Christina Vera
Christina Vera is an at-large member of the Columbus City Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She assumed office on January 1, 2022. Her current term ends on December 31, 2025.
Vera ran for election for an at-large seat of the Columbus City Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She won in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Vera completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Christina Vera was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her professional experience includes working as the co-founder and director of operations for Femergy®, which is "a non-profit organization that strives to equip girls and women with the necessary tools to navigate and soar through gender, economic, and social barriers so that they can grow up healthy, educated, and independent," according to Vera. Vera has served as an Advisory Council member at Otterbein University through the Women's Leadership Network, as a member of the National Association of Realtors® and as a member of the Columbus Board of Realtors®. She is an alumna of Project Diversity Cycle 20, the Latina Mentoring Academy Cycle 1, LEAD Ohio Program, Ready to Run, and John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: Columbus City Schools, Ohio, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Columbus City Schools school board (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Columbus City Schools school board on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ramona R. Reyes (Nonpartisan) | 26.0 | 39,508 |
| ✔ |  | Christina Vera (Nonpartisan)  | 24.9 | 37,908 |
| ✔ |  | Michael D. Cole (Nonpartisan) | 24.4 | 37,175 |
 | Kevin Hairston (Nonpartisan) | 9.9 | 15,130 | |
 | James Ragland (Nonpartisan) | 7.8 | 11,934 | |
| Mohamed Ali (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 10,579 | |
| Total votes: 152,234 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled.
Endorsements
To view Vera's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Christina Vera completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vera's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a resident of Columbus, a Brookhaven High School graduate, and the mother of CCS students, I have seen and understand the need for effective change in our district. I have spent 12 years leading in the non-profit sector helping students achieve success at the elementary, middle, high school and first generation college level by equipping youth with the tools they need to navigate and soar through gender, economic, and social barriers so that they can grow up healthy, educated, and independent. I understand the importance of collaboration and listening to all stakeholders to ensure our community goals and needs are being met. I am an energetic, results-driven professional with consistent performance and expertise in organizational leadership and multi-project management. As a servant leader I fight for equity, while creating a culture of trust, and fostering leadership in others.
- Testing - I want to advocate alongside of educators, parents, and community members to ensure state education representatives and legislators reduce the amount of standardized testing. I believe the current test framework is not a fair system and schools end up spending too much time on test-prep and testing itself. Test scores often just track socioeconomics, and there are hurdles to educating high-poverty populations. Students need multiple pathways to a H.S. Diploma.
- Equity for ALL students- We have to get away from the emphasis on where a child lives. Students' zip codes shouldn’t determine what kind of education they receive or lack thereof. Additional training and support tools for distance learning options. (Internet access, computer training) Engagement and support services for all families Reducing overcrowding in classrooms Large class sizes impact ability to give attention to students, increases distractions for students, and can lead to increased anxiety and stress for students.
- Facilities - Out of 109 schools (49,155) that are in our district 63 schools still need building improvements. Facility conditions can impact teacher recruitment, retainment, and commitment Not being able to recruit and retain top teaching talent directly impacts the quality of education the students receive. Facilities impact student engagement, behavior, and knowledge retention. The district needs long-term strategic planning to identify and prioritize our building infrastructure needs. (State Aide, Grants, Capital Campaigning projects)
I am very passionate about Progressive Curriculum access for students.
I want to advocate alongside of educators, parents, and community members to state education representatives and legislators to create progressive curriculums.
Curriculums that have a focus on:
Social-emotional learning helps children have strong social-emotional skills, and their academics improve greatly.
Our added focus should be to not only help the child through school, but prepare them to be good citizens and to prepare them for life.
Increased trade/life skilled programming opportunities (Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Home Economics, etc.)
I want you to know that I don't have all the answers and I can’t solely change things overnight. However, by voting for me and helping me get elected to the Columbus City School Board you have a board member that will go above and beyond the job description. A future board member who will listen, advocate, and push for change that our students and teachers need and deserve. I have integrity, compassion for others, and the grit to stand up and advocate for what is right and necessary.
