Meet Eve Ryser, Candidate For Napa Valley USD, Trustee Area 4

NAPA VALLEY, CA — Eve Ryser, candidate for Napa Valley Unified School Board of Trustees, Area 4, makes her case to voters ahead of the November election in a Q&A with Patch:

Age (as of Election Day)

52

Town/City of Residence

Napa

Office Sought

Napa Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, Area 4

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

My husband David (52) and I have been married for 22 years, and have lived in Napa for 20 years. We have two daughters, Keira (16) and Maya (14) who attend Napa High School.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Nobody in my family works in politics or government.

Education

I hold a bachelor's degree in American Culture from Northwestern University, and a master's degree in Education from Mills College. I also hold a current Multiple Subject Clear Teaching Credential from the State of California.

Hometown

Concord, Massachusetts; lived in Napa since 2000

Occupation

I worked for fifteen years as an elementary school classroom teacher, and then as a reading intervention and English Language Development specialist, in culturally and linguistically diverse public schools in the Bay Area, most recently for ten years in Vallejo. I worked for five years at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education as a research assistant, literacy specialist and curriculum developer. For the past several years, I have been an active volunteer in the community and a stay at home parent.

Campaign website

everyser4nvusdboard.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I have never held public office.

The single most pressing issue facing our (state, district, community, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is ensuring that our schools are safe and healthy places for all students and staff. I will use my influence on the board to prioritize and support 1) adhering to all public health recommendations to protect students, teachers and staff from community spread of COVID-19; 2) ensuring robust funding for mental health and other student support services so that they're available to any student in need; 3) cultivating consciously inclusive, anti-racist culture in our schools, including adopting an ethnic studies course curriculum that will become a requirement for high school graduation.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My twenty years of experience as a professional educator give me a deep and nuanced understanding of the complexities involved in how schools work. I have spent thousands of hours in public school classrooms. I've worked with hundreds of students, parents and fellow teachers. This depth of experience gives me important insight and expertise that I believe sets me apart from my opponents. During these times of severe budget challenges, it's more important than ever that our board members understand how the board's decisions will impact students, teachers and families "where the rubber hits the road." I believe I'm the best candidate to make those judgements.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

I prefer to reframe this question, because my goal is to run a positive campaign. I feel that I am running FOR a seat on the school board because I want to serve my community and I believe my qualifications and experience will be a valuable asset to the board.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

As I outlined above, my campaign platform is built on an broad goal of making our schools healthier and safer for all students and teachers. Another aspect of this platform is my support of shifting funding away from a "policing" oriented model of employing School Resource Officers (SROs) because this approach has been proven to have a disproportionally negative impact on students of color, and often serves to escalate conflicts and difficulties rather than solve them. If more resources were directed towards mental health and support services, our campuses would be safer and healthier. I believe the desire for armed security officers at schools is rooted in fear, and is understandable. But the presence of one or two SROs does not guarantee student safety- it certainly didn't at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida- and we will not arm our way out of the problem of violence in schools. I say this as a parent whose my came dangerously close to an active shooter situation outside of her elementary school, and attended a middle school where a school shooting plot was uncovered and thwarted. Other areas where I will direct my focus include providing effective, informed oversight of academic programs and instructional practices, whether school takes place in person or online, and focusing on using an equity lens to ensure equity of access and opportunities for all students on their path to college and career readiness.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I'm proud that I taught elementary school for fifteen years, when half of teachers leave the profession within the first five years. It's incredibly demanding and complex work which requires intelligence, responsiveness, dedication, creativity, perseverance, stamina, empathy, humor, and the capacity to be an analytical and open minded thinker and a reliable collaborator. I believe my two decades of experience have prepared me for this job, and these skills and qualities will allow me to work successfully in the role of trustee, if I have the opportunity to serve on the board. I'm also proud of my accomplishment as part of a team of developers who authored a unit of science curriculum. I was recruited from another project to be the literacy specialist for a primary grade physical science unit about gravity and magnetic force. This project took place under deadline pressure, required me to access and apply my wide ranging experience and skills to produce an excellent final product, which is now in circulation nationally as part of the Amplify Science K-8 curriculum sequence.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

One of my goals in serving on the NVUSD board is to approve the graduation requirement of a semester-long ethnic studies/social justice course, and to select and adopt a curriculum of the highest quality for the new course. I will also strive to amplify student voices and experiences related to diversity and inclusion, and support age-appropriate discussions focused on these topics for all age groups, so that our school communities continue to make progress in addressing discrimination and systemic racism. If students of all ages can become comfortable and accustomed to exchanging ideas about privilege and bias, discrimination, diversity and inclusion, I will consider that a resounding success.

Why should voters trust you?

I wish I could easily meet and talk with Area 4 voters so that they could make their own judgment about me, but campaigning in a pandemic, punctuated by long periods of unhealthy air quality, has made that difficult. I've always considered teachers to be dedicated public servants, and the vast majority of those who are drawn to the profession are trustworthy, hard working and ethical. Hundreds of parents trusted me with their children for years. I encourage voters to visit my website (everyser4nvusdboard.com) where they can watch the video of the candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Napa County and hear more from me about my priorities and positions, and read the endorsements of my candidacy, including a recent letter to the editor written by my longtime teaching colleague Catherine Green. I would also be more than happy to answer questions and address concerns from any voters that would like to reach out to me.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

I have long felt that our public schools should be a higher budget priority, so I am in favor of increasing government funding of public schools. I am strongly opposed to any voucher system that would divert taxpayer dollars away from public schools to private, sometimes religious, schools. NVUSD has been facing stringent budget cuts due primarily to a recent trend of declining enrollment, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. I have come to understand some of the factors that led to the district's recent, severe budget crunch: while the decline in enrollment may have been out of the District's control, the previous leadership team was not adequately responsive to "the writing on the wall" that families with children began leaving the area due to the rising cost of living and the lack of affordable housing. School funding allocations are based on the number of students being served, so the drop in funding should have been better anticipated. Instead, at that time, some budget decisions were made that were not sustainable, which led to an ill-advised reliance on the district's reserve funds, which dropped so low the district faced the possibility of losing local control. If I serve as trustee, I will be sure that the budget remains within the available resources, that the benefit of taxpayer dollars is absolutely maximized to help further the district's mission, and I will keep budget cuts away from students and teachers to the greatest extent possible. I believe my professional expertise will inform my oversight in ways that will benefit students, teachers and families.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

There is no reason I would not serve my full term in office, other than if something. unforeseen were to arise related to health or family.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Every expert in the world started out as a beginner.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

This is the first election using the newly drawn NVUSD area boundaries, and the first election with "by district" instead of "at large" voting to fill seats on the NVUSD Board. I hope that this shift will enable me to have a more direct line of communication with the voters/stakeholders I hope to represent. As a mom of two current NVUSD students myself, I believe it's so important to seek regular input from the community. As a trustee, I will make myself readily available to my constituents, and hope to amplify the voices of Area 4 voters and use my influence to ensure the board is responsive to their needs and concerns.