Test
Michael WilliamsAre you an incumbent?
No
1. Do you support the City of Raleigh’s $275 million parks bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
2. Do you support the $353.2 million Wake Tech bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
3. Do you support the $530.7 million Wake County schools bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
4. If elected, what are your plans for working with the Wake County Board of Commissioners to achieve our schools’ needs?
I would work with them by listening to them and their priorities. Armed with that information, I would show them how an educated citizenry makes our community more attractive to businesses and major corporations. With the resources the will bring into the community, the priorities the board would set could be accomplished. Prioritizing the educational needs of our community is an investment in its vocational, fiscal, cultural, and social health of the citizens.
5. How do you plan to engage and build trust with parents, employers, and other stakeholders of your school district?
I plan to host regular "Dialogue w/Doc" sessions to listen to the concerns and commendations of our community. I plan to visit all of the schools in my district and others to ensure that we are receiving equitable allocation of the resources by the district. I also plan to keep my word. I was taught as a child that your word is your bond. If elected, if I say it, I will do it and if I get impeded, I will let my constituents know and solicit alternatives.
6. What will you do to improve school safety in Wake County?
School safety requires a multi faceted approach if it is going to work. We must enhance the physical implements to keep our students safe to include TRAINED resource officers from elementary to high school, cameras, electronic doors, etc. Additionally, we must make schools safe places for ALL students. As long as we have students who are dissociative, disillusioned, and dismissed, the threat of violence and fatality remain imminent. I discuss additional interventions in my book, I Count Too: affirming Students who look, Love, Learn, and Live Differently. Finally, we must adamantly encourage See/hear Something, Say Something throughout our schools to enlist our students as prevention and detection resources in our plight to improve school safety.
7. What are the growing trends in student needs, and how should the Wake County Public School System address them?
Preparing students to engage in the digital economy to include coding, cryptocurrency, etc. Additionally, assisting students develop the soft and social skills needed to obtain and maintain employment and entrepreneurial opportunities which may be presented to them. Finally embellishing our career and technical education program which will prepare students for perpetual employment and substantial income.
8. How do you propose the Wake County Public School System overcome its current labor shortage? Please give specific steps you wish to see taken.
As a licensed educator, I recognize that the biggest reason teachers are leaving the profession is the lack of respect from the public, parents, students, and administrators. Most of my colleagues did not enter this field to get "rich" but we do want a livable wage which does not have to be supplemented by multiple jobs. However, we did get into the field to make a difference in the life of a child as someone made in ours. Having every decision we make second guessed by parents, and board members (many of whom have not spent anytime in the classroom), administrators (who may fear a parental complaint to the superintendent or school board office), and students (who may want to have it their) way diminishes our standing, dims our passion and frustrates us. When we are respected as college educated, licensed, prepared and proficient professionals, there will be a return to the days when we had a plethora of forty(40) and fifty(50) year career veteran educators in every building and more aspiring teachers trying to get into the classrooms than we have to accommodate them.
9. What should the school system focus on to ensure children are ready for the jobs of tomorrow?
We have to engage the corporate community to ascertain their needs both today and tomorrow. Using that information, we can then ascertain the training requirements needed for those opportunities and develop our curriculum to meet those needs. Additionally, we must look at current business/vocational fields which are perpetual and ensure that our students are prepared to accept, evolve, and excel within those genres.
No
1. Do you support the City of Raleigh’s $275 million parks bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
2. Do you support the $353.2 million Wake Tech bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
3. Do you support the $530.7 million Wake County schools bond on the ballot this November?
Yes
4. If elected, what are your plans for working with the Wake County Board of Commissioners to achieve our schools’ needs?
I would work with them by listening to them and their priorities. Armed with that information, I would show them how an educated citizenry makes our community more attractive to businesses and major corporations. With the resources the will bring into the community, the priorities the board would set could be accomplished. Prioritizing the educational needs of our community is an investment in its vocational, fiscal, cultural, and social health of the citizens.
5. How do you plan to engage and build trust with parents, employers, and other stakeholders of your school district?
I plan to host regular "Dialogue w/Doc" sessions to listen to the concerns and commendations of our community. I plan to visit all of the schools in my district and others to ensure that we are receiving equitable allocation of the resources by the district. I also plan to keep my word. I was taught as a child that your word is your bond. If elected, if I say it, I will do it and if I get impeded, I will let my constituents know and solicit alternatives.
6. What will you do to improve school safety in Wake County?
School safety requires a multi faceted approach if it is going to work. We must enhance the physical implements to keep our students safe to include TRAINED resource officers from elementary to high school, cameras, electronic doors, etc. Additionally, we must make schools safe places for ALL students. As long as we have students who are dissociative, disillusioned, and dismissed, the threat of violence and fatality remain imminent. I discuss additional interventions in my book, I Count Too: affirming Students who look, Love, Learn, and Live Differently. Finally, we must adamantly encourage See/hear Something, Say Something throughout our schools to enlist our students as prevention and detection resources in our plight to improve school safety.
7. What are the growing trends in student needs, and how should the Wake County Public School System address them?
Preparing students to engage in the digital economy to include coding, cryptocurrency, etc. Additionally, assisting students develop the soft and social skills needed to obtain and maintain employment and entrepreneurial opportunities which may be presented to them. Finally embellishing our career and technical education program which will prepare students for perpetual employment and substantial income.
8. How do you propose the Wake County Public School System overcome its current labor shortage? Please give specific steps you wish to see taken.
As a licensed educator, I recognize that the biggest reason teachers are leaving the profession is the lack of respect from the public, parents, students, and administrators. Most of my colleagues did not enter this field to get "rich" but we do want a livable wage which does not have to be supplemented by multiple jobs. However, we did get into the field to make a difference in the life of a child as someone made in ours. Having every decision we make second guessed by parents, and board members (many of whom have not spent anytime in the classroom), administrators (who may fear a parental complaint to the superintendent or school board office), and students (who may want to have it their) way diminishes our standing, dims our passion and frustrates us. When we are respected as college educated, licensed, prepared and proficient professionals, there will be a return to the days when we had a plethora of forty(40) and fifty(50) year career veteran educators in every building and more aspiring teachers trying to get into the classrooms than we have to accommodate them.
9. What should the school system focus on to ensure children are ready for the jobs of tomorrow?
We have to engage the corporate community to ascertain their needs both today and tomorrow. Using that information, we can then ascertain the training requirements needed for those opportunities and develop our curriculum to meet those needs. Additionally, we must look at current business/vocational fields which are perpetual and ensure that our students are prepared to accept, evolve, and excel within those genres.