Peten focuses on education
Gerae Peten is running for the state Legislature in the Nov. 6 election for the seat she was appointed to a year ago, and the retired educator and Democrat plans to keep her primary focus on education.
Teachers eventually were given what is expected to amount to a 20 percent pay raise over the next three years, but Peten agrees with her fellow party members that much more needs to be done.
The battle over public teachers’ pay took over this year’s session after the statewide #RedForEd teacher walkouts.
During the debate, Peten said, “One of the things I stressed is it wasn’t just about teacher pay. The entire system needs to be fully funded, with a sustainable, permanent source of revenue. We still didn’t get that. That’s why the Dems voted against it, we’re still fighting for it.”
She added, “I personally feel the whole educational funding formula needs to be revamped, it’s not doing its job. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
She puts much of the blame on tax breaks given over the last 30 years, and said the result can be seen in Arizona’s low ranking in student achievement as well as teacher pay.
“You have to think, how did that happen? And it happened because of a poorlyfunded tax structure,” she said. “They’re just taking money out and not putting it back in, and they’re not investing in our children.”
Originally from New Jersey, Peten said her home state is No. 2 nationwide in student achievement, and “the main thing, which this state tries to avert at all costs, is taxes. I know the real estate taxes in New Jersey are much higher, but it’s almost like you have to invest in what you want, where you want the quality,” she said.
She is also concerned about Arizona’s high prison populations and the money spent there versus K-12 schools, with three times as much funding per prisoner than per student, she said.
“I would like to lower the incarceration rate and raise the student achievement rate. And then, just prosperity, produce life-sustaining jobs, not just have the working poor, people living paycheck to paycheck. We can’t get those unless we have a better educational system,” she said, when prioritizing issues for a second term.
She doesn’t believe public schools are preparing students those kinds of positions, from what she’s learned as a legislator.
“Especially when you tour industry and then tour the schools, you can see where the void is. A lot of the curriculum are not very heavy with the STEM, science, technology, engineering and mathematics program.
“Even a dairy, it’s amazing, the amount of technology that runs those operations,” she said.
Peten’s career took her to the Navajo Nation, where she led the Piñon Unified School District, and then worked as an educational consultant. She now lives in the west Phoenix suburb of Goodyear, on the northern side of District 4.
She said that while a superintendent, she prioritized STEM-based instruction as early as kindergarten. “I wanted the little 5- and 6-year-olds to know quality teaching of STEM, so they wouldn’t be afraid of math, or science or engineering. That it’s part of life,” she said.
She was appointed to her House seat in August 2017, after the resignation of Rep. Jesus Rubalcava, D-Gila Bend, who cited family reasons. He was also being investigated by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission for campaign finance violations.
“I was retired before I took this position on, and a lot of people asked me, ‘how could you do that?’ But once I was in there I realized I needed to be there, just to bring a different perspective, just to speak for the underprivileged, disenfranchised people, because their voices are not there without that diversity,” she said.
Peten is currently the state’s only African-American female legislator, though she’s hoping for more company following the election. Her biggest surprise in going to the Capitol was the level of partisanship between the two major parties.
She’s tried to defuse that a little, she said, by actions like marking Women’s History Month in March.
“I went around to all the women in the House and asked them to honor someone, whether it’s past or present, or whatever. And that was everyone. And everyone participated,” she said.
Peten and the other District 4 House incumbent, Rep. Charlene Fernandez, DYuma, are both running to retain their offices, and face Green Party opponent Sara Mae Williams of Sells.
The district includes the south Yuma County communities of San Luis, Somerton and Gadsden, along with the city of Yuma north of 24th Street and west of Pacific Avenue.