Jeffrey Long
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Jeffrey Long is an at-large member of the Huron Valley Schools school board in Michigan. He was first elected to the board in 2011. Long won re-election in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Biography
Long has been a master electrician and journeyman wireman since 1986. He is the owner of Greenspections.[1]
Elections
2016
- See also: Huron Valley Schools elections (2016)
Four of the seven seats on the Huron Valley Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Jeffrey Long was the lone incumbent to file for re-election as Bonnie Brown, Lisa Blackwell, and Beth Lewis opted not to seek new terms. Long shared the ballot with challengers Julie Conn, Michael Mantua, Jim Pearson, Denise Pistana, Susan Spelker, Jeff Stander, Thomas Wiseman, and Sherry Zylka. Long, Pistana, Pearson, and Wiseman won in the general election.[2]
Results
| Huron Valley Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jeffrey Long Incumbent |
16.53% | 10,350 |
| Denise Pistana |
14.38% | 9,006 |
| Jim Pearson |
14.02% | 8,782 |
| Thomas Wiseman |
11.39% | 7,130 |
| Julie Conn | 10.58% | 6,625 |
| Sherry Zylka | 10.35% | 6,482 |
| Jeff Stander | 9.18% | 5,748 |
| Susan Spelker | 8.28% | 5,188 |
| Michael Mantua | 4.96% | 3,103 |
| Write-in votes | 0.33% | 209 |
| Total Votes | 62,623 | |
| 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 $4,450.00 and spent a total of $4,210.96 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.[5]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Long (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Julie Conn | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Michael Mantua | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jim Pearson | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Denise Pistana | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Susan Spelker | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jeff Stander | $1,875.00 | $1,716.27 | $158.73 |
| Thomas Wiseman | $2,575.00 | $2,494.69 | $80.31 |
| Sherry Zylka | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Jeffrey Long 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 September 5, 2016:
| “ | If I am re-elected, I would like to see Huron Valley hire a highly qualified Superintendent that will realize the vision for our district while working within the culture. I would like to complete our Comprehensive Plan, Strategic Plan, and continue to be a fiscally responsible district. DISCLAIMER; This survey does not fully consider the constructive thought it requires when dealing with issues that face schools today. The simplified multiple choice answers are not truly indicative of the conversations boards have, or the choices they have to make. Given the choice, I would not have answered some of the questions, and only given statements in the comments areas.[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 |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | It is unfortunate that I had to rank 7 topics that are all important to education. It is the Board of Educations responsibility to make all issues a priority.[7] | ” |
| —Jeffrey Long (September 5, 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. When charter schools are held to the same standards, have to meet the same requirements, and provide the same services, then I would reconsider. But right now, charters are predominantly private companies profiting off of public dollars for education. And if a public dollar is being taken as profit, then that is a public dollar that is not being spent where it was intended to be spent, and that is for education. |
| 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. All elected officials need to be held accountable. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests are only one way to gauge student achievement. The name itself implies that there is only one standard student, who can be educated in a standard way, and that is just not the case. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| While the intentions are good, it is still too early to know if there are measurable benefits. |
| 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. Again, another question that fails to consider the complexity of influences that contribute to underperforming students. This topic is best handled by the administration who are interacting with the teachers day to day. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Considering merit pay is seen as a way to punish teachers whose students underperform no. They have no authority over their student's lives outside of school, so you cannot solely blame them for underperforming students when so many things can negatively impact their education. That's not to say teachers can't have a negative effect, just that there are other ways of dealing with those that do. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Public schools are funded publically [sic]. Private schools should be funded privately. Public school funding has been redistributed and diverted to the detriment of public school students statewide. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Primarily for students who endanger others, distribute drugs, or commit acts that the building administration considers severe enough to warrant expulsion. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. While the staff is vital to student achievement, students whose parents are not involved have needs that someone who isn't family can never fill. |
Additional themes
Long provided the following response to the League of Women Voters Oakland Area regarding his top three priorities for the district:
| “ |
(1) The most important issue facing Huron Valley is finding a new Superintendent. The most important job a Board of Education does is hire its Superintendent. This will be the second time during my service I have been a part of a Superintendent search. Hiring a Superintendent that is qualified, shares the district's vision, and can work within our culture will be important considerations. (2) Developing a Comprehensive Plan to keep Huron Valley fiscally secure. While the plan will likely include some tough and possibly unpopular choices, I cannot shy away from those just because it's an election year. The students, staff, and other stakeholders of Huron Valley deserve and expect this work to get done. (3) Developing the new Strategic Plan, which is the vision of our district moving forward. The most important part of developing a plan is gathering input from all the stakeholders in Huron Valley.[8][7] |
” |
| —Jeffrey Long (2016) | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Jeffrey Long Huron Valley Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Jeffrey Long," 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, "Jeffrey Long's responses," September 5, 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.
- ↑ League of Women Voters Oakland Area, "Voter Guide - November General Election," accessed October 25, 2016
| 2016 Huron Valley Schools Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Jeffrey Long • Julie Conn • Michael Mantua • Jim Pearson • Denise Pistana • Susan Spelker • Jeff Stander • Thomas Wiseman • Sherry Zylka |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
