Idaho Superintendent candidate Debbie Critchfield talks about campaign

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)- Three people are running as Republican candidates for Idaho Superintendent of Public Education. Incumbent Sherri Ybarra, Branden Durst, and Debbie Critchfield will all be on the ballot in May.

Critchfield sat down for an interview to talk about her campaign.

"I'm running because I believe the people of Idaho deserve a strong educational leader that can provide the vision that our students need for the 21st century," Critchfield said.

Critchfield has spent nearly 20 years in education at all levels.

"From kindergarten to postgraduate medical education," Critchfield said. "I served as a local (Cassia County School District) board member for ten years. And while I did that, I served on a number of state committees and task forces, implementing and studying all sorts of inputs for education that would help student outcomes. Most recently, the last seven years I've spent on Idaho State Board of Education and served as president for two years."

Critchfield said that experience put her in a position to question herself.

"Particularly after the COVID school year...What's the vision? What is it that we're trying to accomplish for schools, for families, for communities, for students? How are we helping to prepare educators to be able to meet those needs? And then ultimately, what is education providing for our students so that they are job-ready when they leave?" Critchfield said.

Critchfield says one big thing her campaign is emphasizing is "readiness".

"I believe that readiness is the fourth R of education, and making sure that our students are prepared for the workforce, for life, that they not only know things, but they also have skills."

Part of that is making sure students understand personal finance.

"One of the priority platform pieces for me is to have a required class for personal finance or financial literacy," Critchfield said. "We know that skills in math, like algebra and even in economics are very different than understanding how to do taxes, what retirement means. How do you manage money? How do you count back change? Things as simple as that."

Critchfield says those are skills that are transferable skills and durable, last beyond high school, and make successful adults.

She also says she wants to change how lawmakers talk about funding schools.

"I want to initiate this conversation, how we talk about funding schools, what does it cost to educate a student in Idaho? And that has to take on the facilities issue," Critchfield said. "We cannot sustain what we have now, where we put such a burden on our local tax base. Depending on where you are in the state, where we're creating two systems where if your local taxpayers are able to support some of these things, whether it's a supplemental levy, a plant facility levy, or a construction bond, then you're able to provide some things for students that other students in Idaho aren't able to have. And I, as someone that would be charged with upholding the constitutional duties of a state superintendent, we've got to look at how we manage the free, thorough, and uniform, system that we want to have that it shouldn't matter on your zip code. It shouldn't matter on some of these things how you're able to access quality learning environments, quality teachers, and quality programs."