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Endorses Dailey

The race

Phoenix Union High School District has a seven-seat, ward-based governing board. Three wards are contested on November 3, 2026 — one four-year seat each; vote for one in your ward. Wards 1 and 5 are not voted this year: Isaac Young (Ward 1) and Steve Gallardo (Ward 5) faced no opponents and those elections were cancelled, per the Superintendent's certified list.

The certified roster — Ward 2: Signa Oliver (incumbent) vs. Joseph Dailey. Ward 3: Deborah "Debbie" Cross (incumbent, appointed) vs. Rosalva Lagunas-Kuauhtli. Ward 4: Laura Pastor vs. Salina Pena.

Ward 2

Signa Oliver (incumbent). Oliver has served on this board since 2022, holds a bachelor's in business administration and a Juris Doctorate, served the state as chief human resources officer and served in the U.S. Army as a Judge Advocate General, as reported by The Arizona Republic. A graduate of the district's South Mountain High School, she says as a board member she wants to end the school-to-prison pipeline, provide support for marginalized communities and quality education for every student.

Pros: A JAG officer's and state HR chief's professional record, and a hometown graduate's stake in the ward. Cons: Her published board agenda — ending the school-to-prison pipeline, support framed around marginalized communities — is framed in the language of the system, not of discipline, academics and parental authority.

Joseph Dailey. Dailey is a south Phoenix resident with experience as a global engineering director for a major firm, as reported by The Arizona Republic. He says his focus will be academics — ensuring students have the education to enter a global workforce. He says equity is when kids know how to read and write, with a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and math, and that children taught equitable outcomes over individual achievement and core principles end up unable to compete with students taught the basics.

Pros: A published position stated in plain terms — literacy, numeracy and STEM over outcome-engineering — from an engineering director who hires in the workforce students enter. Cons: Unproven in elected office; his record is a platform and a profession.

Ward 3

Deborah "Debbie" Cross (incumbent, appointed). Cross was appointed to this board in late 2024, as reported by The Arizona Republic. After a career in banking, she taught finance and investment at the district's Metro Tech High School for 22 years and at the junior college level for five, and holds a bachelor's in vocational education and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Her stated priorities: improved enrollment, transparency and additional career and technology education.

Pros: Twenty-two years teaching inside this district, a banking career before it, and priorities — enrollment, transparency, career and technical education — that match the board's job. Cons: Appointed rather than elected to the seat she now defends; no board voting record was sourced in this pass.

Rosalva Lagunas-Kuauhtli. Lagunas-Kuauhtli says her experience as a classroom teacher and work with the Arizona Department of Education equip her to lead grounded in inclusion, belonging and respect, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She says every student deserves a pathway to success regardless of background, and she wants to prioritize educator well-being and professional growth and extracurricular investment.

Pros: Classroom teaching plus state education department experience. Cons: Her published framing — inclusion, belonging, educator well-being — is the incumbent system's vocabulary; no fiscal or academic specifics were sourced in this pass.

Ward 4

Laura Pastor. Pastor has represented central Phoenix and Maryvale on the Phoenix City Council since 2014, where her work included closing the digital divide and expanding internet access for students, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She holds a bachelor's in education from Arizona State University and a master's in public administration from Baruch College, taught in the Roosevelt and Isaac Elementary districts, directed the Achieving a College Education program at South Mountain Community College, and previously served more than a decade on this district's governing board.

Pros: The deepest sourced record in any of these wards: a decade previously on this very board, classroom teaching, a college-access directorship and twelve years on the City Council. Cons: That record is entirely within the incumbent civic establishment; voters wanting a break from Phoenix's governing consensus will not find it here.

Salina Pena. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. The Arizona Republic's guide records "No information provided" for Pena, and no occupation, platform or record for her was sourced in this pass.

Pros: She filed and is on the ballot. Cons: No checkable record in front of voters in any source we have.

OUR CALL

Our call (Ward 2): We endorse Joseph Dailey. The basis is his published position: academics first — reading, writing and STEM — with equity defined as students who can actually do the work. It is stated against an incumbent agenda framed the other way, and we take candidates at their printed words.

Our call (Ward 3): We endorse Debbie Cross. The basis is her record and platform together: 22 years teaching finance and investment inside this district after a banking career, running on enrollment, transparency and career and technical education.

Our call (Ward 4): We endorse Laura Pastor. The basis is the sourced record — a prior decade on this board, teaching in two neighboring districts, directing a college-access program and twelve years of council service. Against an opponent with no information provided to any source we can check, the record is the race.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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