:51,280
title and say, you know what? We've reviewed

1270
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:53,440
it. We've read it, and, actually, it does

1271
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,519
not meet this threshold that you've said that

1272
00:46:55,519 --> 00:46:57,574
it did. I wanna be in one of

1273
00:46:57,574 --> 00:46:59,494
those seats because right now, our state school

1274
00:46:59,494 --> 00:47:01,275
board is just kind of a rubber stamp,

1275
00:47:01,734 --> 00:47:03,815
for the legislature in a lot of ways

1276
00:47:03,815 --> 00:47:05,994
and for the for the districts who are

1277
00:47:06,135 --> 00:47:08,315
putting forward these these these book bans.

1278
00:47:09,014 --> 00:47:09,755
We need

1279
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:12,800
more people on the state or on the

1280
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:14,880
state school board that that are willing to

1281
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,219
push back, that are willing to to apply

1282
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,480
reason. And and in some cases, sanity, we

1283
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,160
we have some great school board members, but

1284
00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:23,760
we got some folks. We have one that

1285
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:24,660
just got censured,

1286
00:47:25,255 --> 00:47:27,275
by both the state board and the legislature.

1287
00:47:27,335 --> 00:47:29,094
We've got we've got some folks that are

1288
00:47:29,094 --> 00:47:30,934
bringing the nonsense, and we need to we

1289
00:47:30,934 --> 00:47:33,574
need to replace them. Yeah. A couple of

1290
00:47:33,574 --> 00:47:35,175
follow ups to that. Mhmm. First of all,

1291
00:47:35,175 --> 00:47:37,255
it's music in my ears because, as you

1292
00:47:37,255 --> 00:47:37,755
know,

1293
00:47:38,054 --> 00:47:40,340
I worked on a fellowship for about a

1294
00:47:40,340 --> 00:47:43,539
year with our mutual friends, Monica Washington, Tracy

1295
00:47:43,539 --> 00:47:45,880
Nantz, Chris Dear, Tika Nagayoshi

1296
00:47:46,340 --> 00:47:46,840
Mhmm.

1297
00:47:47,219 --> 00:47:48,200
That was really

1298
00:47:48,579 --> 00:47:51,380
working on combating book bans because as we

1299
00:47:51,380 --> 00:47:51,880
know,

1300
00:47:52,980 --> 00:47:56,394
so many of these big movements to ban

1301
00:47:56,394 --> 00:47:56,894
books

1302
00:47:57,434 --> 00:47:58,894
and silence educational

1303
00:47:59,355 --> 00:47:59,855
perspective

1304
00:48:00,234 --> 00:48:01,295
historical perspectives

1305
00:48:01,835 --> 00:48:04,554
are coming from a very small and very

1306
00:48:04,554 --> 00:48:05,054
vocal

1307
00:48:05,434 --> 00:48:07,375
part of, the electorate.

1308
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:09,300
And so

1309
00:48:09,679 --> 00:48:11,679
that's music to my ears. I love that

1310
00:48:11,679 --> 00:48:14,400
you're doing that. Couple of questions that kind

1311
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,819
of arise for me about that. So

1312
00:48:17,519 --> 00:48:19,760
I would imagine that in well, I'll ask

1313
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,920
you. Is the Utah State Board expected to

1314
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:22,659
be nonpartisan?

1315
00:48:23,105 --> 00:48:25,585
Or the Utah Department of Education, is it

1316
00:48:25,585 --> 00:48:26,804
expected to be nonpartisan?

1317
00:48:27,264 --> 00:48:30,005
I appreciate this question because it should be.

1318
00:48:30,065 --> 00:48:32,385
Right? And it used to be. But our

1319
00:48:32,385 --> 00:48:32,885
our

1320
00:48:33,424 --> 00:48:36,404
our state legislature has a Republican super majority.

1321
00:48:36,704 --> 00:48:37,605
And in

1322
00:48:38,090 --> 00:48:41,050
last decade, it's it's shifted further to the

1323
00:48:41,050 --> 00:48:41,550
right.

1324
00:48:42,010 --> 00:48:44,250
And they did not like the decisions that

1325
00:48:44,250 --> 00:48:45,690
were being made by our state board of

1326
00:48:45,690 --> 00:48:48,170
education because our state board of education, 15

1327
00:48:48,170 --> 00:48:48,670
members,

1328
00:48:49,130 --> 00:48:50,110
were elected

1329
00:48:50,635 --> 00:48:51,535
in a nonpartisan

1330
00:48:51,835 --> 00:48:54,075
way. They didn't put a party affiliation next

1331
00:48:54,075 --> 00:48:55,595
to their name. Yeah. So you ended up

1332
00:48:55,595 --> 00:48:57,835
having people who were elected because of their

1333
00:48:57,835 --> 00:48:59,614
credibility in education spaces.

1334
00:49:00,075 --> 00:49:00,974
They were teachers.

1335
00:49:01,275 --> 00:49:03,114
They were education thinkers. They were in higher

1336
00:49:03,114 --> 00:49:05,549
ed, and and they were making decisions that

1337
00:49:05,549 --> 00:49:08,130
were based on what was best for education

1338
00:49:08,269 --> 00:49:10,369
and for children learn children's learning.

1339
00:49:10,750 --> 00:49:13,569
And so in 2020, the the state legislature

1340
00:49:13,710 --> 00:49:15,489
finally was able to change

1341
00:49:15,869 --> 00:49:18,449
state school board elections to partisan elections.

1342
00:49:18,785 --> 00:49:19,605
And that's that's

1343
00:49:20,224 --> 00:49:22,065
when majority. So there was a lot of

1344
00:49:22,065 --> 00:49:24,465
people that were elected. Some some wild folks

1345
00:49:24,465 --> 00:49:26,644
in there. And, in 2022,

1346
00:49:27,585 --> 00:49:29,765
again, another election cycle with partisan

1347
00:49:31,349 --> 00:49:33,110
labels next to your name, and and we

1348
00:49:33,110 --> 00:49:35,369
got more folks in there who are not,

1349
00:49:36,150 --> 00:49:37,769
I I I'd say not awesome.

1350
00:49:38,230 --> 00:49:40,329
And, and so now

1351
00:49:41,510 --> 00:49:43,450
I I had to to

1352
00:49:43,994 --> 00:49:46,074
declare a party affiliation. I could have run

1353
00:49:46,074 --> 00:49:46,574
unaffiliated,

1354
00:49:46,875 --> 00:49:48,574
but, you would never win.

1355
00:49:49,114 --> 00:49:51,194
So I I declared as a Democrat, and

1356
00:49:51,194 --> 00:49:53,454
I'm running with this with this party

1357
00:49:53,755 --> 00:49:55,674
label next to my name, but I'm also

1358
00:49:55,674 --> 00:49:57,034
running in a lot of ways to take

1359
00:49:57,034 --> 00:49:59,599
politics out of the work of our state

1360
00:49:59,599 --> 00:50:02,099
school board. Right. Because good education policy

1361
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:05,280
is not determined by partisan politics. It's determined

1362
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:05,780
by

1363
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:06,820
data,

1364
00:50:07,119 --> 00:50:09,680
research, what we know to be effective in

1365
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:11,300
practice for our children.

1366
00:50:11,775 --> 00:50:14,755
And and I'm I'm running a political campaign

1367
00:50:15,295 --> 00:50:16,034
to to

1368
00:50:16,414 --> 00:50:17,234
fight politics.

1369
00:50:18,094 --> 00:50:19,775
And when when you say that, I I

1370
00:50:19,775 --> 00:50:22,835
want our listeners to, like, hear this.

1371
00:50:23,135 --> 00:50:24,835
Mhmm. You are not arguing

1372
00:50:25,889 --> 00:50:26,630
for neutrality.

1373
00:50:27,489 --> 00:50:29,589
No. Tell me the difference between,

1374
00:50:30,609 --> 00:50:32,849
you know, sort of the the state of

1375
00:50:32,849 --> 00:50:34,869
things where Mhmm. Partisanship,

1376
00:50:35,809 --> 00:50:39,244
you're you're arguing has had a profoundly negative

1377
00:50:39,244 --> 00:50:39,744
impact

1378
00:50:40,605 --> 00:50:42,765
on on education policy in the state of

1379
00:50:42,765 --> 00:50:45,805
Utah Yeah. Versus let's get politics out of

1380
00:50:45,805 --> 00:50:47,644
this. What's in its place when we get

1381
00:50:47,644 --> 00:50:50,945
politics out of the conversation? Yeah. I'm I'm

1382
00:50:51,190 --> 00:50:53,690
I'm running on strong positions

1383
00:50:54,469 --> 00:50:56,250
that that put forward

1384
00:50:56,949 --> 00:50:58,890
that that hold fast to the idea

1385
00:50:59,269 --> 00:51:02,010
that public education is the best,

1386
00:51:02,869 --> 00:51:05,454
option for all children. The I I hold

1387
00:51:05,454 --> 00:51:07,855
fast to the the promise of public education

1388
00:51:07,855 --> 00:51:09,954
that every child should have available to them

1389
00:51:10,014 --> 00:51:13,135
an excellent neighborhood school that they can attend,

1390
00:51:13,135 --> 00:51:14,994
and they cannot say no to kids.

1391
00:51:15,375 --> 00:51:15,875
The

1392
00:51:17,099 --> 00:51:17,599
the

1393
00:51:18,059 --> 00:51:21,039
spectrum, like, the person I'm running against,

1394
00:51:21,579 --> 00:51:23,500
would put forward more of a market based

1395
00:51:23,500 --> 00:51:26,140
approach to education. This idea that privatizing more

1396
00:51:26,140 --> 00:51:28,300
of education is a positive move that that

1397
00:51:28,300 --> 00:51:29,039
we should,

1398
00:51:29,739 --> 00:51:31,119
look at things like vouchers

1399
00:51:31,500 --> 00:51:32,320
and and

1400
00:51:33,065 --> 00:51:36,105
diverting funds out of public education into private

1401
00:51:36,105 --> 00:51:37,964
schools, home schools, religious schools.

