Candidate: BETSY VAUGHN

PRIORITIES 

~ Ensure fiscal responsibility by cutting costs and by being proactive in seeking necessary revenue. 

~ Recruit and retain high quality teachers by offering competitive salaries and benefits for veteran teachers as well as for beginning teachers and by offering teachers meaningful input into their own professional development and into school-based decision making. A highly effective principal must be at the helm of every school. 

~ Improve high school graduation rates, especially for students of color and for English Language Learners. 

~ Establish a working relationship between the Board and local government entities so that these organizations may work in tandem toward enhancing the quality of life in our community. 

~ Expand high-quality early childhood education programs and ensure that ALL students have equal access to resources. 

BIO 

     New Jersey native Betsy Vaughn has a B.A. in English from Upsala College (1969) and a M.Ed. from the College of New Jersey (1973). Throughout her 38 years as a classroom teacher, Betsy continued to be a lifelong learner via countless summer workshops and seminars as well as earning 18 graduate hours in English at Florida Gulf Coast University (2010-12). Betsy holds Florida Certification in Counseling and in Secondary English and endorsements in Reading and in ESOL. In a career spanning five decades, Betsy taught Language Arts to students in grades six through twelve. She worked with English Language Learners and students who read well below grade level in Reading class as well as with 11th and 12th grade advanced students in Advanced Placement and Cambridge AICE classes. 

     Her widely varied experience in the classroom gives Betsy a unique perspective on the needs of a cross-section of students. Betsy relocated from Texas to Southwest Florida in 2005. She spent the last eight years of her career at Estero High School where she attended summer cadres, was a TALC representative, sponsored the A-Team, and initiated the "Phenomenal Academic Wildcat" (PAW) program to recognize student academic achievement. Prior to her move to Florida, Betsy spent 19 years as an English Department Chair at The Colony High School in suburban Dallas. There she supervised 15+ teachers, budgeted, wrote curriculum, facilitated meetings and in-service trainings, and had input into school-based decision making. 

     Retirement has opened a new chapter in Betsy's life. She is currently an active volunteer as a Guardian ad Litem child advocate, the Chairperson of the School Board Continuous Systemic Improvement Advisory Committee, a Community Conversations discussion leader, and a Partnering for Results Review Panel member. Last year she was the Secretary of her homeowner's association and Charities Chair for Montage Women's Club. Betsy is a member of the National Organization for Women and three local political clubs, serving as Secretary and Scholarship Chair for the Haitian-American Democratic Club of Lee County. 

    Betsy has two adult daughters who live in Southwest Florida. Her two grandchildren attend Lee County Public Schools (Diplomat Middle School and North Fort Myers High School).