Richard Woods
Candidate for Superintendent of Schools, Republican, Incumbent
Website: www.woodsforsuper.com/
Occupation(s): Georgia Superintendent of Schools since 2015
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. Any responses below are taken verbatim from the campaign website.
Image source: gema.georgia.gov
Our health is affected by a variety of factors that are directly influenced by policies made by and supported by the Superintendent of Schools:
Priorities
What priorities or key issues will you address if elected to this office?
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. The response is taken verbatim from the campaign website:
School Safety
Expand mental health and SRO funding
Provide line-item school safety funding
Secure facilities and coordinate best practices
Expand Teacher Pay
Expand salary step increases across careers
Protect retirement and healthcare benefits
Get rid of the “gotcha” teacher evaluation tool
Testing minimum
Establish a new federal testing minimum
Use diagnostic tools in "off" years to guide learning
Identify and reduce redundant local testing local testing
Develop multiple diploma pathways
Provide a tailored high school experience
Customize pathways for college, technical, or military
Graduate with diplomas and acceptance letters
Modernize the K-12 funding formula
Achieve a 21st century education for every child
Increase transportation funding and recognize poverty
Elevate Education Support Professionals
Expand opportunity for every child
Support a well-rounded education for every child
Expand access to the arts, STEM/STEAM, CTAE, and play
Provide “Opportunity Grants” for all schools
Lift our schools - not just label them
Provide a fuller and fairer picture of performance
Replace oversimplified ratings with detailed public dashboards
Highlight opportunities and challenges so schools grow
Experience
What key experiences would you bring to this role?
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. The response is taken verbatim from the campaign website:
Leadership Experience
State School Superintendent of Georgia, 7+ years
Principal
Assistant Principal
K-5 Curriculum Director
Pre-K Director
Home School Director
Classroom Experience
Social Studies Teacher, 14 years
Department Chair
Mentor to new teachers
Statewide and regional recognition for teaching strategies
Business Experience
Small Business Owner
Lead purchasing agent for domestic and international laser company
Burnout and Teacher Shortage
Over half of Georgia’s teachers have expressed some concerns about burnout. How do you plan to improve retention in the teacher workforce and address teacher shortage?
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. The response is taken verbatim from the campaign website:
Expand teacher pay raises
During the pandemic, I lead the nation in giving all teachers and support staff a one-time $1,000 bonus. Working with the Governor, we’ve delivered on a promised $5,000 pay raise for all teachers.
Currently, the salary scale is flat for the first three years and last nine years of a teacher’s career. This structure negatively impacts recruitment and retention. If honored with another term in office, I will work with policymakers to expand salary step increases across a teacher’s entire career.
I’ll continue to protect TRS retirement benefits and keep health insurance rates affordable. We cannot raise pay only to see additional pay diverted to rising retirement and healthcare costs.
Treat teachers as professionals
I fought to bring about much needed changes to the original TKES and LKES bill – eliminating SLOs (Student Learning Objectives), lowering the weight of high-stakes testing, and reducing the number of observations, while my opponent brags about authoring the original damaging legislation.
Despite measurable improvements, the current evaluation system still demoralizes teachers and doesn't professionalize them. We must move away from a ‘gotcha’ tool to one that truly treats teachers as professionals.
We need a system that supports teachers throughout their careers -- from beginning teacher to teacher leader. We need a system with built-in mentoring and induction supports for those starting in the profession, as well as greater flexibility, autonomy, and leadership opportunities for those who continue to grow in the teaching profession.
Under my direction, the Georgia Department of Education launched a teacher evaluation pilot with the focus on transforming our current model. Once we identify the supports we want leaders to provide to teachers and we define a strong profile for teacher leadership, we can develop a leader evaluation pilot that folds in essential pieces while streamlining the overall requirements of the system.
Let teachers teach and cut red tape
Our teachers were called to teach -- not push paperwork or check boxes.
We must free our teachers from the excessive requirements that pull them away from students and push them out of the profession.
At the state level, we must streamline processes and cut red tape while getting local school districts to do the same.
Equity in Funding
Do you have a plan for equitable distribution of public school funding, particularly to students with disabilities?
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. The response is taken verbatim from the campaign website:
In Georgia, we have a 1985 K-12 funding formula. Our children deserve a 21st century funding formula that supports a 21st century education.
We must modernize the funding formula to meet the moment. Positions like school resource officers aren’t even funded in the current formula. Paraprofessional positions are currently only funded at the kindergarten level; these positions should be expanded through the early grades to ensure better student to teacher ratios and a stronger foundation of the fundamentals for students. School districts only earn $11,000 per bus driver in state funding; funding for all positions need to be evaluated and updated to reflect true costs.
I am the only candidate to release a detailed plan on how to modernize our state’s funding formula.
It's time to modernize our K-12 formula by increasing transportation funding, recognizing poverty, enhancing non-academic supports, expanding Educational Support Professionals, and adjusting funding levels with the rising costs of resources, supports, and personnel.
Meeting the Needs of Diverse Communities
How do you ensure that the public education system is meeting the needs of all Georgia communities - rural and urban, high resource and low resource?
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. The response is taken verbatim from the campaign website:
Whatever a child's zip code, they deserve access to a well-rounded education.
We must establish 'Opportunity grants' for all schools, dedicating funding streams to support and expand opportunities in fine arts, computer science, recess and play, PE, STEM/STEAM, AP, gifted, Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE), and world language.
The Richard Woods campaign did not submit responses to our questionnaire. No information was found on the campaign website related to this question:
COVID-19 presented a variety of unique challenges to schools. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges school systems have faced? Do you believe there is a gap in education due to the pandemic? If so, how do you plan to address this gap?
Note: We welcome any responses from candidates who did not previously answer our questionnaire request.