1402
00:51:38,505 --> 00:51:40,424
They look at that as innovation, and that

1403
00:51:40,424 --> 00:51:42,505
that is a track that we ought to

1404
00:51:42,505 --> 00:51:44,105
be pursuing, that we ought to be looking

1405
00:51:44,105 --> 00:51:46,344
further down that road. And I wanna draw

1406
00:51:46,344 --> 00:51:47,804
everybody's attention back

1407
00:51:48,159 --> 00:51:50,820
to to the the public education system

1408
00:51:51,119 --> 00:51:53,519
that needs to be improved. And in order

1409
00:51:53,519 --> 00:51:55,039
to do that, we need to elect more

1410
00:51:55,039 --> 00:51:57,619
educators into positions where we can do that,

1411
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:00,014
but that we should not abandon the idea

1412
00:52:00,494 --> 00:52:02,835
that that a a well educated electorate

1413
00:52:03,454 --> 00:52:04,434
is is necessary

1414
00:52:04,815 --> 00:52:06,194
for a functioning democracy

1415
00:52:06,815 --> 00:52:08,514
and that we should have a system

1416
00:52:08,974 --> 00:52:11,795
that equitably meets the needs of all children.

1417
00:52:12,014 --> 00:52:13,775
In Utah, we're we're facing a lot of

1418
00:52:13,775 --> 00:52:15,619
the anti DEI

1419
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:18,239
conversations that are out there. And I just

1420
00:52:18,239 --> 00:52:20,480
wanna remind everybody that diversity is a beautiful

1421
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:22,980
thing that's necessary and makes us strong, that

1422
00:52:23,119 --> 00:52:26,559
equity is is necessary if you're gonna actually

1423
00:52:26,559 --> 00:52:28,425
determine whether or not what you're doing for

1424
00:52:28,505 --> 00:52:30,125
children is effective and and

1425
00:52:30,425 --> 00:52:32,425
having the impacts that we needed to. And

1426
00:52:32,425 --> 00:52:32,925
inclusion

1427
00:52:33,704 --> 00:52:35,005
is is, again,

1428
00:52:35,545 --> 00:52:36,045
necessary

1429
00:52:36,425 --> 00:52:38,824
because if you if you aren't being inclusive,

1430
00:52:38,824 --> 00:52:41,304
then you're being exclusionary, that you're leaving people

1431
00:52:41,304 --> 00:52:43,785
out. And our school should never exclude any

1432
00:52:43,785 --> 00:52:44,280
child.

1433
00:52:44,679 --> 00:52:46,840
And that's that's that's what I'm running for.

1434
00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:48,920
It's it's not a neutral position, but it's

1435
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:51,239
not a partisan position. At least it shouldn't

1436
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:53,019
be. It's it's a it's a position

1437
00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:55,079
that is that is driven by love for

1438
00:52:55,079 --> 00:52:55,980
public education.

1439
00:52:56,465 --> 00:52:58,385
Yeah. Well and and what you're what you're

1440
00:52:58,385 --> 00:53:01,184
seeking and what you're advocating for is common

1441
00:53:01,184 --> 00:53:04,085
ground. Exactly. May not practice the same religions.

1442
00:53:04,385 --> 00:53:05,764
We may not,

1443
00:53:06,625 --> 00:53:08,799
wanna live our lives in exactly the same

1444
00:53:08,799 --> 00:53:10,960
ways as others. But the common ground is

1445
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:13,359
that a 100% of us who have kids

1446
00:53:13,519 --> 00:53:15,679
and there's a lot of these people who

1447
00:53:15,679 --> 00:53:16,339
are advocating,

1448
00:53:16,639 --> 00:53:18,719
who wanna make all these decisions about education,

1449
00:53:18,719 --> 00:53:20,339
who do not have children themselves.

1450
00:53:21,199 --> 00:53:23,644
Mhmm. Mhmm. You know, like, a 100% of

1451
00:53:23,644 --> 00:53:25,484
people with kids want what's best for their

1452
00:53:25,484 --> 00:53:25,984
kids.

1453
00:53:26,364 --> 00:53:27,965
A couple of things you said, I think,

1454
00:53:27,965 --> 00:53:30,284
are really moving, and I really wanna put

1455
00:53:30,284 --> 00:53:31,744
a pin in those things.

1456
00:53:32,204 --> 00:53:33,105
Public education

1457
00:53:34,125 --> 00:53:36,545
and, you know, you and I are here

1458
00:53:36,769 --> 00:53:38,869
as 2 men of color who are very

1459
00:53:38,929 --> 00:53:39,429
aware

1460
00:53:40,210 --> 00:53:41,349
of the

1461
00:53:41,730 --> 00:53:43,829
harms that have happened within

1462
00:53:44,530 --> 00:53:46,150
our education system Absolutely.

1463
00:53:46,530 --> 00:53:47,030
Absolutely.

1464
00:53:47,809 --> 00:53:49,109
Like, we're not naive

1465
00:53:49,489 --> 00:53:49,989
to,

1466
00:53:51,184 --> 00:53:54,164
to the presence of white supremacy and institutional

1467
00:53:54,224 --> 00:53:55,364
racism in

1468
00:53:55,664 --> 00:53:57,445
in these education spaces.

1469
00:53:58,704 --> 00:54:01,025
And I will add one thing.

1470
00:54:01,344 --> 00:54:04,085
An educated electorate is a free electorate.

1471
00:54:04,460 --> 00:54:04,960
Right?

1472
00:54:05,339 --> 00:54:05,839
And,

1473
00:54:06,219 --> 00:54:08,799
you know, and so I think that's how

1474
00:54:08,940 --> 00:54:09,759
we find

1475
00:54:10,299 --> 00:54:12,779
people actually being able to live lives as

1476
00:54:12,779 --> 00:54:14,699
free people. A couple of things that you

1477
00:54:14,699 --> 00:54:16,400
said, and I and I really wanna,

1478
00:54:16,859 --> 00:54:19,324
encourage listeners. If you have not listened

1479
00:54:20,105 --> 00:54:22,105
to my interview with doctor Josh Cowan at

1480
00:54:22,105 --> 00:54:23,405
the University of Michigan,

1481
00:54:24,344 --> 00:54:25,724
his book, the Privateers,

1482
00:54:26,184 --> 00:54:30,344
takes aim at voucher policies that have been

1483
00:54:30,344 --> 00:54:30,844
floated

1484
00:54:31,409 --> 00:54:33,010
ad nauseam. Like, I'm gonna have dinner with

1485
00:54:33,010 --> 00:54:34,690
my mother in about an hour, and this

1486
00:54:34,690 --> 00:54:38,289
was, like, the first education policy, like, I

1487
00:54:38,289 --> 00:54:40,369
learned about was vouchers, and this was in

1488
00:54:40,369 --> 00:54:41,589
the eighties. Right?

1489
00:54:42,609 --> 00:54:46,065
And what doctor Cowan shares with us is

1490
00:54:46,065 --> 00:54:48,085
that vouchers are not a vouchers

1491
00:54:48,945 --> 00:54:49,684
and privatization

1492
00:54:50,625 --> 00:54:52,545
is being put in front of us as

1493
00:54:52,545 --> 00:54:54,804
a nonpartisan issue. It isn't.

1494
00:54:55,344 --> 00:54:55,844
Nobody

1495
00:54:56,144 --> 00:54:56,644
who

1496
00:54:57,025 --> 00:54:59,969
they say is benefiting from vouchers is benefiting

1497
00:54:59,969 --> 00:55:03,010
from vouchers. We're not sending them to the

1498
00:55:03,010 --> 00:55:05,750
Baird School. Like, in a lot of cases,

1499
00:55:06,050 --> 00:55:07,590
it's little ramshackle,

1500
00:55:09,090 --> 00:55:11,889
storefront private schools Yep. That kids go to,

1501
00:55:11,889 --> 00:55:13,425
and they don't get a good education, and

1502
00:55:13,425 --> 00:55:14,785
most of them end up back in the

1503
00:55:14,785 --> 00:55:17,664
public education system anyway. And so they're so

1504
00:55:18,465 --> 00:55:20,465
there it the the pro and I don't

1505
00:55:20,465 --> 00:55:23,025
wanna derail our conversation, but the pro voucher

1506
00:55:23,025 --> 00:55:23,844
and pro privatization

1507
00:55:24,224 --> 00:55:24,724
movement

1508
00:55:25,105 --> 00:55:26,085
has politicized

1509
00:55:26,465 --> 00:55:26,965
this

1510
00:55:27,449 --> 00:55:28,269
by ignoring

1511
00:55:28,730 --> 00:55:29,389
the data.

1512
00:55:29,690 --> 00:55:32,510
Even Milton Friedman's people say, you know,

1513
00:55:33,130 --> 00:55:34,349
vouchers don't really work.

1514
00:55:35,050 --> 00:55:36,750
And the data is

1515
00:55:37,289 --> 00:55:37,789
embarrassingly

1516
00:55:38,250 --> 00:55:40,750
clear to the voucher movement that it does

1517
00:55:41,050 --> 00:55:41,550
not

1518
00:55:42,010 --> 00:55:42,510
result

1519
00:55:43,304 --> 00:55:44,284
in an advantage

1520
00:55:44,585 --> 00:55:46,925
for students. In fact, it is harmful.

1521
00:55:47,464 --> 00:55:49,144
I just wanna get on my soapbox for

1522
00:55:49,144 --> 00:55:49,625
that.

1523
00:55:50,025 --> 00:55:51,864
So you're in this sorry. Did you wanna

1524
00:55:51,864 --> 00:55:53,224
say something about that? Well, no. I was

1525
00:55:53,224 --> 00:55:55,144
just gonna say that's not derailing the conversation

1526
00:55:55,144 --> 00:55:56,664
at all in my mind. That's that's the

1527
00:55:56,664 --> 00:55:59,180
kind of conversation that leads people to decide

1528
00:55:59,180 --> 00:56:01,599
decide, you know what? Yeah. That's that's ridiculous.

1529
00:56:01,820 --> 00:56:04,220
I recognize it as such. The only way

1530
00:56:04,220 --> 00:56:07,599
to change it is through the the the

1531
00:56:07,739 --> 00:56:10,320
electoral system that we have, through our legislatures,

1532
00:56:10,539 --> 00:56:13,214
our school boards. If I am done being

1533
00:56:13,214 --> 00:56:14,974
sick of it and I'm ready to do

1534
00:56:14,974 --> 00:56:16,034
something about it,

1535
00:56:16,414 --> 00:56:18,514
then that's the path I have to follow.

1536
00:56:18,815 --> 00:56:20,275
That's right. That's right.

1537
00:56:21,054 --> 00:56:23,054
One other thing I kinda wanna ask you

1538
00:56:23,054 --> 00:56:24,355
about. So Mhmm.

