Carmela Rios, Candidate for Wauwatosa School Board (Seat 1)

Name: Carmela Rios

Address: 1759 Underwood Ave.

Age: 36

Occupation: Marquette University - PhD student in molecular biology - funded through a teaching assistantship
Previous work - 
Greendale School District - Science Curriculum Facilitator, 2009-2012 Duties: curriculum implementation, staff professional development, teacher hiring, student testing and placement, budget designation, departmental budgeting and purchasing, and teacher scheduling.
Greendale High School - AP Biology Teacher, 2006-2012
Saint Joan Antida High School - Science Teacher, 2002- 2006

Education: - B.S., Biology, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
- DPI Subject Specific Teaching License in Chemistry, Biology, and Broadfield Science
- M.S., Natural Science, Michigan State University
- Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Marquette University - In Progress

Family: John Klaus (husband)
Carlos Klaus (7)
Marcela Klaus (4)

How long have you lived in the city? 10 years

Have you held political office? This is my first time running for public office.

Related experience: Specific experiences have formed my desire to seek a seat on the school board. 

• My work of ten years as an educator and later curriculum facilitator in the Greendale School District. 
• My experience teaching science in two different environments, first a disadvantaged minority population, and later in a high-achieving school system. 
• My work in agricultural industries in Wisconsin, gave me a first-hand perspective of a source of employment that has traditionally defined our state. 
• My emerging volunteer work in the Wauwatosa schools as my oldest child is now in first grade and my youngest will soon enter the district.

Why are you running for School Board? I have built my career as a high school science teacher and curriculum facilitator. I made a promise to myself long ago, that one day I would take my life’s work as an educator and put it to use for the district my children attend. Now, with my oldest in first grade, I am seeking a seat on the school board. There is a need in this time of change to have someone on the board that has working knowledge of public schools in order to connect how policies the board votes on directly impact the classroom.

What is the biggest issue facing the district, and how would you address that issue, if elected? Working in the Greendale school district I witnessed the gathering of a “perfect storm” of challenges, which also affects Wauwatosa: students coming from diverse backgrounds, newly adopted standards and assessments , higher expectations for learning outcomes, and increased attrition among teachers, who felt overburdened and micromanaged. To ensure that public education in Wauwatosa continues to improve in spite of dwindling financial resources, we must attract, support and retain the best staff — including teachers, administrators, and counselors — and give our best educators leadership roles in mentoring of young teachers and on topics of curriculum.

As state aid continues to decline, how can the district continue to provide quality education while continuing to keep a lid on property taxes? Practices that ensure quality education do no require increase of funds. Just recently two changes were adopted in the district with the potential of providing improved education without increasing costs. The adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), allows for the use technology in the classroom in an affordable way. The second, a change in the science course sequence and structure allows for more meaningful science instruction. Here, I especially value the inquiry-based approach, where reasoning takes preference over memorizing information. If implemented correctly, changes in curriculum that do not require increased spending can improve the quality of education.

Has Act 10 been good or bad for the school district? Explain your answer. Whether good or bad, the full impact of Act 10 will not be clear for years to come. In the short term, it provided a way to deal with the reduced state aid. It also lowered teacher morale due to reduction in pay, security, and group voice. The district can implement positive change by establishing a new salary structure and evaluation procedures. If done with the input of all stakeholders--administrators, students and their families, teachers and taxpayers--this can work to retain our best educators, attract new ones to our district and maintain or improve the quality of public education in Wauwatosa.