Roy Vaughn
Age: 41 City: Alexander Occupation: Public school teacher Education: Bachelor of arts in speech communications, masters in education, University of Arkansas at Monticello
Public service: Arkansas Army National Guard Website: www.voteroy.com
I’m running for state representative because I see a bright future for Alexander, Benton Bryant, Shannon Hills and Vimy Ridge, and I am going to fight to uplift all of our families, workers, students and veterans. I see real issues in Saline County that aren’t being addressed by our current leadership. Issues like struggling public education, depleted veterans’ services, and inadequate rural healthcare. I served in Iraq, and I know what public service looks like and what self-service looks like. It’s clear to me that some legislators are unwilling to act in the public good unless they benefit politically. I plan to bring responsive, transparent and effective representation to our growing community in Saline County that is focused on the issues that we are actually facing.
Year after year, we’ve seen public education being whittled away at the hands of the legislature. I’ve spent my whole 19-year career as a teacher in Arkansas public school classrooms, and I can say that raising our next generation of workers and leaders in the best learning environment possible should be the primary focus of state government. However, Arkansas remains at the bottom of the list for teacher and staff pay and at the bottom of national rankings for education. We can fix this with a renewed focus on bolstering our public education, but if we don’t start soon, the generational effects will soon be irreversible.
The most pressing issue facing our district is that we don’t support our children in our public schools as much as we should. Our public schools are one of the greatest strengths of our community here in Saline County, but we run the risk of losing everything we’ve built if we stop supporting them. This issue came to the forefront this summer, when legislators and candidates — including my opponent — failed to take a stand on raising educator pay. Legislators’ jobs should be to spend our tax dollars on the areas with the greatest public need. We all know the issue — our education system is underfunded and shortstaffed, and the solution was clear — use our historic $1.6 billion surplus to raise our educator pay. That’s where I would start, by giving our teachers and academic staff the support they deserve.