1539
00:56:25,849 --> 00:56:27,849
A lot and this may be a more

1540
00:56:27,849 --> 00:56:29,710
technical question. So so Colorado,

1541
00:56:31,130 --> 00:56:34,489
works really hard. Like, it's policy for our

1542
00:56:34,489 --> 00:56:36,730
state board of education, our Colorado Department of

1543
00:56:36,730 --> 00:56:39,690
Education to be nonpartisan. Now I will say

1544
00:56:39,690 --> 00:56:40,829
it is glaringly

1545
00:56:41,364 --> 00:56:43,224
obvious what people's party affiliations

1546
00:56:43,525 --> 00:56:45,684
are. Like, it is it is not a

1547
00:56:45,684 --> 00:56:46,985
secret, but at least

1548
00:56:47,364 --> 00:56:50,005
that's kinda considered to be off limits as

1549
00:56:50,005 --> 00:56:51,844
far as, like, how we're gonna do that

1550
00:56:51,844 --> 00:56:53,684
thing. But we also deal with this issue

1551
00:56:53,684 --> 00:56:54,744
of local control,

1552
00:56:55,204 --> 00:56:57,900
and I feel like Utah and Colorado are

1553
00:56:57,900 --> 00:57:00,859
really similar. Like, you have some larger urban

1554
00:57:00,859 --> 00:57:02,619
areas like Salt Lake City like Salt Lake

1555
00:57:02,619 --> 00:57:04,460
City similar to Denver, not quite as cool,

1556
00:57:04,460 --> 00:57:06,699
but it is similar. No. No. I I

1557
00:57:06,699 --> 00:57:08,159
dispute, but fair enough.

1558
00:57:10,059 --> 00:57:11,994
But, like, so so you've got some Yeah.

1559
00:57:12,074 --> 00:57:13,755
Urban areas that are a little bit more

1560
00:57:13,755 --> 00:57:16,074
diverse that are a little bit more forward

1561
00:57:16,074 --> 00:57:16,574
thinking.

1562
00:57:16,954 --> 00:57:19,675
I know through family connections that Salt Lake

1563
00:57:19,675 --> 00:57:20,974
is very queer friendly.

1564
00:57:21,514 --> 00:57:23,295
It's a place where a lot of LGBTQ

1565
00:57:23,675 --> 00:57:25,480
folks feel that they can,

1566
00:57:25,780 --> 00:57:27,859
like, be there, and, you know, it it

1567
00:57:27,859 --> 00:57:29,699
does not feel like a threatening place in

1568
00:57:29,699 --> 00:57:31,859
the sense of And then at the same

1569
00:57:31,859 --> 00:57:33,079
time, we have

1570
00:57:33,619 --> 00:57:36,260
we have more rural areas. For us, it's

1571
00:57:36,260 --> 00:57:38,125
a western slope, which I guess would be

1572
00:57:38,125 --> 00:57:39,644
the eastern slope for you all. But for

1573
00:57:39,644 --> 00:57:42,285
the for us, it's the western slope where,

1574
00:57:42,605 --> 00:57:44,785
we have our best friends from,

1575
00:57:45,244 --> 00:57:47,025
the US House of Representatives

1576
00:57:47,325 --> 00:57:49,405
who represent those areas where there's a lot

1577
00:57:49,405 --> 00:57:51,825
of conservatism, and there's very strong

1578
00:57:52,409 --> 00:57:53,630
feelings around,

1579
00:57:54,329 --> 00:57:54,829
education.

1580
00:57:56,250 --> 00:57:59,150
How does local control function in your state,

1581
00:57:59,530 --> 00:58:00,030
and

1582
00:58:00,650 --> 00:58:02,109
how how do you

1583
00:58:02,569 --> 00:58:04,829
feel prepared to navigate that?

1584
00:58:05,445 --> 00:58:06,905
Yeah. That's a great question.

1585
00:58:07,285 --> 00:58:10,585
Local control is at the heart of everything

1586
00:58:10,965 --> 00:58:12,805
in in education here in the state of

1587
00:58:12,805 --> 00:58:14,505
Utah. But the

1588
00:58:15,125 --> 00:58:17,605
the thing that is really interesting about it

1589
00:58:17,605 --> 00:58:19,605
is that our state legislature has really gotten

1590
00:58:19,605 --> 00:58:20,989
in the business of micromanaging

1591
00:58:22,010 --> 00:58:24,329
what used to be handled at the local

1592
00:58:24,329 --> 00:58:26,730
level. Think so, like, book bans, for example,

1593
00:58:26,730 --> 00:58:28,809
going to statewide book bans versus just letting

1594
00:58:28,809 --> 00:58:29,630
local communities

1595
00:58:29,929 --> 00:58:32,170
form committees to determine what books are and

1596
00:58:32,170 --> 00:58:34,110
are not appropriate for their children.

1597
00:58:34,494 --> 00:58:35,795
That's that's overstepping

1598
00:58:36,094 --> 00:58:38,594
and and taking power away from local control.

1599
00:58:38,815 --> 00:58:40,355
Yep. And I,

1600
00:58:40,974 --> 00:58:43,214
you know, I I'm very much in favor

1601
00:58:43,214 --> 00:58:44,275
of school communities,

1602
00:58:44,974 --> 00:58:45,474
neighborhoods

1603
00:58:45,775 --> 00:58:48,355
determining for themselves as much as possible.

1604
00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:50,760
And as a state school board member, I'm

1605
00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:52,619
excited to to try to

1606
00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:53,420
encourage

1607
00:58:53,720 --> 00:58:55,960
folks to go back to that that beautiful

1608
00:58:55,960 --> 00:58:56,780
system because

1609
00:58:57,079 --> 00:58:58,380
it's it's not perfect,

1610
00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:01,000
but it's a whole lot better than a

1611
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:02,780
than a central authority

1612
00:59:03,405 --> 00:59:05,724
telling everybody in this incredibly diverse state of

1613
00:59:05,724 --> 00:59:06,224
Utah

1614
00:59:06,525 --> 00:59:08,045
what they need to be doing, what is

1615
00:59:08,045 --> 00:59:09,184
right for their kids.

1616
00:59:09,724 --> 00:59:11,105
Right. And I I

1617
00:59:11,565 --> 00:59:13,885
at my school, for example, I teach in

1618
00:59:13,885 --> 00:59:14,385
a,

1619
00:59:14,765 --> 00:59:16,445
you know, in Salt Lake City, it's a

1620
00:59:16,445 --> 00:59:19,130
majority minority district. And in my school,

1621
00:59:19,589 --> 00:59:22,789
you know, it's about 65, 70 percent Latino,

1622
00:59:22,789 --> 00:59:25,929
and then we've got African refugees. We've got,

1623
00:59:26,469 --> 00:59:28,489
Southeast Asian refugee population,

1624
00:59:29,589 --> 00:59:32,744
students from Afghanistan, all kinds of beautifully diverse

1625
00:59:32,744 --> 00:59:34,045
culturally rich places.

1626
00:59:34,744 --> 00:59:36,664
And what makes sense for us is not

1627
00:59:36,664 --> 00:59:39,784
gonna make sense in rural Utah or in

1628
00:59:39,784 --> 00:59:41,944
in places where they've got, you know, one

1629
00:59:41,944 --> 00:59:44,519
room schoolhouse with 23 kids k to 6.

1630
00:59:44,519 --> 00:59:47,260
Yeah. And and we need to be nimble.

1631
00:59:47,320 --> 00:59:48,539
We have to trust

1632
00:59:49,079 --> 00:59:51,480
local authorities to make as many decisions as

1633
00:59:51,480 --> 00:59:51,980
possible.

1634
00:59:52,599 --> 00:59:53,579
And I

1635
00:59:53,960 --> 00:59:54,460
I

1636
00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:56,684
as I look at policy at the state

1637
00:59:56,684 --> 00:59:59,164
board level, I'm going to be a voice,

1638
00:59:59,164 --> 01:00:00,844
and that's not a voice that you necessarily

1639
01:00:00,844 --> 01:00:02,065
expect from a Democrat.

1640
01:00:02,605 --> 01:00:04,785
But as somebody who appreciates autonomy

1641
01:00:05,325 --> 01:00:06,224
autonomy in my classroom

1642
01:00:06,765 --> 01:00:09,244
and site based governance in my in my

1643
01:00:09,244 --> 01:00:10,625
school, I appreciate

1644
01:00:11,139 --> 01:00:12,980
local control, and and I look forward to

1645
01:00:12,980 --> 01:00:15,179
championing it. Yeah. As

1646
01:00:15,619 --> 01:00:16,840
like, yeah. Absolutely.

1647
01:00:17,219 --> 01:00:19,159
You've got me thinking about how,

1648
01:00:19,780 --> 01:00:22,420
and the Democratic party is flawed just like

1649
01:00:22,420 --> 01:00:24,119
any political party is flawed.

1650
01:00:24,500 --> 01:00:25,920
But it's fun like, I always find it

1651
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:26,954
hilarious when the

1652
01:00:31,515 --> 01:00:33,835
control your life. I'm like, yeah. They wanna

1653
01:00:33,835 --> 01:00:35,914
make sure that you have free health care

1654
01:00:35,914 --> 01:00:37,994
no matter Yeah. What you say about it.

1655
01:00:37,994 --> 01:00:40,559
Like, it's wild to me. Yeah. We think

1656
01:00:40,559 --> 01:00:42,400
people shouldn't starve. I don't know. Like, is

1657
01:00:42,400 --> 01:00:44,640
that, like, controversial? Maybe they should choose to

1658
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:46,640
starve. It's the same thing. No. But I

1659
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:48,579
think what you're saying is just so important

1660
01:00:48,640 --> 01:00:49,140
because

1661
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,200
I think about a teacher that I met

1662
01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:51,291
who teaches, I think, in Nebraska. I could

1663
01:00:51,291 --> 01:00:51,940
be wrong about this. And and when the,

1664
01:01:00,835 --> 01:01:02,134
2020, in June 2020

1665
01:01:02,434 --> 01:01:04,994
after George Floyd and Brown Taylor Taylor were

1666
01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:05,815
killed by police,

1667
01:01:06,940 --> 01:01:09,119
I remember there was 1,

1668
01:01:10,380 --> 01:01:11,199
one LGBT

1669
01:01:12,380 --> 01:01:15,420
identifying woman teaching in a very conservative in

1670
01:01:15,420 --> 01:01:18,300
rural community in Nebraska, and we got into

1671
01:01:18,300 --> 01:01:20,219
the Twitter conversation where I was like, what's

1672
01:01:20,219 --> 01:01:23,045
it like out there? And she says, honestly,

1673
01:01:24,545 --> 01:01:26,704
like, I don't have any problems out here,

1674
01:01:26,704 --> 01:01:28,704
and I've got my Black Lives Matter signs

1675
01:01:28,704 --> 01:01:31,505
up. I've got my love wins. I've got

1676
01:01:31,505 --> 01:01:32,005
my

1677
01:01:32,304 --> 01:01:34,864
I've got my pride flag flying on my

1678
01:01:34,864 --> 01:01:35,789
front front porch.

