Joseph George

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Joseph George

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2019

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1994 - 2003

Personal

Birthplace

Fort Hood, Texas

Religion

Christian

Profession

Criminal investigative analyst

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Joseph George ran for election to the Prince William County Public Schools to represent Neabsco District in Virginia. George lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.

George completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

George was a candidate for Neabsco District representative on the Prince William County School Board in Virginia. He was defeated in the general election on November 3, 2015.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

George studied business management and economics at Rutgers University. He later studied criminal and homicide investigations at Central Texas College and business management at the University of Phoenix. George served in the United States Army from 1994 to 2003. He works as a supervisory criminal investigative analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense. George has served on the Minnieville Elementary School Advisory Council including a stint as council chair.

Elections

2019

See also: Prince William County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Prince William County Public Schools, Neabsco District

Incumbent Diane Raulston defeated Joseph George in the general election for Prince William County Public Schools, Neabsco District on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Diane Raulston (Nonpartisan)	75.9	8,520
		Joseph George (Nonpartisan)	22.8	2,563
		Other/Write-in votes	1.2	135

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,218
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Latifa Garrison (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

For a complete list of George's endorsements, please click here.

2015

See also: Prince William County Public Schools elections (2015)

The Prince William County School Board is an eight-member board elected to serve four-year terms. One seat on the board is elected at-large with the remaining seven seats elected by district. The seats of all eight incumbents were up for election on November 3, 2015.

Three newcomers each sought the at-large Chair and the Coles District seats. Ryan Sawyers defeated Tracy Conroy and Timothy Singstock in the former race, while William Deutsch defeated Reggie Henderson and William Reeder in the latter. Diane Raulston won the open Neabsco District race against Joseph George.

Occoquan District incumbent Lillie Jessie defeated two challengers, Karen Boyd and John Gray, in her re-election bid. Fellow board member Betty Covington lost to her opponent, Justin Wilk, for the Potomac District seat. Brentsville District incumbent Gilbert Trenum, Gainesville District incumbent Alyson Satterwhite and Woodbridge District incumbent Loree Williams ran unopposed and won re-election to their seats.

Results

Prince William County School Board, Neabsco District, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Diane Raulston	71.1%	4,975
Joseph George	27.7%	1,942
Write-in votes	1.21%	85
Total Votes		7,002
Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 4, 2015

Funding

George reported $902.25 in contributions and $798.66 in expenditures to the Virginia State Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $103.59 on hand as of October 28, 2015.

Endorsements

George received the endorsement of the Prince William Federation of Teachers.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Joseph George completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by George's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

After serving this country in the United States Army as an Intelligence Analyst for about 10 years, I moved to Prince William County in 2003. Currently I am a Senior Criminal Investigative Analyst. My wife of 18 years and I are raising three beautiful girls, who have attended all three levels of our county's schools. I have been on field trips, gone to school concerts and sat in on administrative meetings, etc. I've been there and done that! Since moving to Prince William County, I have been an active member of the community.

My top four education issues are:

1. Ensuring our students receive the "World Class Education" we all hear about 2. Improving our educators' financial and professional recognition 3. Encouraging and strengthening our career technical education programs 4. Connecting communities with their neighborhood schools.

These issues are important in the Neabsco Magisterial District because only three of nine elementary schools in our district achieved School of Excellence recognition, while none of our middle schools nor our high school have achieved it. I believe that emphasis on these four issues will work towards improving the opportunities in our Neabsco Magisterial District students, so they may thrive and flourish.

I want to be your voice on the Prince William School Board as the Neabsco District Representative. A voice that echoes your concerns. A voice that matters. A voice that cares.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Improving our educators' financial and professional recognition, as well as protecting their flexibility as to how they instruct our students
• Encouraging and strengthening our career technical education programs, in order to improve the on-time graduation rate of Gar-Field HS (most recently 85.5%, the WORST in PWCS and 6% points lower than Virginia's average)
• Connecting communities with their neighborhood schools so they can support and be proud of what their schools are accomplishing

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

- Properly compensate educators

- Educating our students how they learn best (not teaching to the test)
- Community involvement in our schools to expand respect, appreciation, and support the neighborhood schools
- Awareness of and enforcement of the Non-Discrimination Policy

- Make Prince William County a destiny location for our military families, Veterans to settle in, and all citizens to live, learn, work, and play

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The one person I have always looked up to was my father, Robert George. He passed away nearly 10 years ago in November 2009, but his impact will always guide my steps. Through his actions, he taught me how to be a father and a husband, although sometimes, I learned by doing the opposite of what he did. With that being said, he has laid a great roadmap for me in becoming a grandfather, which I hope I can come close to his effect he's had on my entire family.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman as Principal Joe Clark.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official MUST have excellent communication skills, which includes being able to listen and retain that information.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Lifelong learner

Skilled Communicator

Desire for others to succeed

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities of an elected official is to be available to their constituents and respond to their questions/concerns. Be willing and able to fight vigorously for the needs that their constituents have,

What legacy would you like to leave?

