Debbie Wachspress

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Wachspress has served as the vice president of the Kidsbridge Tolerance & Anti-bullying Museum and as the school board president of Congregation Beth El in Yardley, Pennsylvania. She is also a PTO member. Wachspress received her B.A., magna cum laude, in political science and master's in public policy from Rutgers University.[1] In 2001, Wachspress co-founded For Our Families, which she described in her biographical submission to [the profile publisher] as "a statewide advocacy organization established to educate New Jersey voters about policy issues relevant to women in the 2001 NJ Governor's race." As of 2019, Wachspress was affiliated with Lower Bucks Indivisible and the Pennsbury School Board.[2]

Below is a brief timeline of Wachspress' professional experience:

2017-2019: Director of relationship development, Peace Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania

2010-2015: Director of community engagement, Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County in Trenton, New Jersey

1999-2002: State director, New Jersey for the Million Mom March

1989-1996: Governor's fellow/policy advisor, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection[2]

Debbie Wachspress did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

[the profile publisher] biographical submission form

The candidate completed [the profile publisher]'s biographical information submission form:

What is your political philosophy?

Earning respect from her community as a grassroots activist, experienced issue advocate, and a local School Board Director, Deb has proven she knows how to get things done. She will speak up for working class families, be a champion for public education, and stand up to keep our communities safe. Her priorities include: gun violence prevention; access to universal affordable health care, just and humane immigration reform, jobs that pay a living wage, improved educational opportunities, climate change solutions, and preserving a woman's right to choose.

Statement from Deb: "I feel as if my whole life has led to this moment: I am running for Congress. I am running to represent our district, PA-01, in the United States House of Representatives in the upcoming 2020 elections. I have spent my entire career advocating for children and families. And that is exactly what I will continue to do in Washington."

Is there anything you would like to add?

As the middle of three daughters, Deb grew up with a mother and father who always put family first. She remembers her parents voting in every election. She often accompanied her father on Election Day when he got home from his job, rushing to get to the polls at the local borough hall before they closed. In her family, skipping an election was out of the question. Her father took great pride in serving his country in the United States Air Force during the Korean War from 1950-1954.

Leadership and taking action came to Deb at a young age, starting with her first election to student council president in middle school. She initiated a letter-writing campaign to members of Congress in 1979 after a group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 60 Americans hostage. It was during this time that she learned how speaking up and taking action mattered and could have an impact in the world.

In high school, Deb worked hard, graduated 3rd in her class, and was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania. However, in consideration of her family’s financial circumstances, she instead chose to attend her state school, Rutgers University when offered a full academic scholarship. She was the first person in her immediate family to attend a 4-year college and understands how economic disparity can greatly affect educational opportunity.

After graduating from college, Deb attended the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers where she earned her master’s degree in political science and public policy. An environmental issues professor inspired her to join him at the state Department of Environmental Protection and she spent the early part of her career advocating for pollution prevention policies that would promote safe water and clean air, many of the same challenges our community is facing today.

After 7 years at the DEP, Deb left her job when her son Jacob was born. Shortly after, she gave birth to her daughter, Anna. While juggling a toddler and a newborn baby, she watched the horror unfold at Columbine High School and couldn’t bear to stand by and just watch. She heard about a movement of moms starting to fight for gun violence prevention and picked up the phone to dial 888-989-MOMS, a call that landed her the job of statewide coordinator for the Million Mom March. For the next 9 months, she recruited bus captains and local organizers, spoke to police officers, emergency room doctors, prosecutors, clergy, PTO parents, elected officials and anyone else willing to stand up to fight for strengthening our national gun safety laws. Her leadership led to 80 buses and a charter Amtrak bound for Washington.

Drawn to opportunities to benefit at-risk youth, Deb went to work for the Boys & Girls Club as Director of Community Engagement where she recruited mentors and tutors and raised funds to build a new youth development center. She also advocated for children as part of a statewide safe child consortium that provided services to low-income mothers to prevent child abuse and neglect.

When Deb’s two older children were in high school and her youngest, Ben, was in middle school, she unseated an outspoken Tea Partier on the Pennsbury School Board and is now serving in her second term. With many accomplishments including implementation of full day kindergarten across the district, her proudest moment on the board was voting to restore health benefits to families of the district’s lowest paid workers, a benefit they had lost in a heated contract concession with the previous board.

Deb’s advocacy on behalf of children and families landed her in the position of chief fundraiser with The Peace Center, a nonprofit located in Bucks County that teaches children and adults skills in non-violent conflict resolution and how to stand up to bullying. With expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim, and hateful acts directed at immigrants on a steep rise, her work has helped many people who are vulnerable find support in our local Bucks and Montgomery County communities.

