DIRECTORS

Darrel Deide, Chairman

• Superintendent of the Caldwell School District 1975-1995
• School Board Rep. during construction of present Caldwell High School 1996-1997
• State Senator 3 terms - VICE-PAC Chairman Senate Education Committee - Chairman Senate Agriculture Committee
• Former Director Harbor Institute
• Founder and current Director of Caldwell Education Foundation–Now Caldwell Foundation for Education Opportunity (CFEO)
• Caldwell Kiwanis Club 1973 to Present, Past President and Lt. Gov
  Past member:  Caldwell Chamber of Commerce, Caldwell Economic Development Council, Salvation Army Advisory Board and numerous Chamber Committees Member of numerous task forces and committees charged with School Improvement 

“I have been involved in Public Education for over four decades and have always sought solutions to public education problems.  Both as a local school district superintendent and a member of many school improvement committees I have put forth reform measures.  However, none of those measures really made a significant difference.  The reason, all of those measures just tried to “tweak” the present system.  That has not worked in the past, nor will it in the future.  The system needs a major overhaul and that overhaul is simply providing all parents with the right to choose the type of school that they feel in their “gut” is right for their children, that the State does NOT have that right!  Our children are our most precious resource and we must give parents the Power to have their children educated in the manner most meaningful to them!”

 

Holland Johnson, Treasurer

• Retired educator (41 years in public schools)
• 1981 Nampa Teacher of the year
• 1988-1998 Principal of Junior High
• Counselor/Consultant:  Nampa’s Liberty Charter High

“CHOICE-PAC:  Embraced by liberals and conservatives as a means of changing the structure and performance of public schools.”

 

Becky Stallcop, Director
An Idaho educator for more than 20 years, Becky Stallcop has developed and led the efforts to what has become known as the Harbor School Method.  As principal of Liberty Charter School in Nampa, Idaho, the first "Harbor" school, she has taken part in and been on the front lines of public education reform in Idaho, and witnessed duplication of her school not once, but five times, with three more schools coming on line in the next couple years.

Becky Stallcop's educational philosophy is posted on an entire wall at her school:  "When low threat is coupled with highly-challenging content, accelerated learning takes place."

 

Leslie Mauldin,Director
Leslie Mauldin is the board chair for Victory Public Charter School, the first school taken on appeal for sponsorship by the Idaho State Board of Education.  Victory opened its doors in August of 2004.

Leslie is by profession an opera singer, educated at conservatory in Spain and at Cal State University Northridge.  She currently performs leading soprano roles for regional opera companies in the Western U.S., including Opera Idaho.  She also stage directs and produces shows on general contract for Opera Idaho, and teaches VOICE lessons to a select group of students.  A member of Screen Actors Guild, Leslie has also worked in the television and film industry, and maintains an agent in Los Angeles. 

Born to two public school teachers, Leslie grew up around the public education debate, and has been an advocate of choice in education not only for children and their parents, but for teachers as well.  Now a parent of two children herself, she believes even more strongly that choice should be given to the people that have the most to stake-parents!  People whose quality of life is relevant to the choice they are making tend to choose well.   

-- Living in the U.S., choice is all around us; we choose our leaders, our spiritual paths, our medical care, and our universities, the latter two for which we can utilize federal grants and programs if necessary.  Who better to understand the positive effect of choice than citizens of the United States, where freedom is held as a virtue?  It is time to extend choice to parents in the public educational system.  It is time to put democracy back into public education.  It is time to entrust all parents, not just those who can afford private schools, with a choice in education that is publicly funded.  It is time to stop protecting the monopoly of the current public educational system at the expense of our children.  It is time to replace a faltering tradition with effective innovation and accountability born of competition. 

The growing an diverse body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of choice in education is no surprise; it simply supports what we Americans have known all along:  freedom promotes growth and achievement.  Freedom built this great nation, and it is now helping to expand upon the Jeffersonian ideal of public education.  Education can change lives one at a time, nations over time, and the world’s future for all time.  This is what is at stake.  This is our opportunity.  Let us move forward and work together for the betterment of our children. 