Improve the schools under my charge

Increase the number of Neabsco schools that achieve Schools of Excellence recognition
Increase the number of Neabsco schools that achieve Purple Star School status
Increase the On-Time Graduation Rate of Gar-Field High School to above the Virginia state average

Increase the number of students that choose a trade or education career (Growing Our Own) and bring those skills back to Prince William County

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event I recall was the election of Jimmy Carter as President of the United States. I was about 6 years old and I recall that event most, because I wrote President Carter a letter a little while after he was sworn into office, and I included a pencil and eraser for him to use in the Oval Office. Since I work closely with Secret Service now, I'm pretty sure that he never received that gift.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was working for my grandfather's store. I was responsible for bringing supplies upstairs from the basement, stocking the shelves and refrigerator, and keeping inside and outside of the store clean and orderly. This job taught me strong work ethic and a sincere interactions with the community. I worked for my grandfather there for about four years, until he opened up a soul food restaurant, which I worked at every level from dishwasher, cook, and bookkeeper. I did that for four or five years until I joined the military.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Clear and Present Danger

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Baby Shark

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Understanding how to delegate responsibilities

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The primary job of a School Board member is to properly represent the residents of their district (mine is the Neabsco District) and provide an open line of communication between the School Division and the People. I am committing to visit three schools a week, so that I will have contact with all 12 of my schools every month, so that at a minimum, I should be able to visit every school six-eight times a school year. I would be responsible to ensure that my schools are properly funded and that each school are using their funds appropriately. I'm committed to being involved with each school's Principal Advisory Council at least once a quarter, in order to gauge that spending and provide/receive budget recommendations.

Who are your constituents?

My constituents would be the residents of the Neabsco Magisterial District.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

As with many things that I would do, is have Town Halls and Listening Tours to gain input from the students, faculty, staff, and community on their needs.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

The groups and organizations that I would target are those that serve the community and are primarily non-partisan. PWNAACP, PWEA, PWAFT, Unions, Churches, and Community Leaders/Activists.

What will you do to build a better relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I'd encourage engagements at Town Halls and Listening Tours, as well as I'd challenge them to join their school's Advisory Councils to get a better understanding on what their school's finances are.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

Absolutely, especially through one of PWCS own programs, Growing Our Own Teachers, in order to recruit educators from the current student body, in order to bring on board teachers that are from the community they teach on and that look like the students they will teach, so that our current students can believe that education is a viable profession.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

The issues that get in the way of a quality education is when there's to much emphasis on testing, which takes away from the true essence of learning. Additionally, when the attention is placed outside of the classroom, and not into the tools that our teachers need to educate our students.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Measuring good teachers vary from grade levels and educational areas. Being a life-long learner will help me in recognizing and supporting advanced teaching approaches.

What type of skills should students be learning for success in the 21st century?

The types of skills that our students need to be learning surround critical thinking, so that as technological advances take place, our students can keep up. The technology that our students will use as adults has not been developed yet and our students need to be prepared to create and advance those technologies.

How might you improve the value of a high school diploma? What should a 21st century diploma reflect?

The 21st Century Diploma should reflect job skills and technological advances, as well as Career Technical Education for those that are not prepared to go on to a four-year university or community college.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

As previously stated, Career Technical Education needs to be made available to more students so that those that are unprepared for college can earn a trade to build on after high school, which may enable them to better afford college afterwards.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Schools that have an active and engaged Advisory Council is how schools are properly funded. I'm committed to attend as many Advisory Councils as possible, so that I can assist parents in determining what is best for their schools, in partnership with the principal.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

The security measures that are in place are going in the right direction. I have access to information that when conveyed to the Safe Schools Advisory Council will allow the Threat Management Division to be able to adjust to those concerns/threats as they are made available.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

There's a need for more mental health professionals, which include full-time School Nurses, more School/Career Counselors, Special Education Teachers/Specialists, etc. Lowering the case load for these professionals will improve opportunities to support students when they are in need.

What role do you imagine technology playing in (and outside) the classroom in the future? How would you prepare the district for this?

Preparing the District outside the classroom is more harder outside the classroom than in, since working with the principal will ensure that technology inside the classroom is available. Outside the classroom could be facilitated with outside partnerships for students that do not have the means to purchase the equipment themselves.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

George participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	My top three priorities will be: 1 - Ensuring that we are providing the best education for our students 2 - Ensuring that we keep the most capable teachers within our School District 3 - Ensuring that our District members, both parents and tax payers without children in the School District anymore, have a voice on decisions made that impact spending	”
—Joseph George, (2015),

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
Click here to learn more about education policy in Virginia.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
3	Expanding career-technical education
6	Closing the achievement gap
5	Expanding arts education
4	Improving college readiness
2	Improving education for special needs students
7	Expanding school choice options

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question	Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"Modifications are required before they are implemented."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"No."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"No."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	"All students desire a quality education at PWCS. High achieving students will have SIGNET and other challenging opportunities and low achieving students should be provided the opportunity to excel as well. Not all students will be "college-ready" upon graduation, so we need to emphasize more career technical education and other skills trade training."
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	"Setting the school up for success BEFORE it starts to fail is key and starts at the top. Having a capable and energetic Principal will generate excitement throughout the school. Then keeping our best and brightest teachers within PWCS, giving them the understanding that their opinions are valued and their dedication will be rewarded/recognized."
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"Yes, but the standards would need to be established by the Principal immediately, so there is a set standard for all teachers to follow."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"Open and honest dialogue. Inviting the public to not only School Board Meetings, but attending School functions, business events, and community opportunities. Actively seeking community input on upcoming decisions and informing the public when difficult decisions are due."

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Joseph George' 'Prince William County Public Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Joseph George - Google News

See also

2019 Elections

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External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Prince William County Public Schools
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page