Joseph Martins
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Joseph Martins is an at-large representative on the Fall River Public Schools school board in Massachusetts. First elected in 2007, Martins won a new term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Martins participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Martins earned an A.S. degree in electronic engineering and a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Northeastern University, along with an M.Ed. degree from Fitchburg State College. He served in the Air National Guard and reached the rank of Major before retiring. Martins worked as an educator for 39 years, spending most of that time working at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School from 1968 to 2001. He served as an electronics teacher, evening school coordinator, assistant principal, and superintendent. He also served as the director of the Newport Area Career and Technical Center from 2001 to 2006 and as a school-based coordinator with E3 Academy Providence Public Schools from 2006 to 2007.[1][2]
Elections
2017
Six seats on the Fall River Public Schools School Committee in Massachusetts were up for general election on November 7, 2017. Incumbents Paul Coogan, Mark Costa, and Joseph Martins won their re-election bids along with challengers Kevin Aguiar, Joshua Hetzler, and Thomas Khoury. Challengers Amy M. Blanchette, David Cowen Jr., Susan Gancarski Dunse, Kristen Gauvin, Crystal Stone, and Jessica Wong were defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017. Challenger Sean Connell was defeated in the primary election on September 12, 2017.[3][4] Wong unofficially withdrew from the race in October 2017, but her name still appeared on the ballot.[5][6]
All seven seats on the school committee were up for election. The seventh seat was held by the mayor of Fall River, but was not covered by Ballotpedia as the city fell outside of municipal elections coverage.[3]
Results
| Fall River Public Schools, At-large General Election, 2-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Paul Coogan Incumbent |
13.91% | 7,393 |
| Mark Costa Incumbent |
11.68% | 6,208 |
| Joseph Martins Incumbent |
10.90% | 5,795 |
| Kevin Aguiar |
10.53% | 5,598 |
| Joshua Hetzler |
9.91% | 5,269 |
| Thomas Khoury |
9.60% | 5,099 |
| Kristen Gauvin | 8.47% | 4,503 |
| Amy M. Blanchette | 6.61% | 3,511 |
| Jessica Wong | 5.50% | 2,924 |
| Crystal Stone | 5.49% | 2,919 |
| Susan Gancarski Dunse | 4.50% | 2,394 |
| David Cowen Jr. | 2.84% | 1,510 |
| Write-in votes | 0.04% | 19 |
| Total Votes | 53,142 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Elizabeth Camara," December 2, 2017 | ||
| Fall River Public Schools, At-large Primary Election, 2-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Kevin Aguiar |
13.12% | 4,106 |
| Paul Coogan Incumbent |
12.84% | 4,018 |
| Joseph Martins Incumbent |
11.47% | 3,592 |
| Mark Costa Incumbent |
11.23% | 3,515 |
| Joshua Hetzler |
8.74% | 2,737 |
| Thomas Khoury |
8.47% | 2,650 |
| Kristen Gauvin |
6.34% | 1,986 |
| Amy M. Blanchette |
6.09% | 1,908 |
| Jessica Wong |
5.57% | 1,743 |
| Crystal Stone |
5.10% | 1,598 |
| Susan Gancarski Dunse |
4.28% | 1,339 |
| David Cowen Jr. |
3.43% | 1,073 |
| Sean Connell | 3.32% | 1,040 |
| Total Votes | 31,305 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Elizabeth Camara, Fall River Elections," October 6, 2017 | ||
Funding
The City of Fall River does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
2015
Six seats on the Fall River School Committee were up for election on November 3, 2015. Incumbents Joseph Martins, Melissa Karam Panchley, Mark Costa, and Gabriel Andrade won re-election, while newcomers Paul Coogan and Edward Costar joined the board. All of the six incumbents on the board — Andrade, Costa, Martins, Panchley, Paul Hart, and Robert Maynard — sought re-election. Hart, Maynard, and challenger Sean Connell were defeated in the election.[7]
Results
| Fall River School Committee, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Paul Coogan |
14.0% | 7,474 |
| Joseph Martins Incumbent |
12.7% | 6,770 |
| Melissa Karam Panchley Incumbent |
12.4% | 6,618 |
| Mark Costa Incumbent |
12.3% | 6,556 |
| Edward Costar |
12.0% | 6,442 |
| Gabriel Andrade Incumbent |
10.7% | 5,727 |
| Paul Hart Incumbent | 10.4% | 5,558 |
| Robert Maynard Incumbent | 8.4% | 4,477 |
| Sean Connell | 7.1% | 3,815 |
| Write-in votes | 0.07% | 35 |
| Total Votes | 53,472 | |
| Source: Nick Katers, "Email exchange with Fall River Board of Elections Chair Elizabeth Camara," January 5, 2016 | ||
Funding
The Fall River City Clerk does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Martins in the election.
