Confirmed Candidates Running for Portland Public Schools Board

On May 16, three out of seven seats on the Portland Public School board will be up for grabs. The confirmed candidates are as follows:

Zone 4 Candidates, to replace Steve Buel

Rita Moore: Portland Public Schools activist, advocate and parent; former university professor; policy analyst in the Office of Health Analytics of the Oregon Health Authority.

Jamila Singleton Munson: Former teacher and principal for KIPP; current Senior Managing Director at Teach for America; co-founder of Community for Equity PDX.

Zone 5 Candidates, to replace Pam Knowles

Scott Bailey: School activist and volunteer; co-founder of Community & Parents for Public Schools; economics teacher at Clark College.

Virginia La Forte: Served as a school representative and member of the Portland Public Schools Talented and Gifted Advisory Council; current member of the Portland Public Schools Bond Stakeholder Advisory Group.

Traci Flitcraft: Marketing consultant at Salesforce marketing cloud.

Zone 6 Candidates, to replace board chairman Tom Koehler

Trisha Parks: Middle school teacher in Beaverton; former Beaverton teachers’ union leader; Portland Public Schools parent; involved in Parent Teacher Association, community organizing and volunteering.

Julia Brim-Edwards: Former Portland Public Schools board member (2001 – 2005); Nike senior director of global operations and public affairs; co-founder of a parent group.

Zach Babb: Principle mobile engineer at moovel North America, a transit technology company.

Ed Bos: Executive at Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America; staff sergeant in the Oregon National Guard.

Joseph L. Simonis (Josie, they/them): Data scientist and instructor; board member of Cornell Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association; chair of Rose City Rollers Training Committee.