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Isabel Machado
Isabel Machado was a candidate for the Trustee Area 2 seat on the Clovis Unified School District school board in California. Machado was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Machado participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Four of the seven seats on the Clovis Unified School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. In her bid for re-election to the Trustee Area 2 seat, incumbent Ginny Hovsepian defeated challengers Isabel Machado and Sandy Torosian. In Trustee Area 4, incumbent Brian Heryford also won re-election, defeating challenger Jacob Belemjian. Trustee Area 5 incumbent Richard Lake did not file for re-election, guaranteeing a newcomer won a seat on the board. Candidates Steven Fogg and Scott Troescher vied for the open seat, and Fogg won. In Trustee Area 7, Chris Casado won another term by defeating challengers Matt Castiglione and Mike Pack.[1][2]
Results
| Clovis Unified School District, Trustee Area 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ginny Hovsepian Incumbent |
50.87% | 38,023 |
| Sandy Torosian | 31.71% | 23,704 |
| Isabel Machado | 17.16% | 12,825 |
| Write-in votes | 0.26% | 194 |
| Total Votes | 74,746 | |
| Source: Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters, "Fresno County Official Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Funding
Machado reported no contributions or expenditures to the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters in the election.[3]
Endorsements
Machado was endorsed by the community organization Evolve.[4]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Isabel Machado 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 November 4, 2016:
| “ | I want to improve the Clovis Unified board's relationship with the community as a whole by, among other things, implementing a system whereby all board meetings are videotaped/recorded so as to ensure full transparency. School boards help manage the day-to-day activities of the district by setting the direction for and overseeing and supporting the administration. Boards also ensure accountability, which is why transparency is so important, and in general provide school districts with the leadership necessary to ensure students are receiving the best possible education.[5][6] | ” |
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 | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Not an easy questions because all of these are very important.[6] | ” |
| —Isabel Machado (November 4, 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. Clovis Unified does not have charter schools. It does, however, have many, many home schools. I would prefer to see charter schools in place rather than all of the home schools we have. |
| 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. Autonomy is important, as is compliance with the law. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. I respond to this via my own personal experiences. Although they can be helpful, I believe this to be so only in a very general sense. I do not believe, in other words, that they are always (or ever) 100% accurate. I never performed well on standardized tests and remember always dreading them as a child, but after high school I went on to college and later on to law school. Had my standardized testing scores been a determinative factor, in all likelihood I would not have reached this level of success in life. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I support Common Core because I think teaching critical thinking skills is essential. Having said that, and having been educated on the East Coast, I think that this is now a fancy way of terming something that should have been happening in California schools for a VERY long time already. |
| 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? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. While I feel that underperforming teachers should not be allowed to remain in positions in which they are not effective, I also feel that it is appropriate to first attempt to address any issues and provide teachers with an opportunity to improve their performance and skills before terminating their contracts. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. I think teacher performance is critical and should be closely monitored in order to ensure our children are getting the best possible education. I do not think that incentivizing teachers to perform well is appropriate. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Public is public and private is private. It should be that simple. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| On a case-by-case basis, after careful review of the facts leading to that possibility. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio All of the above answers are very important. However, the larger the classroom the more difficult it is for a teacher to do his/her job at a high level. Different students have different needs, and it's extremely challenging and difficult for teachers to give individual attention and meet all students' needs in larger classrooms. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Isabel Machado Clovis Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Fresno County, California, "Contest/Candidate Proof List Presidential General Election," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Fresno County, "Fresno County Unofficial Final Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters, "CampaignDocs eRetrieval: Search by Candidate's Last Name," accessed February 8, 2017
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Isabel Machado's responses," November 4, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Clovis Unified School District Elections | |
| Fresno County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 2: • Incumbent, Ginny Hovsepian • Isabel Machado • Sandy Torosian Trustee Area 4: • Incumbent, Brian Heryford • Jacob Belemjian Trustee Area 5: • Steven Fogg • Scott Troescher Trustee Area 7: • Incumbent, Chris Casado • Matt Castiglione • Mike Pack |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
