Compton Unified School District elections (2017)
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Four of the seven seats on the Compton Unified School District Board of Education in California were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Margie N. Garrett, Alma Taylor-Pleasant, Mae Thomas, and Satra D. Zurita defeated former member Alita Godwin, former candidates Barbara Calhoun, Willie Dewitt Carson, Joseph L. Lewis, and Gregory Pitts, and newcomers Barbara Banks, Rodney Lonnell Curry, Jesse Harris, Ricky Hicks, Mary Jackson-Freeny, Luis Landeros, Anthony Lee Perry, Shawn Poole-Louis, Jonathan Taylor, and Tracy Shawn Wiggins.[1][2]
Perry and Pitts participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
It was not unusual for the district to attract a high number of candidates in the board of education election. The 2017 election's average of 4.75 candidates per seat was the second-highest in three consecutive election cycles. For information on election trends in the district, click here.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Compton Unified Board of Education consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. Three seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and four seats were up for election on November 7, 2017. There was no primary election.[3]
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district, and qualified voters. They could not be employees of the school district while in office.[4] To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file their nomination documents with the Los Angeles County Registar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 11, 2017. Write-in candidates had to file with the county by October 24, 2017.[5]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by October 23, 2017.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.[7]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Compton Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mae Thomas Incumbent |
13.50% | 2,654 |
| Satra D. Zurita Incumbent |
12.36% | 2,430 |
| Margie N. Garrett Incumbent |
10.19% | 2,003 |
| Alma Taylor-Pleasant Incumbent |
7.72% | 1,517 |
| Gregory Pitts | 7.62% | 1,497 |
| Rodney Lonnell Curry | 6.35% | 1,248 |
| Barbara Calhoun | 6.20% | 1,218 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 5.95% | 1,169 |
| Alita Godwin | 5.08% | 998 |
| Mary Jackson-Freeny | 4.67% | 918 |
| Barbara Banks | 4.33% | 852 |
| Luis Landeros | 3.90% | 766 |
| Joseph L. Lewis | 2.54% | 500 |
| Shawn Poole-Louis | 2.52% | 496 |
| Willie Dewitt Carson | 2.08% | 408 |
| Tracy Shawn Wiggins | 1.88% | 369 |
| Jesse Harris | 1.27% | 249 |
| Ricky Hicks | 0.97% | 190 |
| Anthony Lee Perry | 0.88% | 172 |
| Total Votes | 19,654 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections November 7, 2017," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Margie N. Garrett 
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Alma Taylor-Pleasant
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Mae Thomas
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Satra D. Zurita
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Barbara Banks |
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| Barbara Calhoun | Willie Dewitt Carson | Rodney Lonnell Curry | Alita Godwin | Jesse Harris |
| Ricky Hicks | Mary Jackson-Freeny | Luis Landeros | Joseph L. Lewis |  Anthony Lee Perry
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| Gregory Pitts
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Shawn Poole-Louis | Jonathan Taylor | Tracy Shawn Wiggins |
|---|---|---|---|
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2017
The Compton Unified Board of Education election shared the ballot with municipal elections for water and irrigation districts.[1]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the November 2017 California school board elections.[8][9]
Endorsements
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party endorsed incumbent Satra D. Zurita and challengers Barbara Calhoun, Shawn Poole-Louis, and Tracy Shawn Wiggins.[10] The community organization Evolve endorsed Calhoun, incumbent Mae Thomas, and challengers Anthony Lee Perry and Gregory Pitts.[11] The LA Fed endorsed Thomas and Zurita and incumbents Margie N. Garrett and Alma Taylor-Pleasant.[12]
Zurita was also endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[13][14]
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Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[15][16][17]
Reporting requirements
California school board candidates had to file two pre-election campaign finance reports. The first was due on September 28, 2017, and the second was due on October 26, 2017. In addition to those two reports, candidates had to file a semi-annual report on January 31, 2018, if they did not terminate their campaign committees by December 31, 2017.[9]
If candidates did not raise or spend more than $2,000 for their campaigns, they had to file Form 470 instead of the regular campaign finance report on September 28, 2017. They did not have to file any additional campaign finance reports as long as their campaign contributions and expenditures remained under $2,000.[9]
Past elections
To see results from past elections in the Compton Unified School District, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from challengers Anthony Lee Perry and Gregory Pitts.
Hope to achieve
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Perry stated:
| “ | To increase attendance, enrollment and the high school graduation rate.[18] | ” |
| —Anthony Lee Perry (October 12, 2017)[19] | ||
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Pitts stated:
| “ | As a board member I will focus on: High Standards for all students; Spanish Immersion Program; Whole Student Approach; Creating Programs to Increase Graduation Rates; Accountability at all levels of the district. I will seek the knowledge and expertise of our parents, district employees, and employee groups whose services are essential to CUSD. I will be able to use my understanding of schools as we evaluate the present and plan for the future of our schools. I look forward to working with our community to secure quality education for all students. I pledge my integrity and dedication to you and ask for your support.[18] | ” |
| —Gregory Pitts (October 27, 2017)[20] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Perry's ranking | Pitts' ranking | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
Board of education elections for the Compton Unified School District had a history of attracting large numbers of candidates. The 2017 election's average of 4.75 candidates per seat was higher than the average of 3.25 candidates who ran per seat in 2013, and it was lower than the average of 6.67 candidates who ran per seat in 2015. For comparison, the state of California as a whole attracted an average of 2.01 candidates per seat in 2015, and the country as a whole attracted an average of 1.72 candidates per seat in 2015.
| School board election trends | ||||||
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| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Compton Unified School District | ||||||
| 2017 | 4.75 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2015 | 6.67 | 0.00% | 66.67%* | 50.00%* | 66.67%* | |
| 2013 | 3.25 | 0.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% | 25.00% | |
| California | ||||||
| 2015 | 2.01 | 22.95% | 73.77% | 81.11% | 39.34% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| *An incumbent on the board ran for a different seat than the one he held at the time. He is not included in the statistics about incumbents, but he is included in the statistics about newcomers. | ||||||
About the district
The Compton Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles. The county was home to an estimated 10,137,915 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[21] The district was the 62nd-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 22,106 students.[22]
Demographics
Los Angeles County underperformed compared to California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 30.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31.4 percent of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income for Los Angeles County was $56,196, compared to $61,818 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 16.7 percent, while it was 15.3 percent statewide.[21]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[21] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Los Angeles County (%) | California (%) | |
| White | 71.0 | 72.7 | |
| Black or African American | 9.1 | 6.5 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.5 | 1.7 | |
| Asian | 15.1 | 14.8 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.4 | 0.5 | |
| Two or more races | 3.0 | 3.8 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 48.5 | 38.9 | |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Compton Unified School District California election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Compton Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections 11/7/2017," accessed August 12, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Compton Unified School District, "Board Members," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Compton Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate Handbook and Resource Guide," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Where and How to Vote," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "2017 County Administered Elections," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 7, 2017," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ The LA Fed, "Voter Guide," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Vote for Satra Zurita, "Supporters," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Anthony Lee Perry responses," October 12, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Gregory Pitts responses," October 27, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Los Angeles County, California; California," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