1679
01:01:36,250 --> 01:01:38,329
You know why it doesn't matter to these

1680
01:01:38,329 --> 01:01:40,329
folks? It's because I go and see their

1681
01:01:40,329 --> 01:01:42,489
kids play sports. It's because I go and

1682
01:01:42,489 --> 01:01:44,809
buy their things at the farmers market. It's

1683
01:01:44,809 --> 01:01:47,389
because I attend a lot of the same

1684
01:01:47,925 --> 01:01:50,005
events and functions that they do. Like, I

1685
01:01:50,005 --> 01:01:51,144
think local control

1686
01:01:51,605 --> 01:01:53,844
is something that's been hijacked by bad actors.

1687
01:01:53,844 --> 01:01:56,005
I would imagine that your opponent may be

1688
01:01:56,005 --> 01:01:58,265
one of these people to sort of say

1689
01:01:58,644 --> 01:02:01,445
to that they dis they dis they don't

1690
01:02:01,445 --> 01:02:02,985
trust these small communities

1691
01:02:03,890 --> 01:02:04,390
to,

1692
01:02:04,769 --> 01:02:06,930
go where they wanna go politically. Because at

1693
01:02:06,930 --> 01:02:08,070
the end of the day,

1694
01:02:08,449 --> 01:02:10,210
a lot of our smaller and and I

1695
01:02:10,210 --> 01:02:12,289
look at I look at Colorado, especially my

1696
01:02:12,289 --> 01:02:15,170
my grandfather was from Antonito, which still doesn't

1697
01:02:15,170 --> 01:02:17,190
have traffic lights, right, in 2024.

1698
01:02:18,664 --> 01:02:20,445
And what you get there

1699
01:02:20,985 --> 01:02:22,764
can often be extremely humanizing,

1700
01:02:23,385 --> 01:02:24,525
like, where people

1701
01:02:24,824 --> 01:02:26,844
are connected and they know each other,

1702
01:02:27,304 --> 01:02:27,804
and

1703
01:02:28,184 --> 01:02:30,844
you also get curiosity about the world beyond

1704
01:02:31,809 --> 01:02:34,130
the borders of their town and community. So

1705
01:02:34,449 --> 01:02:36,289
Mhmm. It's got a lot of feelings on

1706
01:02:36,289 --> 01:02:38,609
on local control. Totally. I'll I'll say this.

1707
01:02:38,609 --> 01:02:40,069
My my opponent,

1708
01:02:40,529 --> 01:02:42,630
doctor Molly Hart is her name.

1709
01:02:43,329 --> 01:02:44,630
She is a

1710
01:02:45,250 --> 01:02:47,704
really smart, capable administrator.

1711
01:02:48,164 --> 01:02:50,085
And I I've shared this a lot. She's

1712
01:02:50,085 --> 01:02:52,325
also, she's also a friend. She's a kind

1713
01:02:52,325 --> 01:02:54,724
and decent woman. And I think that on

1714
01:02:54,724 --> 01:02:56,184
issues like local control,

1715
01:02:56,565 --> 01:02:59,125
we we wouldn't differ that much. The the

1716
01:02:59,125 --> 01:02:59,625
main,

1717
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:03,079
like, main areas of distinction between us are

1718
01:03:03,079 --> 01:03:05,480
the I'm a I'm a public school teacher

1719
01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:07,640
through and through, and she's right now the

1720
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:09,880
executive director for a chain of charter schools.

1721
01:03:09,880 --> 01:03:11,960
So when it comes to envisioning the future

1722
01:03:11,960 --> 01:03:14,360
of public education Differences. We we go we

1723
01:03:14,360 --> 01:03:15,660
go in different directions.

1724
01:03:15,965 --> 01:03:17,565
But one of the nice things that I've

1725
01:03:17,565 --> 01:03:19,965
I've enjoyed in this race is the fact

1726
01:03:19,965 --> 01:03:20,465
that,

1727
01:03:21,644 --> 01:03:23,485
she and I are both educators. We both

1728
01:03:23,485 --> 01:03:25,485
come from an education background, and this is

1729
01:03:25,485 --> 01:03:26,625
kind of the one

1730
01:03:27,085 --> 01:03:30,179
state school board race. There's there's another where

1731
01:03:30,179 --> 01:03:31,940
you've got a couple of educators going at

1732
01:03:31,940 --> 01:03:32,519
it, but,

1733
01:03:34,179 --> 01:03:36,440
but this is a race where our voters

1734
01:03:36,659 --> 01:03:38,980
are going to get to choose between 2

1735
01:03:38,980 --> 01:03:42,284
different educators who know what they're talking about

1736
01:03:42,284 --> 01:03:44,364
but who just see education and the landscape

1737
01:03:44,364 --> 01:03:45,424
in a different way.

1738
01:03:45,724 --> 01:03:47,565
And this is also what you get when

1739
01:03:47,565 --> 01:03:50,125
you get more teachers running for office. You

1740
01:03:50,125 --> 01:03:51,984
get people who are,

1741
01:03:52,924 --> 01:03:55,264
ready to talk issues and policy

1742
01:03:55,769 --> 01:03:58,269
and but who also will honor each other's

1743
01:03:58,329 --> 01:03:59,550
experience and expertise.

1744
01:04:00,570 --> 01:04:02,489
And that's another reason why we need more

1745
01:04:02,489 --> 01:04:04,809
people. Anybody who's listening right now who's thinking,

1746
01:04:04,809 --> 01:04:05,550
you know what?

1747
01:04:06,090 --> 01:04:07,849
I I think I'm ready to grab my

1748
01:04:07,849 --> 01:04:10,250
life preserver and my water wings and and

1749
01:04:10,250 --> 01:04:12,545
and jump on in. It's it's a space

1750
01:04:12,545 --> 01:04:14,085
where you can you can

1751
01:04:14,944 --> 01:04:16,565
you can go into it

1752
01:04:17,585 --> 01:04:20,944
and feel at least safe in knowing that

1753
01:04:20,944 --> 01:04:22,804
if you conduct yourself with

1754
01:04:23,105 --> 01:04:24,005
with with

1755
01:04:24,890 --> 01:04:27,769
discipline and honor and pride and and you

1756
01:04:27,769 --> 01:04:29,550
hold true to the things that you believe

1757
01:04:31,210 --> 01:04:32,969
idea that you might be running up against

1758
01:04:32,969 --> 01:04:34,730
somebody who also is is a good and

1759
01:04:34,730 --> 01:04:37,309
decent person, then you can have a fantastic

1760
01:04:37,449 --> 01:04:39,695
time running in a political race. People ask

1761
01:04:39,695 --> 01:04:40,735
me all the time, how how are you

1762
01:04:40,735 --> 01:04:42,494
enjoying this? I say, I'm I'm having a

1763
01:04:42,494 --> 01:04:44,815
great time. I I love knocking on the

1764
01:04:44,815 --> 01:04:47,135
doors of strangers and telling them, hey. This

1765
01:04:47,135 --> 01:04:49,855
stuff that I'm usually just fuming about alone

1766
01:04:49,855 --> 01:04:50,675
in my classroom,

1767
01:04:51,110 --> 01:04:52,710
this is really important. I'm grateful for the

1768
01:04:52,710 --> 01:04:54,730
fact that I'm now talking to human beings

1769
01:04:54,949 --> 01:04:56,890
about these issues and people in the communities,

1770
01:04:57,269 --> 01:04:59,269
you know, again, going not just back to

1771
01:04:59,269 --> 01:05:01,829
local control, but just to local care. You

1772
01:05:01,829 --> 01:05:03,849
know? The the school is the heartbeat

1773
01:05:04,150 --> 01:05:04,890
of a community,

1774
01:05:05,585 --> 01:05:07,204
and and it's it's a

1775
01:05:07,744 --> 01:05:10,385
place that is appreciated and loved by so

1776
01:05:10,385 --> 01:05:10,885
many.

1777
01:05:11,344 --> 01:05:13,264
And and that's why they don't mind you

1778
01:05:13,264 --> 01:05:15,105
knocking on their door. Because if you wanna

1779
01:05:15,105 --> 01:05:17,025
talk about school, they they got things to

1780
01:05:17,025 --> 01:05:18,789
say. There's things that they wanna let you

1781
01:05:18,789 --> 01:05:20,889
know. And as educators,

1782
01:05:21,750 --> 01:05:23,130
we're also great listeners.

1783
01:05:23,510 --> 01:05:25,269
And that's also why people need us to

1784
01:05:25,269 --> 01:05:26,710
run for office because they know that they

1785
01:05:26,710 --> 01:05:28,389
can talk to us, and we will not

1786
01:05:28,389 --> 01:05:31,130
only listen, but for you know,

1787
01:05:31,474 --> 01:05:33,715
as professionals, we take what we learn and

1788
01:05:33,715 --> 01:05:35,574
we transform it into instruction

1789
01:05:36,275 --> 01:05:38,755
and and new ways of making decisions. They

1790
01:05:38,755 --> 01:05:40,454
know that they'll get that with us.

1791
01:05:40,994 --> 01:05:43,335
Yeah. I really appreciate that because

1792
01:05:43,795 --> 01:05:44,775
as you can see,

1793
01:05:45,670 --> 01:05:46,969
you know, I think

1794
01:05:47,590 --> 01:05:48,969
it's so easy

1795
01:05:49,829 --> 01:05:52,389
for elections to lead us into the worst

1796
01:05:52,389 --> 01:05:54,949
version of ourselves. Right? Time. And,

1797
01:05:55,269 --> 01:05:57,670
and I love that you and doctor Hart

1798
01:05:57,670 --> 01:06:00,570
have a good rapport, that there's mutual respect.

