Terry Kemple is running for the District 4 seat on the Hillsborough County School Board.

1. Why are you running for this office?

I want to help all students have better educational outcomes in order to improve their futures and the future of our community, culture, and country.

I’ve been advocating with the school board and other community leaders on behalf of parents, students, and families for the past 18 years. My knowledge of the issues and experience in working within the "system" to achieve results will enable me to do that.

With five daughters who have gone through public schools and 18 grandchildren, three of whom are currently in Hillsborough County Schools, I have a vested interest in making sure our public schools are as effective as they can possibly be in educating our children.

2. Why do you think you are the best qualified candidate for the office?

As a conservative Christian, I’ll do everything possible to ensure that education in Hillsborough County is focused on students being able to read, write, and calculate at grade level.

My 18 years of experience dealing with policy at the governmental level has taught me how the process works and how to work within the system to build consensus and see initiatives get passed.

I have extensive experience in business, management, analysis, and technology. Having children and grandchildren graduate from public schools has provided hands-on experience with teachers and with what goes on in the classroom.

While it’s not the job of school board members to actually delve into district operations, my broad range of experience will be invaluable as a school board member when it comes time to evaluate budgets and both initiate and analyze policy recommendations.

3. If you are elected, what will be your top priorities?

I’m a veteran of 6 years in the US Naval Reserve and as a proud American I’ll emphasize teaching our children about American exceptionalism.

My emphasis has always been seeking ways to encourage more parents to be more involved in their children’s education. This needs to be a combination of reaching out to parents who aren’t currently involved and making it easier for those who want to be involved to find their way through the bureaucratic maze to the person who can help with their need.

Bringing decision making and control back to the local level whenever possible. The first thing I’ll do is take advantage of the law passed by the Legislature that allows districts to put together their own curriculum committees. If at least three other board members can be convinced to go that direction, our committee will select ALL of the curriculum used in the district.

That isn’t the way it works now, with at least half the curriculum being selected by the state. I’ll also work to make sure that a majority of committee members are parents and other volunteers from the community who aren’t district employees.

I’ll focus on doing everything possible to stop the Washington D.C.-developed Common Core State Standards Initiative (aka “Florida Standards”) and replace them with standards created in Florida by Floridians.

In the event it’s not possible to stop Common Core I’ll advocate for a fallback program that can be implemented quickly when Common Core fails as it already has in other states that opted in earlier than Florida.

I’ll also push for our Legislature to eliminate "high stakes testing." There need to be evaluations that determine how well students and educators are doing. However, when getting the right answers on the test leads to “teaching to the test” and eliminating the broad range of exposure to knowledge that students in K-12 should receive, it’s time to rethink the entire process.

I believe parents should have the maximum opportunity possible to place their children in the educational setting that provides the best environment for learning. That means not just tolerating, but embracing Charter Schools, Magnet Schools, Virtual Education, Home Schooling, and Private Schools in addition to our traditional public schools.

They’re all our children, so let’s not get hung up on money. Let’s focus on giving them all the best education possible!