Barbara Fike
DemocraticQ1 What advisory mechanisms will you implement to ensure that evidence and scientific findings play a crucial role in your policymaking process?
I am primarily an educator, and know the importance of research and the value of expertise. I would rely on universities, organizations such as Sierra Club, and professional organizations.
Q2 What initiatives will you take to support investment in innovation via federal science funding?
We need to restore what has been lost.
Q3 Arizona faces many environmental issues, including extreme heat, mining extraction waste, and water scarcity, especially with the rise of AI data centers. What strategies, if any, do you support to tackle these issues?
I oppose data centers, and would work closely with climate scientists (and believe them!) and hydrologists to come up with plans to mitigate our heat and water shortage and plan for the future. I support the candidate for State Mine Inspector who seems aware of the role mining plays in our environment.
Q4 Arizona saw the second-largest measles outbreak in the nation last November. Do you have any plans or support any policies to prevent future public health outbreaks?
We need go back to allowing experts to decide what’s best for public health, and not leave it up to individuals - because it is PUBLIC health. I am a polio survivor. We know HOW to do it, we just need the will to do it again.
Q5 Arizona youth regularly use social media. Given that social media profiles may spread information about science and policy matters, do you support any policies that regulate these platforms for younger audiences?
As an educator, I see a great need for policies that regulate misinformation as well as policies that teach how to navigate mis- and dis-information on their own as they get older.
Q6 According to Consumer Affairs and the National Education Association (NEA), Arizona is ranked last in public school education and has the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation. Arizona is also one of the US states with the least funding put into public schools. What are your opinions on the current state of public school funding in Arizona, and how do you view the role of science in K-12 education?
I have more than 250 words! Governmental policies from the last several decades of Republican leadership have elevated business interests over the needs of the children and the need for an educated society to improve everyone’s lives. Vouchers, or ESA’s, are the latest scam of redirecting tax dollars into private pockets, but school boards, towns, and the state legislature have been chipping away at the integrity of teachers and programs in public schools in the (sadly successful) attempt to make schools “bad” so that they can say they need reformed or eliminated.