1799
01:06:00,965 --> 01:06:03,844
There's difference of opinions. And at the end

1800
01:06:03,844 --> 01:06:05,925
of the day, yes, you run on your

1801
01:06:05,925 --> 01:06:07,385
principles, but you also

1802
01:06:08,085 --> 01:06:10,244
you also look at the communities that you

1803
01:06:10,244 --> 01:06:12,905
represent. And it sounds like both of you

1804
01:06:13,204 --> 01:06:15,385
are really looking at how to

1805
01:06:16,630 --> 01:06:18,170
at how you're gonna best represent

1806
01:06:18,469 --> 01:06:21,110
your communities. And Mhmm. You know, and that's

1807
01:06:21,110 --> 01:06:23,110
always kind of a process. Something else you

1808
01:06:23,110 --> 01:06:24,550
said that I've been wanting to you you

1809
01:06:24,550 --> 01:06:26,469
said it a couple of different ways in

1810
01:06:26,469 --> 01:06:27,210
this conversation

1811
01:06:28,150 --> 01:06:30,389
that I really wanna highlight is

1812
01:06:31,545 --> 01:06:32,984
so I'll take you through my,

1813
01:06:33,464 --> 01:06:34,684
my chain of thoughts.

1814
01:06:35,304 --> 01:06:37,304
Please. So you so you talked a little

1815
01:06:37,304 --> 01:06:38,984
bit. Right? It's a it's a wild I

1816
01:06:38,984 --> 01:06:40,924
love it, man. I always love it.

1817
01:06:43,304 --> 01:06:44,905
For well, first of all, there's just a

1818
01:06:44,905 --> 01:06:47,969
small aside. Like, I've known you, like, almost

1819
01:06:47,969 --> 01:06:50,530
5 years, and I've never seen you fume

1820
01:06:50,530 --> 01:06:52,369
in my life. Like, I would actually love

1821
01:06:52,369 --> 01:06:53,510
to see this because

1822
01:06:53,890 --> 01:06:56,309
I don't believe you that you fume,

1823
01:06:56,690 --> 01:06:58,789
but we can that can be another episode.

1824
01:06:59,730 --> 01:06:59,809
The

1825
01:07:01,394 --> 01:07:02,775
but the thing that really

1826
01:07:03,474 --> 01:07:04,934
stands out to me from

1827
01:07:05,235 --> 01:07:06,375
what you're sharing

1828
01:07:07,155 --> 01:07:11,335
is that teachers are really uniquely positioned. Like,

1829
01:07:11,554 --> 01:07:12,614
public school

1830
01:07:13,074 --> 01:07:15,715
Mhmm. Is one of the only places that

1831
01:07:15,715 --> 01:07:16,775
you are guaranteed

1832
01:07:17,450 --> 01:07:19,289
to have to be around people who are

1833
01:07:19,289 --> 01:07:22,250
really different from you. Mhmm. People that you

1834
01:07:22,250 --> 01:07:24,570
may never I just had my 30th, high

1835
01:07:24,570 --> 01:07:27,230
school reunion. Right? People who you

1836
01:07:27,930 --> 01:07:30,890
never wanna see again when you graduate. Right?

1837
01:07:30,890 --> 01:07:31,390
Or

1838
01:07:32,114 --> 01:07:34,775
people who you shared something with,

1839
01:07:35,235 --> 01:07:37,394
and and you've lived different lives. You've done

1840
01:07:37,394 --> 01:07:40,275
different things. Public school is, like, the only

1841
01:07:40,275 --> 01:07:41,815
place in these

1842
01:07:42,195 --> 01:07:43,335
American streets

1843
01:07:44,034 --> 01:07:44,534
where

1844
01:07:44,969 --> 01:07:46,429
you can't avoid

1845
01:07:46,809 --> 01:07:50,170
differing points of view. You can't avoid people

1846
01:07:50,170 --> 01:07:51,869
who are different from you.

1847
01:07:52,170 --> 01:07:53,449
I mean, you can't, but you need money

1848
01:07:53,449 --> 01:07:55,130
to do that. And Right. There's all these

1849
01:07:55,130 --> 01:07:55,949
things. But,

1850
01:07:56,250 --> 01:07:58,590
but, like, we've come to this place where

1851
01:07:59,155 --> 01:08:01,175
in social media, we carefully

1852
01:08:01,875 --> 01:08:04,115
curate who we stay connected to and who

1853
01:08:04,115 --> 01:08:06,515
we don't as a society. We go to

1854
01:08:06,515 --> 01:08:10,275
churches that are absolutely dedicated in exactly the

1855
01:08:10,275 --> 01:08:12,300
way we want them to be. There are

1856
01:08:12,300 --> 01:08:14,960
fewer and fewer places in the public square

1857
01:08:15,500 --> 01:08:16,560
where our

1858
01:08:16,939 --> 01:08:17,760
our opinions

1859
01:08:18,300 --> 01:08:19,280
and our experiences

1860
01:08:19,739 --> 01:08:22,000
are interrogated. And I and I don't mean

1861
01:08:22,300 --> 01:08:24,320
attacked, but Yeah. But interrogated

1862
01:08:24,699 --> 01:08:26,539
and questioned where we don't have to, like,

1863
01:08:26,539 --> 01:08:28,694
do this. It just makes me think of,

1864
01:08:28,935 --> 01:08:31,514
something that doctor Cowen said on our conversation

1865
01:08:31,574 --> 01:08:32,795
about his book, The Privateers,

1866
01:08:33,414 --> 01:08:34,795
where Betsy DeVos,

1867
01:08:35,574 --> 01:08:37,814
one of the things that is a guiding

1868
01:08:37,814 --> 01:08:40,074
principle for her and for some of these

1869
01:08:40,220 --> 01:08:41,280
folks who are looking

1870
01:08:41,820 --> 01:08:43,739
to really and, you know, again, listen to

1871
01:08:43,739 --> 01:08:45,820
that episode. I won't go into it. Really

1872
01:08:45,820 --> 01:08:47,360
do harm to public education

1873
01:08:47,899 --> 01:08:49,920
has stated that

1874
01:08:50,460 --> 01:08:52,640
school has replaced church

1875
01:08:53,305 --> 01:08:55,545
in people's lives, and we have to put

1876
01:08:55,545 --> 01:08:57,944
a stop to that. And, first of all,

1877
01:08:57,944 --> 01:08:58,765
it's not true.

1878
01:08:59,465 --> 01:09:01,465
And second of all, it sparked it it

1879
01:09:01,465 --> 01:09:04,024
it just, like, fires up this fear of

1880
01:09:04,024 --> 01:09:06,744
the unknown and the unfamiliar. And, honestly, man,

1881
01:09:06,744 --> 01:09:09,050
like, I think those of us who who

1882
01:09:09,050 --> 01:09:10,190
have been teachers,

1883
01:09:10,890 --> 01:09:13,130
we just know how to receive and talk

1884
01:09:13,130 --> 01:09:16,590
to and facilitate dialogue between very different people.

1885
01:09:17,130 --> 01:09:18,670
I had a kid in my class,

1886
01:09:19,050 --> 01:09:21,630
when former president Obama was elected

1887
01:09:22,215 --> 01:09:23,515
who, openly

1888
01:09:24,135 --> 01:09:27,274
challenged the president's citizenship and the birth certificate

1889
01:09:27,414 --> 01:09:29,494
and all that kind of stuff. And that

1890
01:09:29,494 --> 01:09:31,515
was a tough moment to

1891
01:09:31,975 --> 01:09:34,215
navigate because I love all these kids. All

1892
01:09:34,215 --> 01:09:36,375
these kids are dope, and they're amazing, and

1893
01:09:36,375 --> 01:09:38,310
they're 11 12 years old.

1894
01:09:38,689 --> 01:09:40,069
How do we hold space

1895
01:09:40,449 --> 01:09:41,270
for difference?

1896
01:09:41,729 --> 01:09:44,149
And then how do we create an environment

1897
01:09:44,529 --> 01:09:47,189
where when folks have received misinformation

1898
01:09:47,569 --> 01:09:49,969
that they're able to reflect on it and

1899
01:09:49,969 --> 01:09:50,949
critique it

1900
01:09:51,250 --> 01:09:52,425
and change their minds?

1901
01:09:52,824 --> 01:09:55,145
Yeah. Like and there just are fewer and

1902
01:09:55,145 --> 01:09:56,045
fewer spaces

1903
01:09:56,664 --> 01:09:58,744
where this is possible. Like, obviously, kids need

1904
01:09:58,744 --> 01:10:00,505
to be educated, and we need to be

1905
01:10:00,505 --> 01:10:03,564
able to give them a better future than

1906
01:10:03,784 --> 01:10:05,564
maybe what we had as kids.

1907
01:10:06,010 --> 01:10:08,590
Mhmm. But the bigger issue for me is

1908
01:10:09,210 --> 01:10:09,710
teaching

1909
01:10:10,409 --> 01:10:11,229
young people

1910
01:10:12,010 --> 01:10:13,770
how to just be with people who are

1911
01:10:13,770 --> 01:10:15,770
different from them. No doubt, man. And that's

1912
01:10:15,770 --> 01:10:18,010
why anytime someone brings up this idea that

1913
01:10:18,010 --> 01:10:20,250
we need to get divisive concepts out of

1914
01:10:20,250 --> 01:10:23,085
our schools, They don't get that our schools

1915
01:10:23,225 --> 01:10:25,784
are are meant to be the proving grounds

1916
01:10:25,784 --> 01:10:26,524
for ideas,

1917
01:10:27,064 --> 01:10:28,664
and and that a lot of the problems

1918
01:10:28,664 --> 01:10:30,345
that we're facing right now is because we

1919
01:10:30,345 --> 01:10:31,564
gave up on the idea

1920
01:10:32,024 --> 01:10:34,984
of of teaching young people how to achieve

1921
01:10:34,984 --> 01:10:36,284
consensus and compromise

1922
01:10:36,760 --> 01:10:39,239
through hard conversations, and that we, as teachers,

1923
01:10:39,239 --> 01:10:41,420
our job is to help facilitate those conversations,

1924
01:10:41,960 --> 01:10:44,619
help mediate and moderate when there are

1925
01:10:45,159 --> 01:10:46,680
disagreements. I do it on the daily. You

1926
01:10:46,680 --> 01:10:48,359
know? Whether it's on the playground or in

1927
01:10:48,359 --> 01:10:51,340
the classroom, I I help kids bridge gaps.

