Walden, Rachel

Meet the Candidate

Running For:

School Board

District:

Mesa Unified School District

Age:

Occupation:

Arizona Corporation Commissioner

Education:

Bachelor of Science from ASU, 2 years graduate school at ASU (all but thesis)

Family:

Married with a child in elementary school

Religion:

Christian

Biographical Info:

I have lived in Arizona for 40 years. I graduated from Mesa High School and am a first generation college graduate. I was raised by a hard working single mother in a family of 5 children. My mom started her own company and became a financial planner. I inherited my work ethic and patriotism from her example and learned that freedom was found through self-reliance. My work in the family business led to my career at Vanguard where I worked on the Institutional side of the industry. I took time away from the workforce to be a stay at home mom. I am the current Vice Chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission and a Governing Board Member for Mesa Public Schools.

Statement:

I am seeking a second term on the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board to continue to improve student outcomes and foster a strong school district for my community. I am deeply passionate about education and helping students have opportunities to succeed. I have been part of many accomplishments in my board tenure. We created new educational opportunities in K-8 schools and our high schools to promote academic rigor and strengthen college and career readiness; developed a small school model to keep schools open while decreasing the budget; increased enrollment in career and technical certification programs; increased graduation rates and increased proficiency scores; and developed a model policy to ban sexually explicit materials in libraries and classroom libraries.

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
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons that offend their personal, moral, or religious beliefs.	S
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects.	O
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs.	S
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.	S
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries.	O
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.	S
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).	S
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.	O
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools.	O
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom.	S