Elizabeth D. Griffith
Office Sought: School Board Braddock
Age: 51
Residence: Burke.
Education: Bachelor of general studies, Auburn University Montgomery; MA, PhD, political science, Univ. of N.C.
Occupation: Former high school government teacher.
Web site:http://www.lizgriffith.com
E-mail address: griffith.liz@gmail.com
Offices and positions held: Lector and Eucharistic minister, Church of the Nativity, Burke; past Girl Scouts assistant leader, Springfield; past PTSA president and parent representative to School Improvement Plan, Incirlik AB, Turkey; founder and past director of Stagestruck Children's Theater, Goldsboro, North Carolina; past editor, "Lady Seymour" Officers' Spouses Club Magazine, Goldsboro, N.C.
Why should voters elect you?
"With 68 schools failing to make adequate yearly progress this year, we need new leadership. I have the education and experience to make a difference."
What do you think is the most urgent problem facing your jurisdiction?
"The greatest challenge we face in our public schools today is the effect of No Child Left Behind and the pressure it puts on teachers to 'teach to the test.' We need to empower the teachers to teach the curriculum and let the test take care of itself. We need to reduce testing where possible and use more than just test scores to evaluate teachers and principals. In the face of fiscal challenges, we must evaluate programs for their impact on student learning and eliminate wasteful spending. Then we can reduce class sizes to benefit students of every ability level."
What is your plan to address the traffic problems in Virginia?
With 1570 school buses carrying 110,000 students every day, not to mention the thousands of students who drive themselves to school and parents who pick up and drop off their students, the schools are part of the traffic problem and need to be part of the solution.
I will push for improvements to the bus transportation system so that buses do not drive around half-empty and are routed in the most efficient manner possible using the latest mapping and scheduling software.
We need to encourage more students to ride the bus or walk to school by addressing parents' concerns for safety and discipline, including putting more crossing guards at schools and re-establishing the "walking buses" that were so effective a decade ago.
We also need to adopt later start times for high school students and work with traffic engineers to ensure that our bell time changes help reduce traffic congestion.
Do you think current policies governing growth & development in your area are too restrictive, not restrictive enough or just right?
not restrictive enough
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