Becky Lew-Hobbs, candidate for Wake County Board of Education District 4
.jpg "Becky Lew-Hobbs is running for the District 4 seat on the Wake County school board.")
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District 4 candidates for Wake County Board of Education
Tara Waters is running for the seat she was appointed to fill in 2022. Those running against her are Daniel Grant-King, Becky Lew-Hobbs and Michael T. Williams. Get to know the candidates with our 2022 NC Voter Guide.
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Name: Becky Lew-Hobbs
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 52
Campaign website: https://becky4wake.com/
Occupation: Businesswoman
Education: B.S. from N.C. State University
Have you run for elected office before? No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: Past secretary, vice president and landscape committee chair at school PTA. Packs 30+ boxes each year for Operation Christmas Child. Volunteer for several charities, including Raleigh Homeless Shelter and Dew4Him.
Why do you want to serve on the Wake County Board of Education?
The school board’s responsibility is to provide quality education to all children in Wake County. The current board’s poorly chosen curricula and wasteful spending have resulted in plummeting test scores. This was worsened when the board continued to keep children out of the classroom. As your board member, I will advocate for our students by seeking unbiased curriculum, advocate for students’ needs at the General Assembly and NCDPI, and keep students learning in the classroom.
What are the Wake County Public Schools doing well?
The magnet programs offer some creative and interactive learning opportunities. But these opportunities should not be limited to just a few magnet schools. For example, integrating play into learning, especially in the elementary age group, should be expanded to more than just one magnet school. This type of program makes learning fun and engaging for students.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
My top priorities are quality education, parental rights (involvement), and fiscal responsibility. All children deserve access to a quality education, focusing on academics: reading, writing, history, math and science. With declining proficiency rates, curriculum needs to be evaluated and replaced. Children need textbooks as learning aids. Limit online video programs, especially in the elementary grades. Every purchase by the board must show it will enhance the quality of education for our children.
What should the district do in response to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students?
Parents have the right to direct the moral upbringing of their children. This includes when to expose (or not) their children to adult concepts. Parental controls are used for internet access, movie ratings, etc. The same should apply to books in a public-school library. To compare this to movie ratings, books with an “R rating” should not be in a public-school library. Books that are in school libraries should contribute to the education of our children — such as literature, history, and science.
How should schools discuss issues involving discrimination based on race, gender and other factors?
Schools should promote kindness and respect for all people regardless of their age, race, gender, or other factors.
How would you go about making schools safer in the aftermath of school shootings such as in Uvalde, Texas?
On-site safety officers are needed to monitor each school. But Wake County has 12 different law enforcement agencies, which creates confusion in time of crisis as to who is responding to the emergency. A clear chain of command for times of crisis needs to be established ahead of time. This can be done in a similar way to Mecklenburg schools with a unified safety agency.
What would you do to try to address student learning loss that was exacerbated by the pandemic?
The board closing schools caused the learning loss, not the pandemic. Individually assess student needs to target learning loss. Teachers, students, and parents must work together to identify these areas and use tutoring tools. One such program — Accelerated Reader — was very successful to aid in reading comprehension. But WCPSS has discontinued it. Bring successful programs like this back.
What’s the appropriate level of funding that should be provided to Wake County schools?
The current operating budget averages about $13,000 per student. Over the past 10 years, the budget has increased by 68% and admin positions such as directors, chiefs and area superintendents have increased by almost 50% with only a 6% increase in student population. Review these non-teaching positions, evaluate their effectiveness, and use the funds to provide our kids a better education.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 8:08 PM.
