Marvene Lobato

Lobato believes that the school board should have access to all dialogues regarding curriculum development. She says that the school board has an active role in curriculum development and should be engaged [1]. She also plans on developing curricula which address the learning gap during the pandemic [2].

Marvene Lobato says she will prioritize salary and benefits for employees, curriculum, instruction, and safety in the school district budget. She also believes that the state funding is insufficient and so she plans on advocating for increased state funding [1]. Lobato plans on ensuring that the school district has sound finance practices and budget appropriations. She believes that the school district budget should have adequate allocations for schools and classrooms to have supplies and equipment needed by students and teachers [2]. Lobato also believs that the Arizona State Legislature constantly passes mandates on school districts without providing the appropriate funding. She also criticizes the district expenditure limit preventing Arizona schools from using $1.3 billion that has already been allocated towards education [3].

Lobato believes that parents should be able to be involved in curriculum development with the district board. She also believes that continuing to work toward closing the achievement gap by addressing student learning loss is important, an issue she plans on solving through prioritizing consistent forms of communication with parents and the community [1].

Marvene Lobato does not endorse the expansion of Empowerment Scholarships. She believes that it is a program that does not consider restrictions that low income families have with transportation or paying the full tuition for some private schools. Lobato believes that these are funds that should be appropriated to public schools rather than being spent on Empowerment Scholarships, leaving public schools reliant on their tax payers to approve bonds and overrides to support the school district budget [1].