2024 General Election Candidate Profile: Tim Beaty For Alexandria School Board

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As Alexandrians cast their ballots for president and Congress, the Nov. 5, 2024 general election in the City of Alexandria features local races as well. In the Alexandria School Board election, there are nine candidates running for nine seats, including Tim Beaty.

There was no primary election for the non-partisan School Board race. The nine-member School Board has three representatives each from Districts A, B and C. There are three candidates in each of the Districts A, B and C, so none are opposed on the ballot.

Beaty, an incumbent who won a special election to fill Willie Bailey's School Board seat, is running for re-election in District A. District A includes neighborhoods like Old Town, Del Ray, Potomac Yard and Arlandria.

The City of Alexandria will have the mayor, all six City Council seats and all nine Alexandria School Board seats up for election in November. Federal elections on the ballot include president, Sen. Tim Kaine's U.S. Senate seat, and Rep. Don Beyer's eighth congressional district seat. The next state-level elections will be in 2025.

Early voting for the general election will begin on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 and continue through Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. More information on how to vote is available from the Alexandria Office of Voter Registration & Elections.

Patch asked candidates for mayor, Alexandria City Council and Alexandria School Board to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are Tim Beaty's responses:

Name

Tim Beaty

Office Sought

School Board Member, District A

Campaign Website

beatyforschoolboard.com

Age (As of Nov. 5 election)

67

Education

B.A. in Economics, University of Notre Dame

Occupation

Retired, former Union Organizer

Family

My wife is an elementary school principal for Fairfax County Public Schools

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Previous public office positions or appointments

I am a Member of the Independent Mexico Labor Expert Board which advises the US Congress on labor issues in Mexico.

Why are you seeking this office?

After retirement I was a substitute teacher at ACPS schools (Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon and GW) and loved working with our students and staff. Late last year their was an unexpected vacancy in the School Board so I ran and won election last January. I'm now seeking a full term because I want to continue advocating for getting a great teacher in each classroom, labor rights for our staff and to serve as a voice for the latino immigrant community (now over 30% of ACPS students). We succeeded in passing policy so our teachers and support staff can form unions and I will continue to support the process leading to collective bargaining agreements with these workers. This will help with morale and worker retention.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

I have come to admire the commitment and knowledge of my colleagues on the school board. I think ALX is fortunate to have folks like Michelle Reif, Kelly Carmichael Booz, Chris Harris and Ashley Simpson Baird on our Board. At many Board meeting there will be split votes on certain issues but there is a common commitment to work together to reach consensus that works best for our students and staff.

What do you see as the top issues facing your city, and how do you address them in your campaign platform?

The key issues we face include funding our budget, the upcoming redistricting process, the K-8 analysis, the mental health of children and youth, addressing the needs of our immigrant communities, early childhood opportunites for low-income children, recruiting and keeping quality staff (teachers, support staff and management). ALX is an expensive place to live so lots of our staff commute to their jobs, we can partially address this with our compensation package and keep it an inviting place to work but it will continue to be a challenge. With major support from the City Council we are building/modernizing our schools but we will have to adjust school boundries to address the changing demographics in our City. I support our current Division leadership beginning with Superintendent Kay-Wyatt. I think we should work for stability in our leadership at the Division and school level... these are very challenging jobs and I very much appreciate their dedication to students and community.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I hope my role in the debate leading to the union recognition and collective bargaining policy was strong evidence of my ability to engage our community and staff towards a strong equitable solution to address some of our challenges. I also represent the School Board on the Children, Youth and Families Collaborative Commission and the Alexandria Gang Prevention Community Task Force. On the School Board, Commission and Task Force I seek to work with many community allies to assist our young folks towards a great start to life and preparation for their futures.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Michelle Reif, Ryan Reyna and I are doing a series of community meetings before the election. Information available on our Facebook pages.