Office and district sought: State House of Representatives 18
Name: Michael Merrifield
Party affiliation: Democrat
Website: www.michaelmerrifield.org
E-mail: Michael@michaelmerrifield.org.
Last degree earned: Master of Music Education, University of Arizona
Occupation: Retired teacher, currently State Representative for HD18
Hobbies: Mountain biking, back country skiing, trail running
Family: Son, Scott (27); daughter, Meredith, (34); two grandchildren – a granddaughter and a grandson
How long have you lived in Colorado? Where did you live before? I have lived in Colorado for 25 years, prior to that, Arizona.
Last book read: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter
Civic Involvement: Trails/Open Space Coalition Board; Advocates for Balanced Education Board; Alliance for Quality Teaching Board
Major endorsements: Colorado Education Association; Colorado Professional Firefighters; Colorado Conservation Voters Action Fund; Colorado Protectors of Public Schools; Colorado AFL-CIO
Why are you running? I want to preserve what is great about Colorado and provide a voice for the voiceless.
What are the top three challenges facing Colorado or the institution you seek to represent?
1. Adequate health care for all Coloradans, especially underinsured and uninsured working families and children.
2. Adequate water supply for Colorado’s current residents and those moving here.
3. Improving the effectiveness of Colorado’s public education system while at the same time protecting it from “privatizers.”
What is your top priority in the next session if you should win? Begin studying and implementing real reform in public schools. Not reforms that are actually aimed at denigrating, weakening, privatizing or destroying public education. Bring together experts from across the country and state to find out what has worked in other states and regions. Closing the achievement gap and maintaining a strong arts curriculum in the schools. (They ARE closely related.)
What proposal in the last session did you oppose the most? I strongly opposed a proposal to weaken the requirements for school principals by no longer requiring that they have a Master’s degree or have experience in the classroom. Having an effective, respected and experienced principal in every school is vitally important. It is especially important in struggling schools. There is no case of a struggling school being changed to a successful school without an inspirational, outstanding leader who is respected and believed in by teachers, staff members, parents and students. A master’s degree is no a “merely adequate” degree and there is no substitute for experience in the classroom.
What proposal in the last session did you agree with the most? The “Right to Rest in Peace” act that I sponsored. It protects families from protests at funerals so they can grieve in peace.