Stunned by the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, Deb couldn’t sit by silently and watch as the country was being torn apart by a president who made a sport out of dividing and insulting people, appealing to fear to build his base, and embarrassing Americans throughout the world. She joined a movement to take action, and co-founded Lower Bucks Indivisible, a local arm of a national grassroots campaign to resist the Trump agenda.[11]

—Debbie Wachspress[2]

Wachspress and running mate Joshua L. Waldorf identified the following as their campaign themes for 2013:[12]

Civility and Respect

"We want to move from contention on every issue facing the school board to one of productive collaboration. We will treat taxpayers, other board directors, administrators and teachers respectfully. School boards function best when they are nonpartisan decision-making bodies working to solve local issues."

Opposing outsourcing

"We are against outsourcing. The advertised cost savings is short lived and in the long run will cost the taxpayer more money. This puts the District at the mercy of profit-driven private contractors. Outsourcing also leads to the loss of control by the district over our services and personnel. We commend the current board and the support staff union for recently negotiating a six-year contract that due to major health insurance concessions will save the district $9 million over the lifetime of the contract. Our opponent, Simon Campbell, voted NO on the contract despite the unprecedented savings realized by the district, citing his opposition to “compulsory unionism.” He once again voted against saving the taxpayers’ money, in favor of his personal, extremist and anti-union agenda."

Property values

"Were is a direct correlation between the quality of a community’s public schools and its property values. The quality of the local school district is the primary reason families select a community when buying a home. We must invest in and support our schools in order to maintain our property values."

Fiscal Responsibility

"We will function as watchdogs for taxpayers and will safeguard against wasteful spending. As homeowners and taxpayers, we are committed to keeping taxes down and allocating tax dollars wisely. We will work to maximize our limited financial resources, approaching the budgeting process in a frugal and fiscally responsible manner. We will demand that the district administration defends all expenditures as it goes through the budgeting process and eliminates waste and inefficiency in spending. We will examine all alternative revenue streams to help balance the budget."

Infrastructure

"Our district has several aging buildings with significant infrastructure problems. Some schools do not have air conditioning, forcing them to dismiss their students early on very hot days. The roof at Pennwood Middle School is leaking necessitating placement of buckets in the hallways. Our opponents are Pennwood parents. WHY then are they not leading the charge to resolve these major infrastructure problems? Stalling and delaying will eventually cost the taxpayer more in the long run as repair costs and safety concerns escalate."

Quality education

"Well-rounded students are exposed to science, history, social studies, music, art, foreign languages, and physical education throughout their years in school. A full selection of AP and honors classes is essential for providing appropriate academic rigor for those students demanding it."

Special education

"We seek to improve the experience of families as they navigate special education policies, programs and options offered by Pennsbury Schools and the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. Too often, parents face frustrating hurdles trying to pinpoint suitable educational options for their children and depend on the district to help them navigate the complicated process. The district recently hired a new director of special education and we support, as one of her priorities, a full review of processes, including the use of parent focus groups to facilitate the best placement decisions."

Gifted education program

"The district is currently conducting a review of the gifted education program for elementary and middle school. We support appropriately challenging coursework for students who are identified as gifted (and have a GIEP -gifted individualized education plan) enabling them to reach their highest potential. Given the district’s decision to eliminate the advanced math program in the elementary schools, we are concerned about the impact on mathematically advanced students."

Teacher pensions

"The pension obligation is a statewide crisis for all Pennsylvania school systems and is arguably the biggest budgetary problem facing districts. Under state law, school districts have no legal jurisdiction over pension policies, but are forced to deal with a steeply escalating pension debt. Residents are strongly urged to contact Governor Corbett and their legislators to advocate for measures that will effectively relieve the burden on local taxpayers and school districts."

Teacher strikes

"Like doctors, firefighters and police officers, teachers are an essential part of our community’s infrastructure. We oppose teachers going out on strike because our children need them in the classroom. We value teachers as professionals and recognize their important role in educating our children."

Redistricting

"We recognize the need for redistricting when population numbers shift significantly. However, we opposed the recent elementary school redistricting plan that the school board adopted in May and believe the process was flawed. The school board should have tabled the plan to further analyze updated enrollment data and other options to develop a sensible longterm solution that affected the fewest families."

Safety

"We support a full and thorough review of the District's current security procedures and systems. Given the tragedies that have taken place in other schools across the country, we believe it is imperative that we update and maintain security procedures and systems in every Pennsbury building in an attempt to protect students and staff from the unimaginable."

Merger

"We are against a merger with Morrisville. It is worthwhile and professionally courteous for Pennsbury School Board directors to exchange ideas with other school boards throughout our region. Talking is not the same as acting. We are mindful that Pennsbury High School is among the top 25 largest high schools in Pennsylvania and the needs of our current students must come before considering increasing the size of the present student body."

Union campaign contributions

"Our campaign, Friends of Wachspress and Waldorf, is not accepting financial contributions from the Pennsbury teachers union or the support staff union. We feel this policy is important to minimize bias is future contract negotiations. Our campaign finance reports are of public record."

Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.

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