This is one in a series of profiles of candidates for the Alabama State Board of Education. Please read my previous profile here.
Backus is seeking the Republican nomination for the District 7 State Board of Education seat after incumbent Belinda McCray declined re-election. district 7 Includes the northwest corner of the state.
Backus, a member of the Decatur City School Board, said he wants to make sure he follows Biblical precepts in all the activities he is involved in, and that his children, their friends and all students Get the best education possible.
Backus said that when he and his wife met their oldest son's birth mother, she asked how her son's first day of school was going.
“She wanted me, and the father, to be involved in her son's education over the years, so I really agreed to walk with her when the kids started school. “I did,” he said.
The candidate said he would like to spread the word about the success of career academies in his local district and work to increase opportunities for talent development.
He also said he wanted to share the success of Decatur's preschool and teacher training programs.
If elected, Backus said he looks forward to helping implement legislation passed by the Alabama Legislature regarding vouchers, charter schools and other non-traditional public education methods. Alabama lawmakers are considering a bill that would give households with students $7,000 in grants to be used toward private school tuition, counseling and other educational activities in a voucher-like program called Education Savings Accounts. .
“I want to support public education and make sure it remains in the school choice conversation,” he said.
To improve NAEP scores, the “nation's report card,” Backus said he wants to continue efforts to align curriculum with assessments.
Backus said he supports the Alabama Literacy Act, with the retained portion going into full effect this year. Backus said he has seen students' reading development at grade level and wants to make sure teachers and students have the resources they need to provide the correct documentation to the State Department.
“But there is no question that the Literacy Act has helped students improve their reading comprehension,” he says.
He cited the teacher pay increase that Gov. Kay Ivey mentioned in her 2024 State of the State address and said she believes workforce development and teacher support are priorities. Ivey said he wants the highest starting salary among neighboring states. In the governor's budget proposal, Annual income $47,600 To a teacher who has just graduated from university.
“We need to make sure we recruit students into the educational field and train them to enter our schools,” he said.
Backus also said school safety and addressing chronic absenteeism are priorities for him. She said support should be considered to ensure children are not chronically absent.
“We must continue to find ways to support students, both in our school systems and in our communities, to ensure they stay in school,” he said.
