Gelbart running for state schools superintendent
28-year-old Republican faces five others in primary
Jonathan Gelbart is seeking to unseat Diane Douglas as the state Arizona schools chief, if he can win the Republican primary in August.
At 28, Gelbart, a north Phoenix native, is among one of the youngest candidates to file to run for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
He faces a primary election in August of five Republicans, including the incumbent, Douglas.
Gelbart said his platform includes promoting innovation in the school system, rebuilding and transforming the state department of education and supporting and championing Arizona’s public schools.
“I’ve been saying that the (school) system today is almost like a Model T, it’s from the same era,” Gelbart said during a recent trip to Yuma. “It’s a 100-year-old clunker that we keep patching up and trying to keep on the road, when in reality, we need a car. We need a new model. We need to think bigger than just getting more funding for the schools.”
Gelbart said that many Arizonans are unhappy with Douglas’ performance as state schools chief. Her last approval rating in a poll conducted in 2016 was 16 percent, according to Associated Press articles. An effort to recall her in 2015 fell short of the required signatures.
“People can tell that Diane Douglas is vulnerable,” Gelbart said, noting that he would like to rebuild the state department of education
Gelbart said he’s been working on how to bring back a “culture of customer service and support of the schools, rather than throwing up obstacles to them. How do we make sure that the department is a resource for the schools, a clearing house for best practices, a meeting place for all different stakeholders in education to come together and work to find solutions and solve problems instead of just kind of yelling at each other and being off on our own islands.”
Gelbart said his background has uniquely prepared him for this role. He attended public schools in Phoenix, seeing first-hand how schools work.
“I noticed that we weren’t always holding ourselves to the highest expectations. We weren’t getting as much done and achieving as much as I think we’re capable of. So I always kind of kept that in the back of my mind,” he said.
After graduating from Stanford University, where he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s in engineering, he moved back to Arizona, where he went to work for BASIS charter schools.
“I helped expand their network, opened 15 of their campuses. They’re, today, serving 10,000 kids. I managed $250 million in projects for them. I have that mixture of educational success and business background that I think is exactly what we need in this position,” Gelbart explained. “This is a management position where a background in finance and operations is going to be extremely valuable.”
Gelbart said he does not have all the answers, and is committed to working with others.
“I want to make schools’ lives as easy as possible. I want to get obstacles out of their way so that they can do their job.”
Getting more funds for teacher pay through Prop 301 is another aspect Gelbart is studying.
“I think we definitely need to extend it as is, at the minimum,” he said. “There are some talks of changing the formula and seeing if we can get more of that 0.6 cents going to teachers and classrooms, or making that the first bucket in the formula, rather than the last bucket in the formula.”
Gelbart said he would be committed to working with the governor’s office to explore new funding sources for education “so that we can get more dollars to our teachers, and raise teacher salaries.”
More information about Gelbart and his campaign for state superintendent of public instruction can be found online at www.GelbartforAZ.com.