Melanie for Schools - Official Campaign Website

Why I'm Running

When my own children started school in the Shawnee Mission School District, I had to advocate for them in a variety of ways. Eventually, I found myself with more emails and meetings around the district’s 1:1 technology (price tag: $59 million and counting) than I would ever have imagined! As a technologist, I started hearing from parents who were frustrated that the district had given their kids devices, but without a real plan for how those devices should be used. Fast forward to now and why I’m running:

• It’s imperative that we address technology competency for college and career readiness. Additionally, these students should learn to be good “digital citizens” as soon as they have access to a device. Devices can be useful tools, but technology requires curriculum. If you are a parent in a 1:1 school district, you have already witnessed this!
  
  
• I believe that public education affects every single one of us. In 2019 I knocked on doors in support of a local school board candidate and I heard something that struck fear into my heart. Residents in my own neighborhood said, “I don’t have kids in these schools, it doesn’t affect me.”
  
  Graduates of our public schools run the communities that we call home, working in and owning the businesses we rely on. The quality of their education impacts their success in life as well as the impact they have on each of our daily lives.
  
  
• Public education must become a forward-looking priority again for state leaders. With massive budget shortfalls looming as a result of COVID-19, creative problem solving will be required at all levels of government. “School” as we know it just changed. Homes became classrooms. We need to be ready for next time. It’s time for student experiences to align with our changed world, so that Kansas truly can lead the world in the success of every student.