My name is Lorie Wood. I'm running for Kansas State Board of Education District 5 because I've spent my entire career fighting for students who need advocates—and our rural Kansas kids deserve nothing less.

For 26 years, I taught in rural communities across the country and around the world. I've worked with kindergartners learning English, high school students in literature and journalism classes, and university students in composition courses. I hold a bachelor's in English Secondary Education with an ESL endorsement and a master's in TESOL. Whether in Colorado, Virginia, Washington, Hawaii, or Japan, I've always chosen to teach in rural areas because that's where passionate educators can make the biggest difference.

In 2019, I moved to Kansas to be closer to aging parents and embrace a slower lifestyle after being diagnosed with MS. What I found was a state with incredible potential but schools facing serious challenges. As a grandmother with grandchildren in District 5 schools, I see these problems up close: talented teachers leaving because the pay isn't sustainable, paraprofessionals working without living wages, students with special needs—especially autism—without properly trained support, and aging buildings in desperate need of repair.

Since becoming Chair of the Decatur County Democratic Party, I've organized our community and become a voice for change. Now I'm ready to take that leadership to the State Board of Education.

My priorities are clear: funding equity so rural schools get their fair share, competitive salaries to recruit and retain great teachers, living wages for paraprofessionals, comprehensive special needs funding, resources and training, in-school trade certification programs for students not heading to college, and building improvements funded through state grants and resources—not increased property taxes on struggling families.

Our kids deserve champions. I'm ready to fight for them.