Paul Wolfe

The issues

Why are you running for this office?

I am running for this office because I can no longer stand by as my peers are left at a disadvantage moving into the 21st century. I also refuse to allow my peers to attend school, from elementary all the way to high school, feeling as though their lives are at risk the moment they set foot on a school campus.

In your view, what are the top three issues facing the school district?

The top three issues facing the district are school safety, school facilities, and teacher compensation. I feel that I am best prepared to address these challenges because of the first hand experience I have had with these issues in the classroom less than three months ago.

How would you assess the performance of Governor, President Trump and Secretary of Education when it comes to educational policy?

I feel that the focus of the federal government has been to neglect public education so that schools are forced to close, be disaccredited, and be replaced by private, for-profit institutions, something which I will never support.

Share your opinion on the changes to school safety and gun ownership enforced in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act.

I find the changes made, especially with regards to funding for school safety, to be lackluster at best. The state has failed to free up money set aside for arming teachers, a policy which has been adopted in very few counties, and continue to shrink funding for safety in public schools.

Share your opinions on the guardian program and arming teachers.

Arming teachers in not the correct response to increasing the ability of schools to defend themselves against intruders. I would like the state government to pursue other options when it comes to school safety instead of pressuring counties to adopt a false panacea for school safety concerns.

What are your plans for school safety and how do you plan to accomplish it?

School safety can be addressed through balancing prevention with response. On the prevention side, the mental health of all students cannot be ignored, and mental health professionals should be instituted in every school to give students and outlet for their frustration in a healthy manner. School resource officers should also be in every school at the state mandated minimum (one for every one thousand students), and schools should be hardened against intruders by making it much more difficult to access those school campuses. On the response side, if the unthinkable were to happen, we should be prepared by adopting a policy started in Marion county where a trauma kit, including tourniquets amongst other military grade medical equipment, is installed in every school to have those schools prepared in the event of an emergency.

Alachua County Public Schools has shown to have an educational gap, where more white students are passing tests than black students. What are your plans to approach this educational divide?

Every student requires something to motivate them to learn, and that motivation should come from giving them a welcoming environment to learn in and through providing Career and Technical Education opportunities from elementary school through the end of high school. In giving students a motivation to attend school and incentivizing them to learn in one subject, it increases their likelihood of being willing to learn a great deal more and excel in other academic subjects across the board.

Do you have any plans or policies that involve the University of Florida, and if so, explain.

I feel that the biggest opportunity our school board has in the University of Florida is the pool of newly graduated teachers which can be brought into our school system. These new teachers often bring innovative ideas into the classroom, and in doing so we lift our entire education system up.

What are your opinions on school choice and opening charter schools?

I find that parents should be allowed to choose the school their student goes to, provided that, if the school is public, proper zoning exemptions are followed. Charter nd public school can be balanced in our district, it just requires effort in order to achieve that balance.

What are your stances on current teacher pay?

Teacher pay, when inflation is factored in, has decreased by 12 percent over the past decade. This is unacceptable, and my goal would be to increase teacher salaries by 12 percent over the next four years to maintain pace with inflation and better serve our teachers. These raises can be achieved by developing a working relationship with our state delegation, as opposed to being on the constant offensive as the last few years have seen.

What are your views on high-stakes testing?

High stakes testing should be reduced across the board, and, through careful negotiation with the state, and by eliminating the burden of useless county quarterly tests, students will perform better on those standardized tests. The stress of testing, and its frequency, often puts classrooms out of commission for two months before the end of the school year.

Share your stance on basing teacher pay off of performance reviews.

I find that having teacher pay based off of their classroom performance, in-classroom skills and strategies, and recommendations of character from their peers and administrators would be a good system to continue with.

What is an example of a policy or issue you have changed your view on in the last 20 years?

Education is something I have changed my view on in the past 20 years. Before, I sat in an echo chamber of total free market solutions to certain issues, particularly with regards to education. Following an interview I did with sitting school board member Eileen Roy in 2016, I found myself liberated from that echo chamber and willing to consider other options when it came to education. Now, i find myself in strong support of our public education, with necessary increases in public funding being required to continue educating our students to be prepared for the future.

Do you support voting on college campuses?

I do support voting on college campuses because it creates a convenient way for students to vote in-between classes and amongst other activities during the day.

The campaign

Is there anything you want us to know about your opponent(s)?

I would like the voters to know that I have a deep respect for my opponent and his teaching experience, but I feel that it is time to have fresh faces and ideas on the school board to bring us closer to effective solutions in the community.

Why should voters vote for you?

Voters should vote for me because of my first hand and recent experience of issues facing our schools, having just graduated from Buchholz High School.

Miscellaneous

What type of student were you in college?

I have not been to college yet, but I anticipate on being a studious individual and dedicating much of my time to political activism and involvement in continuing supporting public education, with a particular emphasis on vocational and historical education.

What is the last music concert you saw?

I have not been to see a concert in awhile, I believe the last time I went was with my parent in 2014 to a Bruno Mars concert just outside of Washington, D.C.

Who is your political hero? Why? I don’t know that I have a political hero.

As strange enough as it is, I don't have a particular political hero. I find myself drawing on the views of many great politicians throughout history. If I had to choose one person though, I would most likely choose Theodore Roosevelt, who I admire for his action-driven presidency and continuing that action after his terms had expired.

What is the best advice you have ever gotten?

To always have a back-up plan in case, as life often does, life gets in the way of even the most well thought out ideas and plans.