Donald David
Donald David was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Farmington Public School District school board in Michigan. David was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Biography
David earned his bachelor's degree from Drake University. He later received his master's degree from Davenport University. David is a project manager and consultant.[1]
Elections
2016
Five of the seven seats on the Farmington Public School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. These seats included three seats with six-year terms and two seats with two-year terms. Incumbent Terri Ann Weems ran against challengers Donald David, Clark Doughty, Bruce Lilley, William Lubaway, Tammy Luty, Ed Richardson, Tera Shamey, Angie Smith, and James Stark for the six-year terms. Weems, Smith, and Stark won these seats. Incumbent David Turner and Mark Przeslawski defeated Fritz Beiermeister for the two-year terms.[2]
Results
| Farmington Public School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Terri Ann Weems Incumbent |
18.22% | 13,851 |
| Angie Smith |
13.72% | 10,434 |
| James Stark |
12.02% | 9,142 |
| Tammy Luty | 11.10% | 8,438 |
| Clark Doughty | 9.86% | 7,499 |
| Donald David | 7.80% | 5,929 |
| Bruce Lilley | 7.32% | 5,568 |
| Ed Richardson | 7.06% | 5,367 |
| Tera Shamey | 6.37% | 4,844 |
| William Lubaway | 5.90% | 4,487 |
| Write-in votes | 0.61% | 466 |
| Total Votes | 76,025 | |
| Source: Oakland County Elections Division, "November 8, 2016 General Election," November 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $6,710.00 and spent a total of $12,632.11 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.[5]
Six-year terms
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terri Ann Weems (incumbent) | $6,510.00 | $6,162.61 | $347.39 |
| Donald David | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Clark Doughty | $0.00 | $1,153.35 | -$1,153.35 |
| Bruce Lilley | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| William Lubaway | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Tammy Luty | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ed Richardson | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Tera Shamey | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Angie Smith | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| James Stark | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Two-year terms
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Turner (incumbent) | $200.00 | $5,316.15 | $5,116.15 |
| Fritz Beiermeister | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mark Przeslawski | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Donald David 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 13, 2016:
| “ | If elected to the school board I plan to use my experience leading teams and organizations in both the public and private sectors. This has included work in the K-12 arena throughout the State, on both technology and construction projects. I listen to stakeholders, identify opportunities, mediate differences and deliver results. This includes my technology background, which can help the Board more effectively evaluate the use of these tools within our schools. The combination of personal experience, business background and family dynamic enables me to look at the big picture of the District’s needs, but also allows me to focus on the details when necessary. The other unique perspectives I have access to are my two daughters, one with severe disabilities and a wife who’s a teacher (in another district). I understand their needs and can serve as a change agent both for them and the entire community. As an elected school board member, I plan to be an advocate for these types of individuals.[6][7] | ” |
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 Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | All of these are important which should be and can be in many cases be performed in parallel work-streams, a sequential ordering/ ranking of them does not effectively prioritize the identified issues.[7] | ” |
| —Donald David (October 13, 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. |
| 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 always defer to school board decisions. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests are a snapshot in time metric and useful measure for understanding achievement; it also depends on which standardized test is being used, when, how and audience (among other factors). |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I support a common set of standards which are clear, conscience and consistent; teachers should have the tools, training and resources to implement these standards, they should come from the State and local government, versus Federal mandate. |
| 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? |
| 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. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Everyone of these options should be available to the district to handle under-performing teachers with program developed that steps through a specific set of activities, starting with a Mentorship, additional training and probationary period and the ability to terminate their contract. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. This works well in the business environment where the primary purpose is to produce a product or maximize returns. It sounds tempting to say merit pay would produce better teachers who will teach our children better. The reality is that we have great teachers who are not paid well. To create an environment where teachers are competing with each other for extra pay or viewing our children solely as a test score they need to achieve, we all lose. If there is money for merit pay, then there is money to better compensate our staff. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. If people choose to send their children to private schools that is their choice, however, that choice does not entitle them to public funds. Public schools were created to serve an entire community and all of society benefits when we have strong well funded public schools. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| It should be used as a means of last resort, at the same time, it should also be used as tool in supporting student, staff and community safety. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. Time and again it has been demonstrated that parent involvement in student's education has proven to be the key success factor in the classroom - working with their teachers and school administrators. If parent involvement was not an available option, I'd have had to decide between teachers and school administration. |
Additional themes
David provided the following statement on his priorities for the district to the League of Women Voters Oakland Area:
| “ |
1. The State has consistently created education mandates to Districts without commensurate funding increases. With schools and employees frequently being asked to do more with less. While we must be fiscally responsible, it remains a reality that we cannot continue to cut spending and simultaneously meet stakeholder expectations of a high achieving School District. A top priority will be to work with the Community, District and others to seek and obtain ongoing alternative/ augmented funding sourcing. 2. My second priority would be to help the School District be transparent, solicit community involvement to look at strengths and weakness and work together to review concerns. 3. Preparing our children for the future, a future which will look very different from today and remains unknown is essential; as a Board member I’ll work to create opportunities for our children to learn skills they’ll need to take their next steps into tomorrow[1][7] |
” |
| —Donald David (2016) | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Donald David Farmington Public School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 League of Women Voters Oakland Area, "Voter Guide - November General Election," accessed October 25, 2016
- ↑ Oakland County Elections Division, "Unofficial Candidate List," August 19, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, "Campaign Finance Reporting System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Donald David's responses," October 13, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Farmington Public School District Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Six-year terms (Three seats): Incumbent, Terri Ann Weems • Donald David • Clark Doughty • Bruce Lilley • William Lubaway • Tammy Luty • Ed Richardson • Tera Shamey • Angie Smith • James Stark Two-year terms (Two seats): Incumbent, David Turner • Fritz Beiermeister • Mark Przeslawski |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