This poem truly articulates my heart and legacy. I truly feel serving others is my calling and leaving people better then how I found them even when it's not popular or easy, we can't loose sight of humanity and simply just doing the right thing. When people think of me I want them to smile and say "Yeah, she served had no regrets , and created space to bring others along in the journey and process."
"I wanna say I lived each day, until I died
I know that I had something in somebody's life
The hearts I have touched, will be the proof that I leave
That I made a difference and this world will see
I was here, I lived, I loved, I was here
I did, I've done, everything that I wanted
And it was more than I thought it would be
I will leave my mark so everyone will know
I was here
I just want them to know
That I gave my all, did my best
Brought someone some happiness
Left this world a little better just because
I was here"
-Beyonce
As a governing team member my day-to-day role and priority is to provide the best educational opportunities, support, and pathways possible for Columbus City School students, teachers, staff, and additional stakeholders. I will be a strong and consistent district ambassador to the community and I will work to build public support and understanding of public education. I want open dialogue with teachers, staff members, and administration to hear their concerns and be a voice for them at the table. I want to be in our schools meeting with our students to hear how we can improve and what’s working. I want to advocate , research, and plan alongside educators and administration on ways we can create and implement progressive curricula that work and will help us retain more students and increase overall achievement. I recognize that I alone can not change things , but I can show up, speak up , and fight for what our district needs.
School board members represent the best interests of students, families, teachers, faculty, bus drivers , cafeteria workers etc. All stakeholders who play a part in our students education.
I’m running for the Columbus school board because I believe every child in the Columbus City School District deserves a progressive education that will prepare them with the tools, foresight and support they need to succeed in and outside of the classroom, regardless of their zip code. It’s time for effective change in leadership that is willing to go the extra mile to advocate and fight for the needs of CCS students, parents, teachers, and staff members and to provide innovative solutions that work and make sense for our district and the students of today. Advocating for more progressive programming like home economics, trade careers , and entrepreneurship. Strategizing for exceptional facilities and advocating with educators for multiple pathways to a HS Diploma.
This is a multidimensional question, but here is my starting point. We start creating equity by eliminating the emphasis on where a child lives. Students' zip codes shouldn’t determine what kind of education they receive. This includes facility conditions, wrap around services, engagement, and support services for all families. We also need additional training and support tools for distance learning options. Ensuring students have access to not only computers, but Wi-Fi and multi language tech support. I also want to continue to advocate for exceptional facilities as I feel this is a huge area of opportunity in eliminating disparities for our students. I would also like to reduce overcrowding in classrooms, as large class sizes impact the ability to give attention to students, increases distractions for students, and can lead to increased anxiety and stress for students. It is also imperative that we have diverse leadership with decision making capacity that truly is reflective of our district. Students and families need to see and hear from people who look like them. Students and teachers also need to have more of a voice with regard to the district making decisions. I will push and advocate for these things and many others as I feel people, the community, teachers, and staff are often not being heard or considered.
This is a multidimensional question, but here is my starting point. We start creating equity by eliminating the emphasis on where a child lives. Students' zip codes shouldn’t determine what kind of education they receive. This includes facility conditions, wrap around services, engagement, and support services for all families. We also need additional training and support tools for distance learning options. Ensuring students have access to not only computers, but Wi-Fi and multi language tech support. I also want to continue to advocate for exceptional facilities as I feel this is a huge area of opportunity in eliminating disparities for our students. I would also like to reduce overcrowding in classrooms, as large class sizes impact the ability to give attention to students, increases distractions for students, and can lead to increased anxiety and stress for students. It is also imperative that we have diverse leadership with decision making capacity that truly is reflective of our district. Students and families need to see and hear from people who look like them. Students and teachers also need to have more of a voice with regard to the district making decisions. I will push and advocate for these things and many others as I feel people, the community, teachers, and staff are often not being heard or considered.
We need to start putting people before politics. Decision need to truly be made that are going to positively impact and uplift communities. It's that simple, do the right thing, lead with integrity, stay on ground listening to the direct need of constituents and we can fix this and turn our school district around.