 

Julie Yamamoto, Director

• Principal/Superintendent of Thomas Jefferson Charter School, 2004-present
• Director of Standards Implementation, Principal of Canyon Springs Alternative School
• Principal of Juvenile Detention Center, 2003-2004
• Principal of Caldwell High School, 1997-2003
• Academic VICE-PAC Principal of Caldwell High School, 1995-1997
• Principal of West Canyon Elementary School, 1992-1995
• Administrative Assistant of West Canyon and East Canyon Elementary Schools,
• District Curriculum Coordinator of Vallivue School District, 1990-1992
• First Grade teacher at West Canyon Elementary, Vallivue School Dist., 1988-1990
• Seventh Grade teacher at Wilson Elementary, Caldwell School Dist., 1986-1988
• Currently serving on:  Salvation Army Advisory Board, Youth Court Advisory Board anSouthwest District Health Advisory Board
• Recently accepted on Hispanic Cultural Center Advisory Board

“The effective, efficient education of our youth has been a lifelong mission for me.  It is my belief that when parents and educators truly focus on practICE-PACs and expenditures that result in high academic achievement for all students and the creation of a safe and caring environment, then the intent of our founding fathers of an educated electorate can be realized.  This is critical to the health and prosperity of the greatest nation on earth.  We need to regroup, refocus, and regain our public schools as our best defense and our only hope of continued liberty and justICE-PAC in the United States of America.”  

 

Ann Rydalch, Director

• Former school teacher at the high school and college level for ten years.
• Selected as Idaho Journalism Teacher of the Year in 1974-75, selected as runner-up to National Journalism Teacher of the year, and selected as one of three distinguished journalism teachers in the nation in 1975-76 by Newspaper Fund.
• 1982-88 appointed to the Kennedy Center Board of Advisors in Washington, D. C.
• Served 7 years in the Idaho State Senate (1983-1990) and 4 years in the Idaho House of Representatives (2002-2006), serving on the House Education Committee for 3 years and as VICE-PAC Chair for 2 years.
• Served 2 years as co-chair of the national Council of State Governments
  (CSG) Health & Education Committee and 2 years (member for 6 years) as vICE-PAC chair of the national Energy Committee for the National Conference of State Legislatures(NCSL)
• From 1986 to 1992 served on the Board of Directors for the Youth Endowment Association for the Idaho High School Athletic Assoc.
• From 1992-93 selected to serve on the Idaho Family Community Leadership State Board.
• From 1994 to to present selected to serve on the Idaho Hall of Fame Board of Advisors.
• Served for 9 years on the Veterans Affairs East Board of Directors.
• Past recipient of the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce "Spark Plug Award" for outstanding community leadership & participation.
• Served as President and VICE-PAC President of Idaho Press Women now called Media Network of Idaho
• 2001-2003 served as Chair of the Federal Lab Consortium, a network of 700 federal labs and 17 federal agencies.

"Most of my life has been spent educating adults and children on a variety of issues in various capacities. I am convinced education is a team effort and the leader of that team effort in schools has got to be the parents. It starts in the home with parents instilling the desire to learn, but the teachers, principals, superintendents, and board of trustees should do everything they can do to get parents committed and involved in helping their children so that our good Idaho teachers can teach them. Our laws have got to make sure parents have the right to choose how and where to educate their children."

 

Ralph Smeed, Director
Ralph is the most principled defender of liberty, free markets, limited government and secure property rights in Idaho!   He has often been called sthe "H. L. Menckin of the West."

He was born in Caldwell, Idaho in 1921, graduated from Caldwell High School in 1940 and attended the College of Idaho for two years.  He is an outspoken advocate for school choice including charter schools and vouchers.  His support for charter schools is unmatched as he personally provided nearly $1,000,000.00 of property for the establishment of Thomas Jefferson Charter School.

 

Jack Barraclough, Director
Jack served in the Idaho House of Representatives as well as serving as Chairman of the House Education Committee.  He is a true advocate of school improvement by supporting education choice, school vouchers and charter schools. 

He believes that parental choice be expanded through tax credits or vouchers to allow children to attend any public or private school of their parent's choosing.  Regarding pre-k, he has stated that, "public schools should not offer programs to children under 5 years of age except as mandated by Federal Law."