1928
01:10:51,824 --> 01:10:53,984
And Yeah. We have too many adults out

1929
01:10:53,984 --> 01:10:55,844
there who did not receive an education

1930
01:10:56,305 --> 01:10:57,744
where they had to bridge gaps, where they

1931
01:10:57,744 --> 01:10:59,425
could just turn their back on somebody they

1932
01:10:59,425 --> 01:11:01,824
disagreed with, and that was fine. And now

1933
01:11:01,824 --> 01:11:04,064
they're they're trying to lead in spaces where

1934
01:11:04,064 --> 01:11:05,765
they are, again, trying to dismiss

1935
01:11:06,390 --> 01:11:08,010
and and devalue voices,

1936
01:11:08,550 --> 01:11:10,390
and that's why we're facing all these problems.

1937
01:11:10,390 --> 01:11:12,229
That's why we do need more teachers in

1938
01:11:12,229 --> 01:11:13,750
these spaces. I think that before you can

1939
01:11:13,750 --> 01:11:16,229
become the the speaker of any house or

1940
01:11:16,229 --> 01:11:17,609
the president of any senate,

1941
01:11:18,069 --> 01:11:19,989
the requirement should be that you have had

1942
01:11:19,989 --> 01:11:22,204
at least 2 to 3 years of classroom

1943
01:11:22,264 --> 01:11:24,664
teaching experience because Some of these people I

1944
01:11:24,664 --> 01:11:26,425
don't want teaching. But yes. No. Yeah. But

1945
01:11:26,425 --> 01:11:28,185
but it's great. But it it is that

1946
01:11:28,185 --> 01:11:30,444
that that civic duty. Right? What are you

1947
01:11:30,505 --> 01:11:33,164
doing to really get to know people? Exactly.

1948
01:11:33,225 --> 01:11:35,069
And, like, do you know how to manage

1949
01:11:35,069 --> 01:11:37,090
these conversations? I watched the house of representatives

1950
01:11:37,229 --> 01:11:38,829
at the national level as well as here

1951
01:11:38,829 --> 01:11:40,289
in the state house, and it's like,

1952
01:11:40,989 --> 01:11:43,149
man, we need somebody who like, we need

1953
01:11:43,149 --> 01:11:43,810
a class

1954
01:11:44,670 --> 01:11:46,109
teacher to hold that gap. We need we

1955
01:11:46,109 --> 01:11:47,889
need somebody who has, like, helped

1956
01:11:48,244 --> 01:11:50,324
children, like, in my case, 11 12 year

1957
01:11:50,324 --> 01:11:52,244
olds navigate these kinds of conversations so that

1958
01:11:52,244 --> 01:11:55,125
they can help these adults Yeah. See through

1959
01:11:55,125 --> 01:11:58,104
the nonsense and and appreciate each other's opinions

1960
01:11:58,164 --> 01:12:00,344
and and then and then work from there.

1961
01:12:00,724 --> 01:12:01,864
And, you know,

1962
01:12:02,210 --> 01:12:03,729
one one point that I just wanna make

1963
01:12:03,729 --> 01:12:05,750
on what you were saying there is

1964
01:12:06,210 --> 01:12:08,369
one of the the things I also appreciate

1965
01:12:08,369 --> 01:12:10,850
most about teachers who get into these political

1966
01:12:10,850 --> 01:12:13,170
spaces, and I found this very true from

1967
01:12:13,170 --> 01:12:15,734
my run, is we don't tend to run

1968
01:12:15,734 --> 01:12:18,534
against things. We don't work against things. We

1969
01:12:18,534 --> 01:12:20,774
can be disruptive. We can be revolutionary. I

1970
01:12:20,774 --> 01:12:22,954
love it. But we are running for,

1971
01:12:23,335 --> 01:12:25,734
in this case, public education, or we're running

1972
01:12:25,734 --> 01:12:28,375
for the freedom to read good books. We're

1973
01:12:28,375 --> 01:12:29,354
running for

1974
01:12:30,010 --> 01:12:31,229
beautiful inspirational

1975
01:12:31,609 --> 01:12:34,590
ideas. We're not we're not we're not alienating

1976
01:12:34,649 --> 01:12:37,149
anybody. We're exactly. We're not trying to demonize

1977
01:12:37,210 --> 01:12:38,909
anyone. We're not running against

1978
01:12:39,289 --> 01:12:42,010
anybody. We are running for our children, for

1979
01:12:42,010 --> 01:12:44,025
each other, and and that's the kind of

1980
01:12:44,025 --> 01:12:46,125
vibe, that's the kind of energy you get

1981
01:12:46,505 --> 01:12:49,864
when public school teachers become public servants in

1982
01:12:49,864 --> 01:12:50,364
office.

1983
01:12:50,985 --> 01:12:52,905
I love it. I love it. And, you

1984
01:12:52,905 --> 01:12:55,864
know, just like you don't you you teach

1985
01:12:55,864 --> 01:12:58,045
the children who are assigned to your classes,

1986
01:12:58,590 --> 01:13:01,250
You represent the people who are in your

1987
01:13:01,710 --> 01:13:03,329
district or in your community.

1988
01:13:04,109 --> 01:13:05,229
I'm gonna get you out of here in

1989
01:13:05,229 --> 01:13:05,890
a second.

1990
01:13:06,510 --> 01:13:09,010
John Arthur, few soon to be

1991
01:13:09,470 --> 01:13:12,530
state board of education member, John Arthur.

1992
01:13:13,914 --> 01:13:15,135
Let can you share

1993
01:13:15,435 --> 01:13:16,895
so I'm so, obviously,

1994
01:13:17,514 --> 01:13:19,274
after this conversation, people are gonna be so

1995
01:13:19,274 --> 01:13:20,635
fired up, and they're like, I wanna get

1996
01:13:20,635 --> 01:13:24,175
involved. Mhmm. From your perspective, both as

1997
01:13:24,795 --> 01:13:25,935
a Utah teacher,

1998
01:13:26,439 --> 01:13:29,239
as an educator that was on that was

1999
01:13:29,239 --> 01:13:31,979
in the national conversation around education,

2000
01:13:32,359 --> 01:13:35,500
and now for someone running for statewide office,

2001
01:13:36,119 --> 01:13:37,640
what what would you say are some of

2002
01:13:37,640 --> 01:13:40,565
the best ways that teachers can become involved

2003
01:13:40,864 --> 01:13:42,805
in because I think to your point,

2004
01:13:43,505 --> 01:13:44,244
so many

2005
01:13:44,545 --> 01:13:47,185
teachers are sitting in their classrooms or sitting

2006
01:13:47,185 --> 01:13:49,185
in front of the couch or sitting on

2007
01:13:49,185 --> 01:13:50,645
social media when,

2008
01:13:50,945 --> 01:13:53,810
like, stuff, like, goes sideways, and it's just

2009
01:13:53,970 --> 01:13:55,029
like, the powerlessness

2010
01:13:55,329 --> 01:13:57,750
and the rage is just so paralyzing.

2011
01:13:58,369 --> 01:13:58,869
So

2012
01:13:59,409 --> 01:14:01,810
what are some ways that you would say

2013
01:14:01,810 --> 01:14:03,029
folks can get involved?

2014
01:14:03,409 --> 01:14:03,909
Yeah.

2015
01:14:04,770 --> 01:14:06,930
The first one I'm gonna put out there

2016
01:14:06,930 --> 01:14:07,670
is just

2017
01:14:08,324 --> 01:14:10,645
if you if you are not a member

2018
01:14:10,645 --> 01:14:13,225
of your local education association

2019
01:14:13,604 --> 01:14:15,465
or union, I would recommend

2020
01:14:15,925 --> 01:14:18,005
signing up. You know, it's not for everybody.

2021
01:14:18,005 --> 01:14:19,844
I know that people have different feelings about

2022
01:14:19,844 --> 01:14:22,389
things. But if you are looking to turn

2023
01:14:22,389 --> 01:14:25,189
your one single voice into part of a

2024
01:14:25,189 --> 01:14:26,969
a collective that has power,

2025
01:14:27,349 --> 01:14:28,789
the best way to do that is to

2026
01:14:28,789 --> 01:14:29,289
join

2027
01:14:29,750 --> 01:14:31,670
the the, you know, in my case, Salt

2028
01:14:31,670 --> 01:14:34,229
Lake Education Association or the American Federation of

2029
01:14:34,229 --> 01:14:37,125
Teachers. Whoever you want to join hands with,

2030
01:14:37,345 --> 01:14:39,024
more power to you. That's that's that's a

2031
01:14:39,024 --> 01:14:40,945
great way to get involved. And I would

2032
01:14:40,945 --> 01:14:43,024
add to that. If you're in a state

2033
01:14:43,024 --> 01:14:44,945
where you do not have a union, that's

2034
01:14:44,945 --> 01:14:47,265
why you need a union. Yeah. Yeah. And

2035
01:14:47,265 --> 01:14:49,345
Utah's you're not on public with us. Yeah.

2036
01:14:49,345 --> 01:14:51,060
Exactly. Utah has a right to work safe,

2037
01:14:51,060 --> 01:14:52,979
but we still are union strong. We we

2038
01:14:52,979 --> 01:14:55,139
make it happen. So work with work if

2039
01:14:55,139 --> 01:14:56,500
you don't have a union, work with your

2040
01:14:56,500 --> 01:14:59,300
people to to unionize. You know? That's right.

2041
01:14:59,300 --> 01:15:00,979
That's this is this is a beautiful moment

2042
01:15:00,979 --> 01:15:02,760
for it. The second thing I would say,

2043
01:15:02,819 --> 01:15:03,479
you know,

2044
01:15:03,885 --> 01:15:05,725
given the fact that I'm I'm on the

2045
01:15:05,725 --> 01:15:08,204
the dopest podcast and, you know, this is

2046
01:15:08,204 --> 01:15:10,364
gonna be shared out on social media. Get

2047
01:15:10,364 --> 01:15:12,625
engaged in social media. It's not my natural

2048
01:15:12,765 --> 01:15:13,265
habitat.

2049
01:15:13,805 --> 01:15:15,404
I I I came in a little bit

2050
01:15:15,404 --> 01:15:17,805
kicking and screaming about the time that that

2051
01:15:17,805 --> 01:15:18,869
I first met you,

2052
01:15:19,510 --> 01:15:21,110
because that was just kind of part of

2053
01:15:21,110 --> 01:15:23,590
the deal that that you had to, like,

2054
01:15:23,590 --> 01:15:25,590
start to you had to create these profiles

2055
01:15:25,590 --> 01:15:27,909
and start to engage with people. Interview process

2056
01:15:27,909 --> 01:15:29,350
was, like, how good are you on social

2057
01:15:29,350 --> 01:15:31,050
media, Michael? Yeah. Exactly.

