Katie Thuy Long, candidate for Wake County Board of Education District 7
READ MORE
Candidates for Wake County Board of Education District 7
Incumbent Chris Heagarty, Katie Thuy Long and Jacob Arthur are running for Wake County school board district 7.
Expand All
Name: Katie Thuy Long
Political party: Unaffiliated
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 45
Campaign website: www.long4change.com
Occupation: Marketing
Education: B.S. in business
Have you run for elected office before? No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement:
- HOA President, five years
- Alzheimer’s Association, 25K Raised
- Second Harvest and The Food Bank volunteer
- Elections polling place greeter, volunteer
- Wake County School Board meetings speaker
Why do you want to serve on the Wake County Board of Education?
I am concerned that our school system is failing our children in providing a quality education. Grade level performances are not being met due to lack of leadership. I am determined to make a difference in reinstating the fundamentals of education — reading, writing and arithmetic. I am confident I can serve as an independent voice to support the best interests of our children, teachers, and parents.
What are the Wake County Public Schools doing well?
The process to run for School Board seats is accessible for newcomers. This is why I look forward to this opportunity to assess, address and improve its current issues.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
- Financial accountability
- Parents’ rights
- Curriculum transparency.
Financial accountability — assess the budget line items. Remove or decrease spending on unnecessary programs that do not produce desired educational outcomes. Rearrange the spending pyramid to prioritize classroom needs first.
What should the district do in response to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students?
School should be a place for legitimate inquiry. The emphasis and value of any resources used to teach how to read, write and problem solve should be on their own merits and not anything else. I don’t like banning books; I would rather have people with common sense choosing resources that are relevant to the publicly posted lesson. Any resource in the schools should be age appropriate. The entire list of resources in the schools should be clearly posted online and open to the public.
How should schools discuss issues involving discrimination based on race, gender and other factors?
Students should be taught objective history, encouraging inquiry to foster a sense for love of learning. Let them come to conclusions about oppression once they have objective facts and the ability to process them. Curriculum that doesn’t teach core measurable educational qualities is an obvious disruption to instructional time. Replacing reading, writing and arithmetic with other agendas not pertaining to scholastic material is detrimental to our children’s education.
How would you go about making schools safer in the aftermath of school shootings such as in Uvalde, Texas?
School infrastructure against school shootings should be assessed annually prior to each new school year. A dedicated Safety Team assigned to each SRO will enhance SRO effectiveness. Safety Teams will include students as they’re more likely to become aware of developing situations first. They’re better acquainted with their peers, and can be in a better position to identify potentially dangerous behavioral health issues that may lead to a school shooting.
What would you do to try to address student learning loss that was exacerbated by the pandemic?
There needs to be a plan for students who are on track, and a separate plan for students who may need assistance. Implement accelerated programs for those who are ready to move forward, while tutoring and creating similar programs to help others overcome learning loss and bring them back up to speed. I would advocate hiring a professional educational enhancements partner — to further assure success for students. We must also put in place systems to prevent learning loss in the future.
What’s the appropriate level of funding that should be provided to Wake County schools?
I can better answer this question once I am elected. The details of how the budget is being spent is a mystery. We need transparency for what is spent, and accountability for how it is being spent. The appropriate level is to be found once we start achieving actual educational outcomes that are not tainted by social promotions, or functionally illiterate graduates.
