HVALF 2022 Endorsement Questionnaire for Local School Board Candidates
This is the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation's (HVALF) questionnaire for candidates for local school boards. We encourage you to draft your responses in a separate document (e.g., in Microsoft Word) and copy-and-paste your completed responses when you are done.

The HVALF is the regional level of the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the federation of unions that represents about 11.5 of the 14.5 million union members in the United States, and about 3 million non-union members of Working America.    

The  HVALF, which represents over 40 local unions based in four counties (Washtenaw, Livingston, Jackson and Hillsdale), brings together local union leaders to build a labor movement that improves the lives of all working families. To this end, we support the fight for worker rights and living wages in the workplace, and work to change the balance of political power to achieve racial and social justice in our region and our state.      

The HVALF and its affiliates have multiple interests in the governance of local school boards.  Some of our affiliates represent employees working for our public schools.  As well, we believe that equal access to high quality public education is essential to genuine equality of opportunity, a necessary condition for a just society.  Last but not least, our public schools are "anchor institutions" that provide many of the jobs in our counties.  It is vital, if we are to reverse the the decline in real wages and rising poverty among full-time employees over the last eight years in our county, that our anchor institutions set the tone by respecting workers' rights of association and collective bargaining, and paying living wages to all of their employees.

With candidates for local offices such as our school boards, the HVALF decides on the endorsements for our region.  

Please note that we reserve the right to share the information you provide us in this survey with our delegates, our affiliates' members, and the public.

It is recommended that you fill out your long answers in a word document, and then copy/paste them into the form to avoid technical difficulties with editing your responses.

Are you filling out the correct form?
Countywide Officers - https://forms.gle/u7YEn6FfYcWRnV6x9
School Board - https://forms.gle/PiKDvC1oN5nuc28F8
Ann Arbor - https://forms.gle/FSPLKwY1n9K6bDgj7
State Rep/Senate -https://forms.gle/iC91kyhHzvWpL5yUA
Judicial - https://forms.gle/4EMohnwCjimf1gW69
County Commission - https://forms.gle/xJuheHQDkuaZihhKA
Municipal (not Ann Arbor) - https://forms.gle/Etr4Sxs29hufmeLHA

If you have any questions please contact HVALF Field Coordinator Trent Varva at tvarva@miaflcio.org

!!!!!!!!!!DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION WILL BE JULY 29th!!!!!!!!!!

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Campaign Details Section
Below please fill out relevant information about yourself and your campaign.
Your full name (as it will appear on the ballot) *
Your phone number *
Would you prefer to be contacted via text or called? *
Your email address (please do NOT list your government email, if any) *
What is your occupation and employer?
Your union affiliation, past or present (if any). Please specify active/former/retired. *
Have you attended an AFL-CIO Path2Power candidate training or GLPA training? *
Your partisan affiliation (HVALF is a nonpartisan organization that endorses members of all political parties for public office) *
What county are you running in?
Clear selection
What district are you running in? *
How long is the term you are seeking? (In years) *
Will you appear on the ballot or are you a write-in candidate?
Clear selection
How many seats are up in your district this year? (Most school districts have 7-member boards with 2, 3, or 4 members up in a given year.) *
Please list your opponents. *
Is there anything that we should know about your opponent(s)? / Why should we endorse you over your opponent(s)? *
Please describe your education, experience, and prior employment, and explain how these contribute to your preparation for the duties of the office that you seek. *
Do you have children? If so, where do / did they go to school? *
What is the year, make (e.g., Ford) and model (e.g., Mustang) of your automobile? *
Do you utilize union shops and buy union-made goods and services? Give an example. *
What organizations are you a member of or affiliated with? *
Website address (if any) *
Campaign committee name & mailing address *
Campaign manager name
Campaign treasurer name
How many votes do you need in order to win? (What is your "win number"?) *
How much money do you need to raise and how will you raise it? *
What is your cash on hand?
What is your plan to contact voters? How will you get the votes you need? (Phone banks, digital ads, door-to-door canvassing, lit drops, direct mail, etc.) *
What other endorsements do you already have? *
What other endorsements are you seeking? *
Why do you want to serve on the School Board? *
What do you think are the biggest issues facing your school district? How will you address them? *
What percent of students in your district live below the poverty line? How will you, as a school board member, help those students and their families? *
As a school board member, who will you model yourself after? Why? *
What do you see as the most important functions served by public schools in our society? *
What are your thoughts on the school-to-prison pipeline? *
What are your thoughts on restorative justice practices for in-school discipline, reducing out-of-school suspension, and an end to "zero-tolerance" policies? *
General Labor Issues
Workers are organizing at a steady pace to improve their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Yet, in workplace after workplace, employers and the legislature are working to bust up unions through many different anti-labor tactics. Workers need the support of their communities now more than ever in order to overcome these tactics and be free to make an appropriate decision.
If elected, will you pledge to support employee's rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike, do everything with in your power to repeal "right to work" legislation and reinstate prevailing wage? *
Do you think public institutions like schools should be model employers that support organized labor? *
Will you commit to substantive consultation with union leaders on how to address budget shortfalls before considering layoffs, furloughs, etc.? *
What activities best demonstrate your commitment to workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain? Please provide specific examples. *
How will you move toward all-electric, all-union, and all-American vehicle fleets for your district? *
Many school boards are moving away from "lowest bidder" policies for deciding who to hire for construction work, and moving toward "responsible contracting" policies instead. Responsible contracting policies help a district make a holistic evaluation of a bidder based on the bidder's past experience, their workers' training and qualifications, their safety record, and other factors in addition to bottom-line cost. If elected, will you work with HVALF to pass a strong responsible contracting policy using the concept "best value" in your district? *
Will you work to pass and enforce this resolution opposing privatization? *
Will you work to pass and enforce this resolution in support of workers’ rights? *
Governance Issues Section
As an elected official, it will be your job to make decisions on a wide range of issues affecting your community and to represent all of your constituents. Knowing that many of your constituents do not have access to the "traditional" leavers of political power, how do you plan to represent them on the following issues?
(This is part 1 of a 3-part question.) Please describe your role as an elected official in agenda-setting, determining public policy, and making decisions regarding the budget.
(Part 2 of 3) Please describe the role of your appointed administrators (e.g., the city manager) in agenda-setting, determining public policy, and making decisions regarding the budget.
(Part 3 of 3) What will you do when there is disagreement or conflict between you and the administration?
WASHTENAW COUNTY CANDIDATES: Will you pass and enforce this resolution to ensure that your direct employees, and employees of businesses you contract with, are paid (at least) a living wage?
How will you work to raise all district employees' pay, by the end of this term, to or above the living wage as specified in the link provided in the previous question? *
How will you collaborate with other regional school districts to improve education for all students? *
What role, if any, do you see for charter schools in the provision of publicly funded education in Michigan and beyond? *
If elected, will you oppose delegating the power of elected officials to unelected positions with no direct accountability to the public? (Eg. Superintendent, appointed boards, administrators, etc.) *
What activities best demonstrate your commitment to civil rights, equality and justice? Please provide specific examples. *
(WASHTENAW COUNTY CANDIDATES ONLY) How will you, as a school board member, support efforts to develop strong regional transit?
Is there anything else that you would like HVALF delegates and Committee on Political Education (COPE) members to know about you? If so, please indicate below. *
I, a candidate seeking HVALF support, have reviewed this questionnaire and will stand by my responses. I understand that typing or writing my name below and submitting this form constitutes my signature. *
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