2058
01:15:31,645 --> 01:15:34,045
And my my answers were not strong. And

2059
01:15:34,045 --> 01:15:36,064
I was, like, I'm I'm good at Facebook,

2060
01:15:36,604 --> 01:15:38,685
you know, but but that was about it.

2061
01:15:38,685 --> 01:15:40,704
And but I've I've been so,

2062
01:15:42,524 --> 01:15:44,845
I've been so much more effective at moving

2063
01:15:44,845 --> 01:15:46,864
the needle on things that I care about

2064
01:15:47,380 --> 01:15:50,420
as I become more engaged on Twitter. It'll

2065
01:15:50,420 --> 01:15:53,220
always be Twitter to me. Instagram, all these

2066
01:15:53,220 --> 01:15:55,479
faces. I just made a video last Monday

2067
01:15:55,699 --> 01:15:58,900
on a very Utah specific thing, constitutional amendment

2068
01:15:58,900 --> 01:16:00,900
a. Silent. And and it has nothing to

2069
01:16:00,900 --> 01:16:03,255
do with anybody outside of our state, but

2070
01:16:03,255 --> 01:16:04,614
it's it's I just made a minute and

2071
01:16:04,614 --> 01:16:07,735
a half video explaining why this constitutional amendment

2072
01:16:07,735 --> 01:16:08,795
is bad for education.

2073
01:16:09,414 --> 01:16:11,895
It's it's very wonky. I used a couple

2074
01:16:11,895 --> 01:16:14,614
of of props, you know, visual aids as

2075
01:16:14,614 --> 01:16:17,279
teachers do. That video's got, like it's it's

2076
01:16:17,279 --> 01:16:19,039
almost like a 100000 views now. It's at,

2077
01:16:19,039 --> 01:16:19,859
like, 93,000.

2078
01:16:20,639 --> 01:16:21,859
And and that's

2079
01:16:22,479 --> 01:16:24,719
hopefully, I don't know how many votes that's

2080
01:16:24,719 --> 01:16:27,600
gonna translate into against this amendment that I'm

2081
01:16:27,600 --> 01:16:29,139
I'm feel very passionately

2082
01:16:29,439 --> 01:16:30,420
needs to fail.

2083
01:16:30,765 --> 01:16:32,284
But that is something that whether I was

2084
01:16:32,284 --> 01:16:35,265
running for public office or not, is impacting

2085
01:16:35,484 --> 01:16:37,984
the future of public education in my state.

2086
01:16:38,045 --> 01:16:40,704
So get involved on social media. Get engaged,

2087
01:16:40,844 --> 01:16:42,784
but do so right. Do it respectfully.

2088
01:16:43,164 --> 01:16:45,890
Use all the best tools in your teacher

2089
01:16:45,890 --> 01:16:48,850
toolbox to do it, and people respond to

2090
01:16:48,850 --> 01:16:51,329
that. They're like, thank goodness a teacher entered

2091
01:16:51,329 --> 01:16:52,149
this conversation

2092
01:16:52,609 --> 01:16:55,010
because this is a reliable, valid source of

2093
01:16:55,010 --> 01:16:55,510
information.

2094
01:16:56,449 --> 01:16:58,630
The third thing, the classics. You know?

2095
01:16:59,095 --> 01:17:00,715
Write op eds for your newspapers.

2096
01:17:01,414 --> 01:17:03,354
You know? Go deliver those,

2097
01:17:03,734 --> 01:17:07,515
public comments in in board meetings, legislative meetings.

2098
01:17:07,734 --> 01:17:10,234
Nobody can stop you from sharing your perspective.

2099
01:17:10,454 --> 01:17:12,375
And if social media is not your space,

2100
01:17:12,375 --> 01:17:13,675
go do it in the spaces

2101
01:17:13,989 --> 01:17:15,989
where where some of our more traditional leaders

2102
01:17:15,989 --> 01:17:18,229
end up listening more anyways, our newspapers, in

2103
01:17:18,229 --> 01:17:19,050
our in our,

2104
01:17:19,430 --> 01:17:21,670
boardrooms. That's that's a good place to get

2105
01:17:21,909 --> 01:17:23,670
That's right. To just drop a seed that

2106
01:17:23,670 --> 01:17:25,909
might flower into something beautiful in the mind

2107
01:17:25,909 --> 01:17:26,649
of a policymaker.

2108
01:17:28,605 --> 01:17:31,565
The the 4th one, especially for teachers, like,

2109
01:17:31,565 --> 01:17:34,305
really get to know your local school board.

2110
01:17:34,364 --> 01:17:36,925
Get to know who's on it, where what

2111
01:17:36,925 --> 01:17:39,025
part of your community they represent,

2112
01:17:40,204 --> 01:17:42,864
where they grew up, how they are connected

2113
01:17:42,925 --> 01:17:43,985
to your school,

2114
01:17:44,500 --> 01:17:46,760
and and start to build personal relationships.

2115
01:17:47,139 --> 01:17:49,060
Because local school board members, if you reach

2116
01:17:49,060 --> 01:17:50,260
out to them and you say, hey. I

2117
01:17:50,260 --> 01:17:52,520
teach 5th grade at Meadowlark Elementary,

2118
01:17:53,060 --> 01:17:54,039
and this thing

2119
01:17:54,899 --> 01:17:56,500
has really become a problem in my community.

2120
01:17:56,500 --> 01:17:58,020
Or this is this is something I wanna

2121
01:17:58,020 --> 01:18:00,175
celebrate and I want to scale and take

2122
01:18:00,175 --> 01:18:01,635
to other schools in our district,

2123
01:18:02,015 --> 01:18:02,835
then then

2124
01:18:03,215 --> 01:18:05,454
a school board meet a school board member's

2125
01:18:05,454 --> 01:18:07,534
gonna be more likely to say, let's go.

2126
01:18:07,534 --> 01:18:09,854
I I love this. Let's let's have this

2127
01:18:09,854 --> 01:18:11,789
conversation. And those are the people who will

2128
01:18:11,789 --> 01:18:13,710
meet you for lunch. They're the people who

2129
01:18:13,710 --> 01:18:15,869
live near you That's right. And who will,

2130
01:18:15,869 --> 01:18:18,829
like, come to your building after hours to

2131
01:18:18,829 --> 01:18:19,649
have a conversation.

2132
01:18:20,909 --> 01:18:23,149
They were passionate enough to run for local

2133
01:18:23,149 --> 01:18:25,469
school board. They they want to hear from

2134
01:18:25,469 --> 01:18:25,969
teachers.

2135
01:18:26,335 --> 01:18:28,974
Alright? And then the last thing I'll say

2136
01:18:28,974 --> 01:18:29,795
is just

2137
01:18:31,054 --> 01:18:33,375
as we as we've talked about these murky

2138
01:18:33,375 --> 01:18:33,875
waters,

2139
01:18:34,574 --> 01:18:38,175
do your research. Like, just just become somebody

2140
01:18:38,175 --> 01:18:39,819
who is truly knowledgeable

2141
01:18:40,359 --> 01:18:42,359
on the issues. There's a lot of stuff

2142
01:18:42,359 --> 01:18:44,439
that I've been talking about, like this this

2143
01:18:44,439 --> 01:18:45,659
constitutional amendment.

2144
01:18:46,039 --> 01:18:48,039
In Utah, we're one of 2 states that

2145
01:18:48,039 --> 01:18:50,679
uses income tax revenue to fund education, and

2146
01:18:50,679 --> 01:18:53,555
we have an earmark. I I was able

2147
01:18:53,854 --> 01:18:56,015
to share with everybody the the history of

2148
01:18:56,015 --> 01:18:57,314
that earmark, the fact

2149
01:18:57,854 --> 01:18:59,375
just after the around the time of the

2150
01:18:59,375 --> 01:19:00,194
Great Depression.

2151
01:19:00,494 --> 01:19:03,555
And it was a a a a institutional

2152
01:19:03,935 --> 01:19:05,939
piece that was put into place as a

2153
01:19:05,939 --> 01:19:08,119
legacy investment in our children's education.

2154
01:19:08,579 --> 01:19:11,060
Yeah. When you can do your homework, because

2155
01:19:11,060 --> 01:19:13,380
that's what we do, and then bring that

2156
01:19:13,380 --> 01:19:14,439
to these conversations,

2157
01:19:15,060 --> 01:19:17,140
then not only will you be proven that

2158
01:19:17,140 --> 01:19:20,180
you're right, but you will be informing people

2159
01:19:20,180 --> 01:19:20,920
who were

2160
01:19:21,284 --> 01:19:24,024
ignorant of of the realities and the facts,

2161
01:19:24,484 --> 01:19:27,444
and and in no no way is that

2162
01:19:27,444 --> 01:19:29,604
necessarily their fault. They didn't do their research,

2163
01:19:29,604 --> 01:19:31,125
but we're growing up in the time where

2164
01:19:31,125 --> 01:19:32,904
people aren't doing their research.

2165
01:19:33,390 --> 01:19:35,550
They're not going out and, like, digging into

2166
01:19:35,550 --> 01:19:37,869
things before they formulate their opinions and put

2167
01:19:37,869 --> 01:19:39,949
them out there. So we need to be

2168
01:19:39,949 --> 01:19:42,050
those agents entering these conversations

2169
01:19:43,069 --> 01:19:45,869
with the homework done with the receipts in

2170
01:19:45,869 --> 01:19:47,810
hand so that we can then

2171
01:19:48,195 --> 01:19:50,354
guide those conversations to places whether or not

2172
01:19:50,354 --> 01:19:52,435
just scream fest where they can be where

2173
01:19:52,435 --> 01:19:53,335
they can become

2174
01:19:53,875 --> 01:19:54,375
productive

2175
01:19:54,914 --> 01:19:57,175
and and useful to children. We need to

2176
01:19:57,234 --> 01:19:59,234
use that as our opportunity to practice how

2177
01:19:59,234 --> 01:20:01,750
we transform our schools from being, you know,

2178
01:20:01,750 --> 01:20:04,789
battlegrounds for culture wars back into playgrounds and

2179
01:20:04,789 --> 01:20:06,810
proving grounds for ideas in children.

2180
01:20:10,229 --> 01:20:10,949
Man, I'm,

2181
01:20:12,149 --> 01:20:15,429
so I will name that I am registered

2182
01:20:15,429 --> 01:20:16,994
to vote in the state of Colorado. I

2183
01:20:17,074 --> 01:20:19,155
cannot vote for you. Yeah. I could I

2184
01:20:19,155 --> 01:20:20,755
would absolutely vote for you, and I would

2185
01:20:20,755 --> 01:20:22,695
tell everybody I know to vote for you.

