Monica Ruiz, candidate for Wake County Board of Education District 2
Name: Monica Ruiz
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 44
Campaign website: https://monicaruiz4wake.com
Occupation: Wake County Public School System teacher
Education: B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland, M.S. in secondary education from Old Dominion University
Have you run for elected office before? No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: Recently, in the last two years, I have volunteered with the GOP as a Precinct Chair.
Why do you want to serve on the Wake County Board of Education?
To replace the curriculum with one that ensures most students are proficient in core subjects. To bring fiscal transparency and accountability to how the board is spending its budget. To ensure our schools are secure and safe with SROs, vestibular entrances that check for metal weaponry, and annual background checks for volunteers and employees.
What are the Wake County Public Schools doing well?
Variety of magnet schools and the classes offered at those magnet schools.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
Curriculum, fiscal transparency and accountability, and safety and security. I want to replace the current curriculum, particularly the EL Education and math. I want to work with teachers to find curriculum that most everyone approves of and bring back textbooks.
What should the district do in response to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students?
Some are inappropriate in that they have pornographic material, either in writing and/or pictures. These books should not be available in public schools.
How should schools discuss issues involving discrimination based on race, gender and other factors?
Of late, so much emphasis in the media and our culture has been placed on identity politics and our physical differences. It’s not to say that issues of discrimination and racism should not be discussed, but there has been an amplification and over-emphasis on these topics that we fail to find common ground and find unity as Americans.
How would you go about making schools safer in the aftermath of school shootings such as in Uvalde, Texas?
School resource officers should be in every school. A police force just for WCPSS should be formed. There are way too many jurisdictions in Wake County, and that was one of the problems with Uvalde. So many responded and no one really knew who to answer to. We need vestibular entrances that check for metal weaponry. Doors need to be secured. We need to ensure that every teacher, including subs, has keys for every door that they may use.
What would you do to try to address student learning loss that was exacerbated by the pandemic?
A half-hour to an hour a day could be built into the schedule — particularly if the current EL Education curriculum is removed and replaced — that could be targeted towards the kids that need help and specific to the subject that they need the most help with. AIG students can do accelerated work or projects during this time if they demonstrate proficiency in all core subject areas.
What’s the appropriate level of funding that should be provided to Wake County schools?
That is a loaded question. I have to have full access to the budget. I know that we spend $2 billion for our operating budget, but there is another billion in the building program fund, and how that money is spent is hidden from the public. Having access to the full budget and providing fiscal transparency to the public will ensure the best use of funds.