Teacher Based Teams (TBT) models have proven to be very effective for student development and academic success. This system is designed to strengthen teaching and learning; leading to collective efficacy for all students, collective use of formative assessment data, and to improve student learning through collaborative learning. Having and following protocols that include Early Warning Indicators (EWI) to help quickly identify if our students are falling into a danger zone is crucial.
EWI will allow teachers and staff administration to intervene and provide support to get students back on track for high school graduation and or overall grade level promotion. I think we can also connect and collaborate with other urban school districts on ideas and models that are working for them. For example, Johns Hopkins University has a lot of great resources and data to support Early Warning Indicator and Intervention Systems (EWS). We must get in the trenches with our students and teachers. We must be innovative and think outside the box. We also need to evaluate alternative learning settings. As the mother of a high functioning autistic son, and daughter who has anxiety, I recognize the level of engagement based on their learning environment. Not everyone can retain and learn in traditional settings. As mentioned earlier, creating equity is essential for our students. We achieve this by ensuring all of our schools have access to resources and funding to be able to create and implement progressive curriculums. Lastly, I will note we need to create more professional development opportunities for our teachers. We have so much teaching talent in our district. We should utilize these talented teachers to help train and inspire other teachers with what is working for them. The same logic applies to administrators as well.
I want to advocate alongside of educators, parents, and community members to state education representatives and legislators to create progressive curriculums.
Curriculums that have a focus on:
Social-emotional learning helps children have strong social-emotional skills, and their academics improve greatly.
Our added focus should be to not only help the child through school, but prepare them to be good citizens and to prepare them for life.
Increased trade/life skilled programming opportunities (Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Home Economics, etc.)
Equal school funding or lack there of is a huge issue. We can start by evaluating large corporate tax abatements. This is a huge problem for several reasons but most importantly because it affects our district. I understand the importance of bringing jobs to Ohio but we can’t simply place this much economic deficit on our community. When elected I will fight and advocate alongside community members to ensure the council hears our concerns. I would propose shortening those tax abatements to 10 years or less, and negotiate with these corporations to give 5-6 years of taxes upfront. Also requiring these corporations to hire local talent, and submit supporting data to show how much local talent has actually benefited and been hired. I would also want to negotiate with these corporations with regard to committing to a certain amount of in-kind support and volunteer opportunities for our district. These tax abatements have been loosely connected to economic inequality and it is time elected officials start making decisions that are going to improve the lives and communities of their constituents.
It is imperative that we are intentional about rewarding and guiding positive student behavior. Every school should have, implement, and follow a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system. This data driven framework supports students, teachers, and overall schools by using school specific data to select, monitor, and evaluate outcomes, practices, and systems that best fit each site. Fusing a model like this, in addition to restorative justice system models that include mediation amongst student peers/teachers, conferencing , while replacing detention with yoga and mediation can be very beneficial. I feel that taking a more holistic approach can help with school culture while helping our students create and manage their mental health.
We can achieve this by increasing more wrap around services for students, faculty, staff and families. An added way we can achieve additional wrap around services outside of getting additional funding, we can also increasing partnerships with higher education institutions and have more internship opportunities. In addition, to required mental heath workshops quarterly for each school building just to check in with students , faculty and staff. As I also mentioned making sure we are using tools like the PBIS system.
One of the many ways we can achieve this is by making sure all schools have additional wrap-around services. Building a true community at each school site will further prepare our students for academic and real world success. One of many ways we can achieve the implementation of these wrap-around services is by expanding upon our partnerships with local universities. Also, by expanding internship opportunities for social work, dieticians, psychologists etc., they can help support our students and staff while also gaining hands-on workforce experience. We also need to strengthen lines of communication between school administration, teachers, and staff. I would like to see all principles being more intentional and inclusive in regard to consulting with teachers when creating annual budgets.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate Columbus City Schools school board |
Officeholder Columbus City Schools school board |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 6, 2021
