Joanne Fawley
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Joanne Fawley represents the Trustee Area 2 seat on the Fullerton Joint Union High School District school board in California. Fawley won the seat in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.[1]
Fawley participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Fawley previously ran for a seat on the board. She was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2014.[2]
Biography
Fawley has been a teacher for almost 30 years. She currently teaches government and advanced placement government in the Anaheim Union High School District. Her husband is also a teacher. Fawley served as president of the Anaheim Union High Teacher Association from 2008 to 2014. She has also served on a number of committees for the district and was named Cypress High School Teacher of the Year and the Anaheim Union High School District Teacher of the Year for the 2006-2007 school year. Fawley earned her bachelor's degree and master's degree from California State University at Fullerton.[3]
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Fullerton Joint Union High School District board of trustees were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. In her bid for re-election to Trustee Area 2, incumbent Barbara Kilponen was defeated by challenger Joanne Fawley, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the board in 2014. In Trustee Area 3, incumbent Andy Montoya defeated challenger Faith Mukherjee to win another term.[4][5]
The 2016 race was the first time the district used the by-district election method. Prior to 2016, the district held elections at large.
Results
| Fullerton Joint Union High School District, Trustee Area 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Joanne Fawley |
63.27% | 8,926 |
| Barbara Kilponen Incumbent | 36.73% | 5,182 |
| Total Votes | 14,108 | |
| Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters, "2016 Presidential General Election Official Results for Election," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Funding
Fawley reported $32,804.53 in contributions and $32,804.53 in expenditures to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with a $0.00 balance in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Fawley was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County and the Fullerton Secondary Teachers Organization.[7][8]
2014
Three at-large seats on the Fullerton Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees were up for general election on November 4, 2014. The race featured three incumbents, Marilyn Buchi, Robert N. Hathaway and Robert A. Singer, and four challengers, Joanne Fawley, M.J. Noor, Zina B. Gleason and Ho Jeong Lim. All three incumbents won their bids for re-election.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Robert N. Hathaway Incumbent |
20.1% | 17,721 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert A. Singer Incumbent |
18.3% | 16,129 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marilyn Buchi Incumbent |
16.9% | 14,872 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joanne Fawley | 14.8% | 12,980 | |
| Nonpartisan | M.J. Noor | 14.3% | 12,547 | |
| Nonpartisan | Zina B. Gleason | 8.8% | 7,758 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ho Jeong Lim | 6.8% | 5,947 | |
| Total Votes | 87,954 | |||
| Source: Orange County, "Official Results for Election ," accessed December 22, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Fawley reported $21,482.00 in contributions and $16,314.00 in expenditures to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. In addition to her reported $4,382.00 cash balance, that left her with $9,550.00 cash on hand as of September 30, 2014.[9]
Endorsements
Fawley received endorsements from the following organizations:[10][11][12][13][14]
- Fullerton Secondary Teachers Organization
- Orange County Labor Federation
- Democratic Party of Orange County
- California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 82
- Neighbors United for Fullerton (NUFF)
- Fullerton Observer Newspaper
- Evolve
She also received endorsements from a number of school board members and community members. A list of her supporters can be found here.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Joanne Fawley 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 28, 2016:
| “ | 1. Improve budget oversight 2. Bring a 21st century approach to student programs and learning, technology and professional development 3. Improve communication with the community and the feeder elementary schools[15][16] | ” |
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 | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Many of these issues are interconnected. The most important goal must be improving post-secondary readiness which will improve education for special needs students and is a path towards closing the achievement gap. Expanding arts education is an example of how to achieve all of those goals. There are serious budget issues in the district. A forensic audit has been ordered after it was determined that there is $18,000,000 ending balance which is $15,000, 000 more than projected and is 11% of the operating budget. There are also major issues with the teachers and classified staff. The classified workers have gone eight years without an increase in their pay. The teachers had gone almost eight years with a raise. Some of those years both groups took pay cuts. They believed that helping out during the financial crisis would result in raises when the funding returned. This did not happen. The return of school funding began several years ago. To suggest that supporting raises is somehow biased or irresponsible is disrespectful to the hard working employees of the district.[16] | ” |
| —Joanne Fawley (October 28, 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. California state law requires school boards to determine whether a charter petition meets the requirements under state law. Given the increasing instances regarding transparency, budgeting and local governance which has turned publically [sic] funded schools into for profit enterprises it has become incumbent on the school boards to create a moratorium until these issues are resolved through a change in the state law. |
| 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. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. This has been recognized by both the state and the federal government which is why a school ranking will be based on multiple measures instead of a narrow focus on standardized test scores. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The Common Core State Standards initiative is often misunderstood. Fundamentally it creates a focus on communication skills such as by requiring both accurate answers and an effective written or oral communication on how that answer was achieved. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Teachers go through an intensive internship after earning their Bachelor's Degree by student teaching as the major component of their credential program. Once hired there is a two year probationary period which is much longer than what is typical in the private sector during which they can be terminated for no given reason and without violating a teacher's due process rights. If a teacher struggles after that, it is in the best interest of the district to create a strong mentorship so that their investment in that teacher is not lost. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Numerous studies have proven that this does nothing to improve student achievement and has led to very undesirable results such as cheating on standardized tests. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Vouchers represent a threat to community schools and public education in general. It is also not proven to be effective. That is why this is in many ways a dead issue. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Minimally and in accordance with state law. Instead restorative justice should be the norm within every school to reduce the need for expulsions and suspensions. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Teachers are the pedagogical experts. They needed to be supported by the other factors in order to ensure that students succeed. |
2014
Fawley highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | JOANNE FAWLEY’S TEN POINT PLAN FOR BETTER SCHOOLS
|
” |
| —Joanne Fawley's campaign website (2014)[17] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Joanne Fawley' 'Fullerton Joint Union High School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District, California
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District elections (2016)
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filing Log," accessed August 15, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List General Election 2014," accessed August 18, 2014
- ↑ Joanne Fawley: A New Voice! "About," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filing Log," accessed August 15, 2016
- ↑ Orange County, "Orange County Unofficial Results for Election," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Orange County Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 17, 2017
- ↑ Democratic Party of Orange County, "Democratic Party of Orange County Official Endorsements for The November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "CTA Locally Endorsed Candidates," September 28, 2016
- ↑ Campaign statements emailed to Ballotpedia from the Orange County Registrar of Voters on October 20, 2014
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "CTA Locally Endorsed Candidate as of October 4, 2014," accessed October 14, 2014
- ↑ Orange County Labor Federation, "Committee On Political Education (COPE) Endorsements November 2014 Elections, School Board Candidates," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Democratic Party of Orange County, "Endorsements," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Joanne Fawley: A New Voice! "Endorsement List," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 04, 2014 Election," accessed October 28, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Joanne Fawley's responses," October 28, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Joanne Fawley: A New Voice!" "Issues," accessed October 1, 2014
| 2016 Fullerton Joint Union High School District Elections | |
| Orange County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 2: • Incumbent, Barbara Kilponen • Joanne Fawley Trustee Area 3: • Incumbent, Andy Montoya • Faith Mukherjee |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
| 2014 Fullerton Joint Union High School District Elections | |
| Orange County, California | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Marilyn Buchi • Incumbent, Robert N. Hathaway • Incumbent, Robert A. Singer • Joanne Fawley • Zina B. Gleason • Ho Jeong Lim • M.J. Noor |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
