Candidate Profile 2024: Liz Barker For Sarasota County School Board

SARASOTA, FL — Former school psychologist Liz Barker is running for the Sarasota County School Board District 2 seat.

He faces one opponent, incumbent Karen Rose, in the race.

Patch sent a questionnaire to both candidates in the District 1 race. Rose didn’t respond.

Find Barker's responses below:

Name:

Liz Barker

Age:

40

Occupation:

Current stay-at-home mom, former school psychologist

Why are you running for office?

I’ve spent my adult life focused on my career as an educator and my role as a mother. Politics were never part of the equation. That changed when my daughter came home from school one afternoon and told me that she had just helped her 6th grade English teacher pack up their classroom library. For me, this is deeply personal. My family relies on Sarasota County Schools to provide a high quality education to our four children. We cannot afford to allow personally and politically motivated school board members to continue to divide our community, waste resources, and distract from our shared goals.

What do you think are the top three issues the school district is currently facing?

1. Loss of funding: Our public schools must be fully funded in order to provide the excellent education this community demands. The sunsetting of federal Covid Relief Funds, loss of state funding to the newly expanded statewide universal voucher program, and unrestrained spending by our school board have all taken a toll on our budget. We are currently in the midst of a hiring freeze and construction projects are on hold in high growth areas like North Port. Most importantly, we have made substantial cuts to instructional positions. Addressing these losses will require transparent fiscal accountability.
2. Political distractions: Divisive and harmful rhetoric by our current school board majority has created a climate of chaos and eroded the trust the community places in our elected leaders. We need leaders who make decisions based on data, not on political talking points.
3. Teacher morale and retention: It’s widely reported that teacher pay remains at an all-time low across the state. Additionally, in a survey conducted last year, 83% of SCS teachers reported feeling unsupported by the current school board majority and 68% feared retaliation by the school board if they voiced their concerns. Fearful teachers are not effective instructors. We have a responsibility to change the climate for them.

Learn more about Barker at her campaign website, her Facebook page, on Instagram and on X, formerly Twitter.