Jim Green is a Democrat running in Council Rock School Board Region 3.
Why do you think you are qualified to effectively represent your community on the school board?
I bring a mix of professional experience, community involvement, and a commitment as a parent to ensuring our schools provide the best education possible. I’ve built a career leading organizations through complex challenges, managing budgets, and finding common ground among people with different perspectives. I also understand the concerns of families because my children are in the district. I want every student in Council Rock to feel safe and supported, yet challenged to reach their full potential. I listen and am transparent, and will make decisions that will result in both educational excellence and fiscal responsibility.
Over the past few years we have seen attempts by some school boards across Bucks County, as well as Pennsylvania and the country, to either unilaterally ban books or make it easier for community members to challenge and have books banned, often by usurping the authority of librarians and administrative leadership. What is your position on book banning and how will you implement policies to support faculty and students?
I do not support book banning. Parents absolutely have the right to guide what their own children read, but that should not extend to removing access for every other family in the district.
Librarians and educators are trained professionals who follow established standards to ensure age-appropriate and diverse materials are available. The role of the board should be to support their expertise, not undermine it. I would oppose policies that politicize our libraries and instead advocate for policies that protect academic freedom, ensure parental choice for their own households, and trust our professionals to do their jobs.
Decreasing teacher and staff retention is also a growing issue school districts are facing. What is your role in the recruiting, interviewing and hiring process and what role can a school board do to reverse this trend?
The school board doesn’t hire teachers directly, but it does create the conditions that influence whether teachers want to come to and stay in Council Rock. That means supporting competitive salaries and benefits, ensuring classrooms are safe and well-resourced, and fostering a climate where teachers feel trusted and respected. When school boards create unnecessary controversy or second-guess the expertise of educators, it drives good teachers away. My role is to help set policies that make Council Rock a district where quality teachers want to build their careers — and where our students, our children, benefit from experienced and motivated faculty and staff.
We also need to protect Council Rock from being caught up in national culture wars that distract from our core mission: providing the best possible education to our students.
What are the school board’s biggest challenges in the coming months; the next four years?
In the short term, our biggest challenge is managing the budget responsibly while maintaining academic excellence. Rising costs and facility needs especially put pressure on taxpayers and the district, and we have to make careful, thoughtful decisions. In the long term, we face challenges that the whole country is wrestling with: declining staff retention, evolving student needs, safety and mental health concerns, and making sure we are preparing our students for a changing world. We also need to protect Council Rock from being caught up in national culture wars that distract from our core mission: providing the best possible education to our students.
How will you work with administrators and fellow board members to address the district’s biggest challenges?
I believe collaboration, transparency, and mutual respect are the only ways forward. I will listen to administrators and teachers who are closest to the work, listen to and engage honestly with parents and community members, and work with fellow board members — even when we disagree — to keep the focus on students. We have all seen that too often, school boards get bogged down in politics instead of problem-solving. I will approach every decision with a commitment to fairness, facts, and the long-term good of our district.
