Spokane Public Schools' new board appointee to prioritize 'protecting what we have' as Trump promises education reform

Nov. 14—Not many can say President Joe Biden botched the delivery of a joke they wrote.

Spokane Public Schools new board appointee Nicole Bishop can.

Her university summer in D.C. as a speechwriting intern under then-Vice President Biden is one of the experiences the appointee brings to the dais, filling the seat formerly occupied by Melissa Bedford. Bedford resigned to teach elementary school west of the Cascades.

Beyond crafting punch lines for the vice president, the internship and others in government helped whet her appetite for policy and spur her interest in sitting on the school board.

"I always had the intention that I wanted to do work in the community, especially as it relates to policy, and as I did internships and dipped my toes in those waters, I think the culture of politics and partisanship didn't particularly resonate with me," she said.

This realization launched her work in nonprofits and assuming seats on various boards and commissions, now working as a philanthropy manager at Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners.

She didn't stray too far from politics, serving as the chair of the Spokane County Democrats for more than a year until 2021.

What did resonate with her was the community service element in government, something she's eager to prioritize on the board by tuning into her humble beginnings in Spokane Public Schools.

She moved to Spokane with her family with little more than the clothes on her back and soon enrolled in second grade at Lidgerwood Elementary School. There, she found security while her mother did the best she could to make ends meet and settle her family in a new community.

"It was really a home at a time when we didn't really have a home," she said of Lidgerwood. "We were still trying to set our roots here, and it softened our landing."

There, staff helped her flourish. She authored a story about a teacher's aide's signature footwear called "Mrs. Tuggle's Squeaky Sneakers" that staff celebrated and shared around the school.

"To use new lingo, they gassed me up about it pretty hard," she laughed.

In her young mind, the recognition was everything, driving her to focus on her studies at an early age and further instilled by staff going the extra mile to make school a safe space, like her teacher bringing her and her brother gifts on Christmas morning.

She's inspired by figures like that teacher and her mother as she assumes her role on the board, driven to kindle that same feeling of security for the near-30,000 students she represents. Bishop knows she can't reach each of them individually, but she can pass policy through this lens, she said.

The board swore in Bishop on Nov. 6, the day after Donald Trump had secured enough votes to call the presidential election in his favor. Less than a week later, Trump announced 10 ideas that will guide his administration in reshaping America's education system, including dismantling the Department of Education "very early in this administration," he said.

Asked how she felt about education seeming to take a center stage in national politics as soon as she ascended to her seat, Bishop said she's "strangely grateful" to be assuming a leadership role now.

"We're seeing some of the things that are coming out about plans for the Department of Education and what the future of education looks like," Bishop said. "It's more precarious than it's ever been. So I am really excited that I have a chance to be kinetic and do something and really be on the ground. It definitely isn't without fear."

She sees her role in the nonpartisan office as "protecting what we have" in the district, in the face of national uncertainty.

"What safeguards can be put in place to ensure that our teachers can retain their positions and their pay, and that our students get a truly holistic education, and not one that's funneled through a particular lens that may or may not be accurate?" Bishop said.

She isn't sure of specific actions she'd take, but said hers and the current board's priorities align, such as making sure students belong, advancing equity and building connectivity in the schools by restricting cellphone use. While eager and ready to protect what the district has, she's also excited for her role.

"I really encourage parents and community members and students even to really pay attention to what we're doing here and make your opinion known and get involved in whatever way you can or feel comfortable," Bishop said. "We can really make a difference here, regardless maybe of what's happening in Washington D.C."

Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.