Devon Updegraff-Day

Updegraff-Day believes that academic standards in K-12 institutions have been deteriorating in value, and she blames it on equity. She wants to raise academic standards and provide equal opportunity but is strongly against equal outcomes. She wants to reverse current academic standards from focusing on student identity and emotions to necessary skills needed in our economy. Furthermore, she believes that history courses should not learn history with the context of current events in mind, but prioritize a solid  understanding of the past without training activists. She also wants to prioritize the learning of phonics and reading comprehension rather than fluency [1].

Devon Updegraff-Day believes that PUSD spending has gotten out of hand and requires a thorough audit. One of the costs she hopes to reduce is social emotional learning & diversity and inclusion spending by the district. She also criticizes the membership fees for both the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA) and the National Education Association (NSBA) of $36,455, which she believes considers parents to be domestic terrorists [1].

She believes that student safety and behavior is a pressing issue for Peoria Unified School District as it is currently implementing various social emotional learning, multi-tiered system of support, positive behavioral intervention and support programs, which she believes are methods with limited research. She hopes to find an alternative approach to prevent reports of severe bullying like attempting to push a boy down the stairs, a kindergartener bringing a weapon to school among many behaviors she believes is affecting the student body [5].