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Colin Melott
From Ballotpedia
Colin Melott was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Huntington Beach Union High School District school board in California. Melott was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Melott participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Huntington Beach Union High School District board of trustees were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Susan Henry and Michael Simons defeated challengers Trung Ta, Saul Lankster, and Colin Melott.[1][2]
Results
| Huntington Beach Union High School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Michael Simons Incumbent |
33.92% | 64,677 |
| Susan Henry Incumbent |
33.15% | 63,220 |
| Trung Ta | 13.81% | 26,332 |
| Saul Lankster | 12.77% | 24,354 |
| Colin Melott | 6.35% | 12,101 |
| Total Votes | 190,684 | |
| Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters, "2016 Presidential General Election Official Results for Election," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Funding
Melott reported no contributions or expenditures to the Orange County Registrar of Voters in the election.[3]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Colin Melott participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 26, 2016:
| “ | The three pillars of a successful education are formed through the cooperation between Student, Parent and Teacher. As a board member I would seek to regularly take input from all three groups ensuring those who my decisions affect will always have a voice. I will strive to maintain the high standards of the District by keeping those standards locally informed and not outsourcing them to a national think-tank. Education should never be treated as a for profit institution, our tax dollars should go to serving the students in the most efficient manner possible. Students who are actively involved in their communities have a better opportunity to succeed later in life. The school district should encourage this activity through community partnership programs with the world class business in our region. School Safety is a top priority.[4][5] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I view the Items that I rated 2 through 6 as being equally important and not hierarchical important one over the other.[5] | ” |
| —Colin Melott (October 26, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. Education funded by tax dollars should make student success its only concern. Charter Schools are for profit businesses which means that inherently they must make a profit in order to survive. If they are funded principally by tax dollars then a portion of those funds will go to their owners. This reduces the percentage of the money, entrusted by the people to the government to better education, that actually reaches classrooms. Institutions that treat students as commodities and not the treasured future of our society have no place being supported by public funds. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Students in California are taught to the Test, a system which takes weeks and sometimes months out of their education to practice and perfect their responses to a system which has no bearing on career success. Standardized Testing can be effective in Identifying strength and weak points which may make it a valuable resource for determining future development (this is the case for SAT, AP and ACT tests all of which are voluntary and administered by not government entities). However, the State mandated tests do not carry any purpose to addressing or advancing student's personal responses for their own year over year achievement but rather are treated as a broad review of Teachers and are judged against that teacher's pervious [sic] class and not the previous testing of the individual students. So long as this is the function of the Government administer tests, they will not be an accurate metric of Student Achievement. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Standards are important, The Local School districts should have the ability to form and augment any standards that are imposed upon their Students. My views do not preclude a National System of Standards so long as that system remains a guideline and not an imposed force. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Underperformance in any field is a result of one of two factors, lack of motivation or lack of ability. Both can be addressed and improved on by simple measures of training and institutional support. Teachers make huge sacrifices in order to be the instructors for our students, It is the responsibility of the School Board to support teachers to grow as educators by providing the resources they require to be better professionals. Programs that encourage cooperation between departments and reward success while treating underperformance as a learning opportunity to be improved upon rather than a failure to be punished will ultimately benefit the District, Teachers and Students. Success is a team effort, its the responsibility of the everyone to help the team succeed. This is all he more important when that success is student's futures. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Students are individuals, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Some are artistic, some are athletic, some are intellectuals, etc. To assess a teacher by the strengths and weaknesses of their class and then place the pressure of their pay check as a function of that dynamic undermines the sacred trust that the teacher is responsible for: the education of students. It invites corruption and competition that reduces the impulse to teach in favor of the impulse to succeed at all costs. Teachers are underpaid. They select their profession knowing that this will be the fact. Their income should be improved wherever possible, but to consider basing that income on a system of merit is a misunderstanding of the very day to day environment that they have to work in and will ultimately backfire resulting in widespread failure of the system to serve its purpose. Educating those who are not yet taught. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. If approved by the Tax payers, the States should provide the opportunity for students to pursue other options in education provided those options do not undermine the success of those students in Public Education through a reduction of resources available. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be reserved for those Students who have knowingly involved themselves in intolerable activities. That includes cheating, drug related crime, sexual crime and violent crime. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Dedicated teachers supported by School administration who have the input and trust of the Parents and a strong system of standards from which to draw inspiration for their curriculum are the single most important factor to the success of classrooms. the School district should strive to hire the best teachers available and give them all the support they need to succeed. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Colin Melott Huntington Beach Union High School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Huntington Beach Union High School District, California
- Huntington Beach Union High School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filing Log," accessed August 15, 2016
- ↑ Orange County, "Orange County Unofficial Results for Election," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Orange County Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 23, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Colin Melott's responses," October 26, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Huntington Beach Union High School District Elections | |
| Orange County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Susan Henry • Incumbent, Michael Simons • Saul Lankster • Colin Melott • Trung Ta |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
