John Cupo
John Cupo was a candidate for at-large representative on the Bayonne School District school board in New Jersey. Cupo was defeated in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Cupo was an unsuccessful candidate for the board in 2016. He lost the general election on November 8, 2016.
Elections
2017
- See also: Bayonne School District elections (2017)
Three of the nine seats on the Bayonne School District school board in New Jersey were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Christopher Munoz, and former candidates Michael Alonso and Maria Valado defeated seven candidates, including incumbent Mikel Lawandy, to win the at-large seats. Newcomers Daniel Acosta, Anthony D'Amico, Dorothy Patterson, and Gene Perry and former candidates John Cupo and Sharma Montgomery were defeated in their election bids.[1]
Results
| Bayonne School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Christopher Munoz Incumbent |
15.90% | 2,675 |
| Michael Alonso |
12.67% | 2,132 |
| Maria Valado |
11.51% | 1,937 |
| Dorothy Patterson | 10.94% | 1,840 |
| Mikel Lawandy Incumbent | 10.85% | 1,826 |
| Sharma Montgomery | 10.69% | 1,799 |
| Gene Perry | 10.37% | 1,745 |
| Anthony D'Amico | 7.06% | 1,187 |
| John Cupo | 5.91% | 995 |
| Daniel Acosta | 3.82% | 643 |
| Write-in votes | 0.27% | 45 |
| Total Votes (100) | 16,824 | |
| Source: Hudson County Clerk's Office, "General Election 2017," accessed March 22, 2018 | ||
Funding
Cupo did not report campaign contributions or expenditures in this election as of October 17, 2017, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[2]
2016
- See also: Bayonne School District elections (2016)
Four of the nine seats on the Bayonne school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. The ballot included three seats with three-year terms and one seat with a two-year term.[3] Charles Ryan defeated John Cupo and Maria Valado for the seat with the two-year term. Incumbents Carol Cruden, Mary Jane Desmond, and Denis Wilbeck won re-election to the seats with three-year terms by defeating challengers Michael Alonso, Gina Irizarry, Leonard Kantor, Sharma Montgomery, George Vinc Jr., and John Sebik.[4]
Results
| Bayonne School District, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Charles Ryan |
41.95% | 4,034 |
| Maria Valado | 36.76% | 3,535 |
| John Cupo | 21.17% | 2,036 |
| Write-in votes | 0.11% | 11 |
| Total Votes | 9,616 | |
| Source: Hudson County, New Jersey, "2016 General Election Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Cupo reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in the election.[5]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
John Cupo 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:
| “ | Hello ,I'm John R. Cupo, I will negotiate a settled teachers contract immediately, "no, if's ends or but's"... I'm running for the two-year term on the board of education. I am ready to take the oath to protect and serve our children. I am ready to take the oath to protect and serve an open, transparent school board. I am ready to take the oath to protect and preserve all monies received and spent. I am ready to take the oath to keep city hall and politics out of this school board election. I not only want to win this election as a board member, I am declaring that I want to win and lead the board as its’ president. If given the opportunity on election day, I will negotiate a settled teachers contract immediately, "no, it's ends if's or but's"...[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 New Jersey. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
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. |
| 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 be involved in the district routinely. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The New Jersey State Board of Education voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards in 2010 to replace the previous English language arts and mathematics standards. |
| 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. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| the action of depriving someone very carefully |
| 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 |
See also
- Bayonne School District, New Jersey
- Bayonne School District elections (2017)
- Bayonne School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NJ.com, "Hudson County real-time election results, Nov. 7, 2017," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Filings," accessed October 17, 2017
- ↑ Bayonne School District, "Board Member Election Process," May 31, 2016
- ↑ Hudson County Clerk, "2016 (November) School Candidates," accessed October 9, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Public Information," accessed November 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "John Cupo's responses," October 13, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Bayonne School District elections in 2017 | |
| Hudson County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Mikel Lawandy • Incumbent, Christopher Munoz • Daniel Acosta • Michael Alonso • John Cupo • Anthony D'Amico • Sharma Montgomery • Dorothy Patterson • Gene Perry • Maria Valado |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
