Rankin Elliott, Cindy

Meet the Candidate

Running For:

School Board

District:

Pima JTED School District

Age:

Occupation:

Professor

Education:

BS & MS - UCLA, PhD - Physiology at Univ of Arizona

Family:

Husband - Thomas Elliott

Religion:

none

Biographical Info:

Cindy was born in Southern California and spent the next 28 years following her passions for the outdoors and learning how the body works.
As a longtime Girl Scout and then by teaching high school and UCLA students she was able to merge those two passions.
In 1979 she moved to Tucson to pursue a PhD in Physiology at Univ of Arizona. Since then, she has focused on developing innovative classes and programs at both UofA and Pima JTED that help students learn how their bodies work while gathering hands-on experiences and skills that facilitate their success in life and careers.
As a Professor of Physiology, she has established a vast network across the Tucson community to enhance student opportunities for learning and real-world experiences.
Cindy and husband Tom have called Tucson home for 40+ years, and have worked to help others enjoy life surrounded by the beautiful Sonoran Desert.

Statement:

I am running for re-election to the JTED Governing Board. As a Board member for the past 11 years, I have had a significant impact on the expansion of the full range of JTED’s career preparation programs, including the new Innovation Tech High School which pairs high school academic classes with Pima JTED Career/Workforce preparation and The Mel/ Enid Zuckerman Center for Health and Medical Science Careers to decrease the shortage of trained healthcare workers.
I plan to continue:
• Expanding access for high school students to training in the technical and professional skills necessary for life and satisfying careers
• Promoting hands-on learning for students to get involved in activities that prepare them for life and a meaningful career beyond school
• Developing avenues for connecting JTED programs with UofA students and faculty who serve as resources, role models and mentors
• Collaborating across Southern Arizona expertise to increase opportunities for JTED students.

Survey

Response Legend

SSupports
OOpposes
*Comment
−Declined to respond
†Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question	Response	Comments/Notes
1. Requiring district and charter school officials, including teachers, to inform parents about their child’s social, mental, emotional, or physical health.	S*	School officials are part of a team that helps all students in their cognitive, emotional, mental and physical growth.
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons that offend their personal, moral, or religious beliefs.	O*	I believe that to succeed in life students should be aware of the many perspectives and beliefs held by the society they live in, but I do respect parents rights to determine if certain activities are detrimental to a child's well being.
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects.	O*	There are already mechanisms in place to financially support public education; these need to be reinforced and enabled for the funding to land where it is intended to support our public schools.
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs.	O*	Human biology is a subject with which all students should be familiar, though the details should vary depending on the age of the child.
5. Allowing all parents to use tax credits and publicly funded empowerment scholarship accounts to enable their children to attend any private, homeschool, or online academy of their choice.	O*	The ESAs should be used as originally intended to help support families needing special services for their students to succeed and should be directed to schools with the same regulations and qualifications required of all public schools. As with any publically funded financial aid, there should be cap on family income for those receiving these benefits. The beneficiaries of tax credits should be at the discretion of the parents choosing those credits.
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries.	−*	Human biology is a topic with which each student should be familiar; that requires books that explain and depict the human body in an age-appropriate manner. The use of such in a classroom should be relevant to the topic under discussion and should also be available in the library.
7. Acquiring parental consent for school faculty and staff to refer to students by pronouns that do not align with the student’s birth sex.	O*	Students are continually growing and exploring their world; their choice of name and pronouns may change throughout their lives and should be respected in school settings.
8. Allocating teacher pay raises based upon merit rather than providing uniform salary schedule increases based upon years of teaching or additional credentialing (e.g. master’s degrees).	O*	This shouldn't be a choice between these 2 options. Both should apply : merit and experience are both relevant factors along with inflation.
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room based on self-identification rather than biological sex.	−*	There are so many other issues to focus on to make education effective; this is a relatively minor issue on campuses. Easy fix = make available gender neutral restrooms for any person to use - one at a time.
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools.	−*	These are two very different qusetions and issues. I believe that to succeed in life students should be aware of the many perspectives and beliefs held by the society they live in and should have the opportunity to learn from and with people different from them.
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom.	O*	Having been an educator for 40+ years, I know how often a new topic or idea comes to mind during a semester or year that would make the lessons more productive. While a general idea of the curriculum should be made available, It would be very difficult to predict those new exciting components ahead of time.