Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey
Debra Cooper
Debra Cooper was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Poway Unified School District school board in California. Cooper was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Cooper participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Poway Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In her bid for re-election, incumbent Kimberley Beatty ran against challengers Nick Anastasopoulos, Debra Cooper, Jimmy Karam, John Moriarty, Terry Norwood, Darshana Patel, Stanley Rodkin, and Carol Ware.[1] Beatty won re-election, and Patel won the other seat on the ballot.[2]
Results
| Poway Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Darshana Patel |
20.79% | 26,713 |
| Kimberley Beatty Incumbent |
19.21% | 24,681 |
| Debra Cooper | 16.68% | 21,436 |
| Carol Ware | 10.66% | 13,694 |
| Jimmy Karam | 9.73% | 12,504 |
| John Moriarty | 6.03% | 7,747 |
| Terry Norwood | 5.67% | 7,289 |
| Nick Anastasopoulos | 5.63% | 7,235 |
| Stanley Rodkin | 5.61% | 7,213 |
| Total Votes | 128,512 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Funding
Cooper reported $10,856.37 in contributions and $5,153.13 in expenditures to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with $5,703.24 on hand as of October 22, 2016.[3]
Endorsements
Cooper was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[4][5][6][7][8]
- San Diego County Republican Party
- Poway Federation of Teachers
- CCSA Advocates
- Coalition for Effective School Board Leadership
- DeMaio Report on NewsRadio 600
- Mayor Kevin Faulconer
- City Councilman Mark Kersey
- Poway Unified School District Board of Education member T.J. Zane
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Debra Cooper 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 12, 2016:
| “ | As a Trustee, I hope to advance Poway Unified as a model of thoughtful, collaborative, and effective decision-making that puts student learning first. We have tough issues to address over the next several years, including creating a clear vision for how PUSD will deliver a 21st Century education, leveraging the district's growing diversity, managing our resources more prudently, closing the achievement gap, and working to balance our budget. I believe that my professional and volunteer leadership experiences make me uniquely qualified to achieve these results for Poway Unified, and I look forward to earning your vote.[9][10] | ” |
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 |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | Several of these categories are inter-related, and at the heart of being able to implement an effective program for all students is the budget. I had to rank that #1 in this particular instance. I ranked Improving Relations with Teachers because PUSD enjoys an excellent relationship with our teachers, and I believe they know how much I value them role as professionals. And finally, PUSD offers a lot of "choice" options throughout the district. I believe we need to evaluate what difference the differences are making and for who, and leverage out our best programs even further.[10] | ” |
| —Debra Cooper (October 12, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. PUSD has not been approached by a charter school petitioner to date because the district works hard to offer choice programs. PUSD runs alternative calendars, alternative schedules, language immersion programs, academy programs, etc. If, however, a well-conceived charter petitioned PUSD I believe it is the board's obligation to give the petition every consideration. Charter schools throughout California are making valuable contributions to providing alternative learning settings and closing the achievement gap. |
| 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests should be considered as just one element when considering student achievement. Really innovative and thoughtful work is happening throughout the country to broaden how we evaluate student learning, and offer proof of that learning beyond test-taking. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I believe that Common Core represents a high set of standards. When teachers are properly trained and parents and the community become more comfortable with new approaches to help students reach the standards the politicization of their adoption should subside. |
| 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? |
| Offer additional training options. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. PUSD and the Poway Federation of Teachers have exceptional practices with regard to teacher intervention, especially in a teacher's first years in the classroom. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. ...but we have a long way to go to make that work. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. No student should be hamstrung by personal financial wherewithal when a system is failing them. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Judiciously. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Education is service business and relationship driven. Well-trained, passionate teachers are at the heart of a system's success or failure. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Debra Cooper Poway Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County, "Presidential General Election Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "CampaignDocs eRetrieval: Search by Candidate's Last Name," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Republican Party, "2016 General Election Endorsements," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Poway Federation of Teachers, "Poway Teachers Endorse Debra Cooper & Darsh Patel for School Board," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ CCSA Advocates, "Our Endorsements: November 2016 Elections," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Debra Cooper," October 21, 2016
- ↑ NewsRadio 600, "San Diego Voter Guide: SCHOOL CANDIDATES," October 4, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Debra Cooper's responses," October 12, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Poway Unified School District Elections | |
| San Diego County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Kimberley Beatty • Nick Anastasopoulos • Debra Cooper • Jimmy Karam • John Moriarty • Terry Norwood • Darshana Patel • Stanley Rodkin • Carol Ware |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
