Michael Rivera

Non-Partisan | Virginia

Candidate Profile

Leans Conservative

BIOGRAPHY

Name

Michael Rivera


Party

Non-Partisan


Election Year

2023


Election

General and Fairfax County and Loudoun County School Boards


Race

Loudoun County School Board, At Large


Incumbent

No


Links

Michael Rivera websites
FacebookX

EDUCATION

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, BS Engineering, 1988

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, ME Engineering, 1999

WORK & MILITARY

Candidate did not provide

AFFILIATIONS

Theta Xi Fraternity, member

POLITICAL OFFICES HELD

Candidate did not provide

POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT

Candidate did not provide

ENDORSEMENTS

CONSERVATIVE (2)

Loudoun County Republican Committee; Loudoun County Republican Women's Club

SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS

CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (0)

RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (4)

Renew Virginia (2023); Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2022); Loudoun Conservatives Care (2022); Republican Women's Organizations (2022)


SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS

QUESTIONNAIRE

RIGHT TO LIFE

Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.

Choose not to answer

Decisions about unplanned pregnancies and birth control should be decided by parents and their children. If health care services are needed, families can access them outside of public schools. Public schools should be focused on academic instruction.

Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.

Choose not to answer


RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.

Agree

Religious freedom and freedom of speech are foundational to being a US citizen and as long as others are not being compelled to do or say things against their will, an open and civil dialogue can occur in the context of academic instruction.

School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.

Choose not to answer

This is not relevant to providing high quality academic instruction to children.


ECONOMY

Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.

Agree

School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.

Disagree

Tax dollars allocated for education should be used for education. Lobbying is a partisan activity and there is real potential for personal and divisive political agendas to be funded by taxpayer funded lobbying.

What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?

I believe that k-12 education should be publicly funded.


EDUCATION

What is the function of the local school board?

The local school board should manage the district much like a board of directors manage a company. It's primary responsibilities include selecting a superintendent that is focused on delivering high quality academic instruction, exercise fiscal prudence, and work hand in hand with the community.

Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?

Curriculum should be determined by objective scholars and educators supported by documented evidence of effectiveness. Parents should always be included in decisions about any and all materials that are not objectively related to academic instruction e.g. sex education, social counseling, and any curriculum related to mental health.

When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?

Parents should be allowed to voice their concerns at school boards in a civil discourse with the board. The school board should always respect the rights of parents to voice those opinions regardless if they agree or disagree.

Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning

Math, Science, American History, Information technology, Language Arts, Arts & Music, Vocational Learning, Foreign Language, Personal Finances, Physical Fitness. They are not necessarily in order of importance but I believe these are the core areas of instructions that belong in K-12.

Which more closely matches your view of America's founding principles? A) Liberty and equality. B) Slavery and racism.

(A) Liberty and equality

What does "equity in education" mean to you?

Equity in education is a disservice to both parents an children in that is drives all children to mediocrity. It is not realistic to believe that there are always equal outcomes and public schools should not be diminishing merit but instead encouraging and rewarding academic excellence.

Written parental consent (opt-in) must be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

Strongly Agree

These topics are NOT related to academic instruction and parents should have complete choice as to whether or not their children participate.

The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.

Strongly Agree

We should not allow the federal government to control local public education.

Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.

Strongly Agree

Parent's are the ultimate authority in raising their chidlren.

School boards are accountable to parents and taxpayers.

Strongly Agree

School board ONLY have the authority that is granted to them by the people.

Do you believe students should have access to materials that graphically depict and describe sexual acts?

No

All print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review.

Strongly Agree

Do you believe print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review, including those without children enrolled in school.

Yes

Public schools are funded by tax dollars and everything should be transparent.


2ND AMENDMENT

Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.

Disagree


OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?

Vaccinations should be a personal health choice except as required by law to attend public schools

I support mask mandates.

Disagree

All official open meetings should be live streamed, recorded, and have transcripts available online for public access.

Strongly Agree

All votes should be roll call votes and recorded in meeting minutes.

Strongly Agree

All votes and roll calls should be maintained in a separate document that is easily and readily accessible to the public.


ABOUT YOU

Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.

no

A candidate's personal moral values are relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.

Agree

When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?

Moderate

Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).

none available

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?

I believe that the most important function of an elected official is to represent the people. Elected officials are voices for the people and should not be implementing personal political and ideological agendas.

I voted in these primaries and general elections:

Choose not to answer


VALUES

Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.

I am a father, husband, and a man of faith. I strive to be a moral and just individual and respect the rights of others in accordance with the Constitution of the United States.

I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.

Disagree

There are clearly documented biological differences between males and females and female sports and privates spaces should be protected from males.

No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.

Strongly Agree

Schools officials are not parents and should not be inserting themselves in personal and family matters such as this.

No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.

Strongly Agree

Parents are responsible for their children until the age of 18 and that should always be respected.

Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?

Parents should be responsible and they can decide an appropriate age based on their religious and moral convictions.

If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex

Physical and emotional health outcomes, consent and abstinence, human anatomy, stages of pregnancy and fetal development.

Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.

Agree

While some may disagree, the United States and it's founding documents were based on Judeo-Christian values and those values are present all throughout our founding documents and system of laws.

I support allowing public middle and high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.

Disagree

Biological males should be allowed in female locker rooms and bathrooms.

Disagree

No school official should be involved in the social or medical transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.

Strongly Agree


ELECTIONS AND VOTING

People should be able to vote without photo identification.

Strongly Disagree

Photo ID is required in a myriad of other instances (car rental, hotel rentals, check cashing, banking, etc). There is no reason that photo ID be exempted from voting

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