2186
01:20:23,155 --> 01:20:24,835
I just wanna get it out there that

2187
01:20:24,835 --> 01:20:26,835
I will not be committing fraud. That's not

2188
01:20:26,835 --> 01:20:29,155
a thing that happens, but I but this

2189
01:20:29,155 --> 01:20:29,895
has been,

2190
01:20:30,659 --> 01:20:33,380
like, such an incredible conversation with you. I

2191
01:20:33,380 --> 01:20:34,520
hope our audience,

2192
01:20:36,020 --> 01:20:38,420
really picks up the ball and runs with

2193
01:20:38,420 --> 01:20:40,199
it that you've kinda set down.

2194
01:20:41,380 --> 01:20:42,359
I think that

2195
01:20:43,125 --> 01:20:45,125
I kinda just wanna run through a wall

2196
01:20:45,125 --> 01:20:47,045
right now like I'm ready even after playing

2197
01:20:47,045 --> 01:20:48,264
2 soccer games.

2198
01:20:49,764 --> 01:20:50,164
So,

2199
01:20:50,564 --> 01:20:52,404
how do people support you? How do people

2200
01:20:52,404 --> 01:20:53,545
learn more about,

2201
01:20:54,164 --> 01:20:56,644
about your run, and, you know, how do

2202
01:20:56,644 --> 01:20:59,640
they just boost your message? Thank you, brother.

2203
01:20:59,640 --> 01:21:01,020
I you can

2204
01:21:01,399 --> 01:21:03,640
boost the the content I'm putting out there

2205
01:21:03,640 --> 01:21:05,100
at vote John Arthur,

2206
01:21:05,880 --> 01:21:06,779
on Instagram.

2207
01:21:08,119 --> 01:21:09,739
You can go to vote john arthur.com

2208
01:21:10,645 --> 01:21:12,645
to learn about me and my campaign. You

2209
01:21:12,645 --> 01:21:14,725
can also make a donation. Those can come

2210
01:21:14,725 --> 01:21:16,885
from anywhere. I'm really proud of the fact

2211
01:21:16,885 --> 01:21:19,784
that in this race, I have out fundraised

2212
01:21:19,844 --> 01:21:22,005
my opponent by at least 4 or 5

2213
01:21:22,005 --> 01:21:24,639
times. I'll also say that one of the

2214
01:21:24,639 --> 01:21:25,859
one of the most sickening

2215
01:21:26,239 --> 01:21:27,939
experiences that I I had

2216
01:21:28,319 --> 01:21:30,239
getting into this was somebody told me that

2217
01:21:30,239 --> 01:21:31,920
in order to win the state school board

2218
01:21:31,920 --> 01:21:33,939
race, I would have to raise over

2219
01:21:34,880 --> 01:21:35,380
$100,000.

2220
01:21:36,015 --> 01:21:37,774
And the idea that you have to raise

2221
01:21:37,774 --> 01:21:38,755
over a $100,000

2222
01:21:39,375 --> 01:21:42,175
to win a state school board race is

2223
01:21:42,175 --> 01:21:42,675
nonsense.

2224
01:21:43,215 --> 01:21:46,094
But this is also, again, the the reality

2225
01:21:46,094 --> 01:21:47,694
of the situation that at some point, you

2226
01:21:47,694 --> 01:21:49,854
can you can you can rage against the

2227
01:21:49,854 --> 01:21:50,354
reality,

2228
01:21:50,860 --> 01:21:52,860
and then you have to do what you

2229
01:21:52,860 --> 01:21:55,100
gotta do about it. And I've I've raised

2230
01:21:55,100 --> 01:21:55,840
over a $100,000

2231
01:21:56,380 --> 01:21:57,119
at this point.

2232
01:21:57,739 --> 01:21:59,280
My ultimate goal is once

2233
01:21:59,739 --> 01:22:01,100
on my way. So if anybody wants to

2234
01:22:01,100 --> 01:22:02,400
support, you're welcome to.

2235
01:22:03,020 --> 01:22:03,680
And then,

2236
01:22:04,699 --> 01:22:05,600
9th Evermore

2237
01:22:06,215 --> 01:22:09,095
is my other handle on on social media

2238
01:22:09,095 --> 01:22:10,635
on x Twitter

2239
01:22:11,175 --> 01:22:14,295
and, also Instagram. You can come follow the

2240
01:22:14,375 --> 01:22:15,654
not just the good works that I do,

2241
01:22:15,654 --> 01:22:17,654
but the good works that my students do.

2242
01:22:17,654 --> 01:22:20,234
I posted a video that my students made

2243
01:22:20,829 --> 01:22:22,210
6 years ago in 2018

2244
01:22:22,590 --> 01:22:25,710
after the the foreign president Donald Trump said

2245
01:22:25,710 --> 01:22:26,189
that,

2246
01:22:27,070 --> 01:22:29,390
our, our, you know, why are we letting

2247
01:22:29,390 --> 01:22:31,390
in people from these s hole countries? And

2248
01:22:31,390 --> 01:22:33,550
my students 6 years ago had something strong

2249
01:22:33,550 --> 01:22:35,664
to say about it. Something beautiful and inspiring.

2250
01:22:35,664 --> 01:22:37,345
And Yeah. I gotta go look at it.

2251
01:22:37,345 --> 01:22:39,505
I I hate that it's it's even more

2252
01:22:39,505 --> 01:22:42,704
relevant today, but it's it's it's a beautiful

2253
01:22:42,704 --> 01:22:44,704
reminder that our kids know what's up. And

2254
01:22:44,704 --> 01:22:46,945
it's our job to to clear the path

2255
01:22:46,945 --> 01:22:49,284
for them and and put policies into place

2256
01:22:49,369 --> 01:22:51,390
that will elevate their voices.

2257
01:22:53,130 --> 01:22:54,270
That's what's up.

2258
01:22:54,890 --> 01:22:58,010
That's what's up. That's an appointment. So, yeah,

2259
01:22:58,010 --> 01:22:59,390
and and support,

2260
01:23:00,409 --> 01:23:03,725
support Sunshine in his run for,

2261
01:23:04,204 --> 01:23:06,444
for I love that I'm still Sunshine, brother.

2262
01:23:06,444 --> 01:23:08,284
You're always gonna be my sunshine, bro. I

2263
01:23:08,284 --> 01:23:10,125
love it. Even though you changed it on

2264
01:23:10,125 --> 01:23:11,484
your phone, I'm like, damn. I can't, like,

2265
01:23:11,484 --> 01:23:13,024
just say call Sunshine anymore.

2266
01:23:14,045 --> 01:23:15,804
But, I mean and I and I and

2267
01:23:15,804 --> 01:23:16,465
I call

2268
01:23:16,850 --> 01:23:17,989
him this, everybody,

2269
01:23:19,010 --> 01:23:20,770
not just because of the joy and the

2270
01:23:20,770 --> 01:23:22,850
optimism and the positivity that he brings to

2271
01:23:22,850 --> 01:23:25,029
the room, but if you ever watched,

2272
01:23:25,409 --> 01:23:27,409
the movie and remember the titans, there's a

2273
01:23:27,409 --> 01:23:29,695
character named Ronnie Bass. If you haven't seen

2274
01:23:29,695 --> 01:23:31,215
it, you gotta look at it. Ronnie Bass

2275
01:23:31,215 --> 01:23:33,215
comes from California. He's got this long hair.

2276
01:23:33,215 --> 01:23:35,215
He's a good looking dude. But what you

2277
01:23:35,215 --> 01:23:36,515
realize is that

2278
01:23:37,055 --> 01:23:38,354
he's unperturbed.

2279
01:23:38,975 --> 01:23:40,675
He carries with him this peace.

2280
01:23:41,375 --> 01:23:45,069
He's absolutely assured of the joy that awaits

2281
01:23:45,069 --> 01:23:47,010
him every time he walks out the door,

2282
01:23:47,310 --> 01:23:49,229
and he's just got this wisdom and this

2283
01:23:49,229 --> 01:23:51,310
openness, and you just give sunshine. So you're

2284
01:23:51,310 --> 01:23:53,149
always gonna be my sunshine. Thank you. Hey.

2285
01:23:53,149 --> 01:23:54,689
Ron Bass is also a disruptor.

2286
01:23:55,229 --> 01:23:58,244
He he he saw an unjust system and

2287
01:23:58,244 --> 01:24:01,204
and participated in the work of of making

2288
01:24:01,204 --> 01:24:03,465
sure that it it eventually met its downfall,

2289
01:24:03,524 --> 01:24:05,685
you know? So I take that all day

2290
01:24:05,685 --> 01:24:08,005
long. Yeah. All day. Alright. So you know

2291
01:24:08,005 --> 01:24:09,364
how we go out of here. Right? I

2292
01:24:09,364 --> 01:24:11,284
ramble a little bit, and then we say

2293
01:24:11,284 --> 01:24:12,345
stay dope together.

2294
01:24:13,125 --> 01:24:14,600
Very prepared for this. You gave us so

2295
01:24:14,600 --> 01:24:15,340
many bangers.

2296
01:24:16,119 --> 01:24:18,780
You know, and the this promise of public

2297
01:24:18,840 --> 01:24:21,399
public education, like, we can argue that it's

2298
01:24:21,640 --> 01:24:24,280
that it has been unfulfilled in various moments

2299
01:24:24,280 --> 01:24:26,199
in life, but it doesn't mean a promise

2300
01:24:26,199 --> 01:24:27,659
does not remain. So

2301
01:24:28,280 --> 01:24:28,780
stay

2302
01:24:29,654 --> 01:24:30,635
fighting for something.

2303
01:24:31,255 --> 01:24:34,454
Stay in the conversation. Stay engaged. Stay connected.

2304
01:24:34,454 --> 01:24:37,034
Stay joyous just like my man, sunshine.

2305
01:24:37,494 --> 01:24:39,994
Stay human. Stay stay studying.

2306
01:24:40,295 --> 01:24:42,719
Stay informed about what's happening,

2307
01:24:43,099 --> 01:24:44,719
stay in the dialogue. But

2308
01:24:45,260 --> 01:24:46,880
more than anything else,

2309
01:24:47,260 --> 01:24:48,000
you know

2310
01:24:48,380 --> 01:24:49,599
that you have to

2311
01:24:50,699 --> 01:24:51,199
stay

2312
01:24:52,539 --> 01:24:53,039
dull.