2013
Joseph Martins, his fellow incumbents, and newcomer Melissa Karam Panchley defeated challengers Russell Desbiens, Lori DeSousa, and Dan Robillard to win six at-large seats in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Fall River Public Schools, At-large General Election, 2-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Joseph Martins Incumbent |
15.6% | 6,484 | |
| Nonpartisan | Melissa Karam Panchley |
15% | 6,263 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mark Costa Incumbent |
14.4% | 5,996 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Hart Incumbent |
12.6% | 5,240 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gabriel Andrade Incumbent |
12.2% | 5,063 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Maynard Incumbent |
10.9% | 4,543 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lori DeSousa | 8% | 3,352 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dan Robillard | 7% | 2,926 | |
| Nonpartisan | Russell Desbiens | 4.3% | 1,797 | |
| Total Votes | 41,664 | |||
| Source: Jo C. Goode, The Herald News, "No changes in order following release of official Fall River election results," November 13, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Martins began the race with an existing debt of $1,377.69 from his previous campaigns. He reported $3,060.00 in contributions and $3,695.94 in expenditures to the Fall River City Clerk, which left his campaign with $2,013.63 in debt in the election.[8]
Endorsements
Martins received an endorsement for his campaign from The Herald News.[9]
2011
| Fall River Public Schools, At-large General Election, 2-year term, 2011 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Joseph Martins Incumbent |
13% | 7,823 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mark Costa Incumbent |
12.2% | 7,336 | |
| Nonpartisan | Timothy McCoy Incumbent |
11.2% | 6,738 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Hart |
11.2% | 6,724 | |
| Nonpartisan | Richard Pavao Incumbent |
10.4% | 6,251 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Maynard Incumbent |
9.5% | 5,680 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gabriel Andrade | 9.1% | 5,439 | |
| Nonpartisan | Carla Sbardella | 8.5% | 5,082 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Tyrrell | 8.3% | 4,971 | |
| Nonpartisan | Louis Melim | 6.5% | 3,909 | |
| Total Votes | 59,953 | |||
| Source: Will Richmond, The Herald News, "Fall River's certified election results see no surprises," November 16, 2011 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Joseph Martins participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[10] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 1, 2017:
| “ | Class sizes of 26 or less -- the development of a career awareness program in middle schools -- increase CVTE programs in the comprehensive high school[11][12] | ” |
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 Massachusetts. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I believe the ranking is self explanatory[12] | ” |
| —Joseph Martins (September 1, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. --- However standardized testing coupled with portfolio development is a better method of measuring student achievement |
| 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? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. --- Provided the private school is required to enroll an equal percentage of high needs students as in the public school district. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Only after all other student behaviour correction methods have been exhausted |
| 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. |
2013
In an interview with The Herald News, Martins listed the following campaign themes:
| “ | I have been very instrumental in keeping our schools and school governance open to parental involvement and public scrutiny. Students learn best when parents are involved. Governance operates best when the budget is closely watched and decision making is transparent for all to witness.
I want to continue as a School Committee person to move programs forward. Middle schools need career awareness programs to provide relevance to academic subjects. Durfee’s Career Pathways Program needs to meet the implementation standards of Perkins IV Grant to qualify for additional state and federal funding. All Durfee students upon graduation need to have employment skills to obtain a job with a decent rate of pay and medical benefits, and be prepared to enter college if they so choose in careers of their interests. I highly support partnering with Bristol Community College (BCC) to have college level courses at Durfee High School where all students have equal opportunity to receive college credits towards an associate degree.[12] |
” |
| —Joseph Martins (2013)[13] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Joseph Martins Fall River Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Fall River Public Schools, Massachusetts
- Fall River Public Schools elections (2017)
- Fall River Public Schools elections (2015)
- Fall River Public Schools elections (2013)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Herald News, "Meet the candidate: Joseph Martins," October 5, 2011
- ↑ Joe Martins - School Committee, "About Joe," accessed November 20, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Herald News, "Final day to file: Preliminary Fall River school board election is a go," August 8, 2017
- ↑ The Herald News, "Results of Fall River preliminary election," September 12, 2017
- ↑ The Herald News, "Wong removes herself from consideration for Fall River School Committee," October 17, 2017
- ↑ The Herald News, "Fall River City Election results 2017," November 7, 2017
- ↑ The Herald News, "Tuesday is final day for Fall River candidates to file certified nomination papers," August 17, 2015
- ↑ City of Fall River, Massachusetts, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed December 23, 2013
- ↑ The Herald News, "Our View: HN's endorsements for Fall River School Committee," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Joseph Martins's responses," September 1, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Herald News, "Joseph Martins: Candidate for Fall River School Committee," September 16, 2013
| Fall River Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Bristol County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | Primary election: September 12, 2017 • General election November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Paul Coogan • Incumbent, Mark Costa • Incumbent, Joseph Martins • Kevin Aguiar • Amy M. Blanchette • Sean Connell • David Cowen Jr. • Susan Gancarski Dunse • Kristen Gauvin • Joshua Hetzler • Thomas Khoury • Crystal Stone • Jessica Wong |
| Important information: | What's at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
| 2015 Fall River Public Schools Elections | |
| Bristol County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Gabriel Andrade • Incumbent, Mark Costa • Incumbent, Paul Hart • Incumbent, Joseph Martins • Incumbent, Robert Maynard • Incumbent, Melissa Karam Panchley • Sean Connell • Paul Coogan • Edward Costar |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
| ||||||||||
