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Laura Gonzalez
Laura Gonzalez was an at-large representative on the Santa Rosa High Board of Education in California. She served on the board from 2008 to 2016.[1] Gonzalez lost a re-election bid in the general election on November 8, 2016.[2]
Gonzalez participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Four of the seven seats on the Santa Rosa High School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Laura Gonzalez and Jenni Klose ran against challengers Evelyn Anderson, Caroline Bañuelos, Laurie Fong, and Edward Sheffield.[3] Klose won re-election, and Fong, Sheffield, and Anderson won the other seats on the ballot.[4]
Results
| Santa Rosa High School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Laurie Fong |
23.40% | 49,998 |
| Jenni Klose Incumbent |
19.94% | 42,612 |
| Edward Sheffield |
15.64% | 33,412 |
| Evelyn Anderson |
15.45% | 33,020 |
| Laura Gonzalez Incumbent | 14.06% | 30,050 |
| Caroline Bañuelos | 11.50% | 24,561 |
| Total Votes | 213,653 | |
| Source: Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, "Final Results for Consolidated Election - November 8, 2016," accessed December 2, 2016 | ||
Funding
Gonzalez reported $1,562.45 in contributions and $1,108.48 in expenditures to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with $453.97 on hand as of October 22, 2016.[5]
Endorsements
Gonzalez was endorsed by the Green Party of California, the Santa Rosa Teachers Association, and the community organization Evolve.[6][7][8]
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Laura Gonzalez Incumbent |
24.6% | 44,879 | |
| Nonpartisan | Donna Jeye Incumbent |
21.1% | 38,359 | |
| Nonpartisan | Larry Haenel |
19.7% | 35,847 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jenni Klose |
17.5% | 31,890 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian A. Noble | 17% | 30,935 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 264 | |
| Total Votes | 182,174 | |||
| Source: Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, "Final Results for Consolidated Primary Election – November 6, 2012," accessed August 6, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Laura Gonzalez 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 21, 2016:
| “ | I want to bring an understanding of the struggles and issues of our students. Changing demographics requires an understanding of our students' realities.[9][10] | ” |
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 |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | None.[10] | ” |
| —Laura Gonzalez (September 21, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. If the charter school adds something that we don't offer, example: if's a language school that wouldn't be allowed due to Prop 227, and if there is room for it. It should be dependent, under the control of the board. |
| 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. They're much more of an accurate metric of parent educational level and socioeconomic status. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The jury is till out. I'm not convinced they're everything they've been cracked up to be. |
| 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? |
| Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Do we offer merit pay for dentists whose patients don't have cavities? For doctors whose patients are healthy? Do we punish editors for falling readership at newspapers? This makes no sense; it's about punishing teachers for things beyond their control. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Let's focus on public education. Private schools fill an important niche, but it's a choice parents make knowing they will have to pay for it. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Only in egregious cases of student misconduct. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement Parents must instill in their children, an understanding of how important education is. This is not about parents doing everything for their children, or not letting their children fail when it's an appropriate consequence. It's about motivating students. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Laura Gonzalez' 'Santa Rosa High School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Santa Rosa High School District, "Meet the School Board," accessed September 14, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Sonoma County Registrar of Voters," August 25, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Sonoma County Registrar of Voters," August 25, 2016
- ↑ County of Sonoma, "Current Election Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, "Welcome to the CampaignDocs Web Public Access," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ Green Party of California, "Greens in fall 2016 elections," accessed October 17, 2016
- ↑ Santa Rosa Teachers Association, "SRTA Proudly Endorses Gonzalez, Banuelos, and Fong for Santa Rosa School Board," accessed October 28, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Laura Gonzalez's responses," September 21, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Santa Rosa High School District Elections | |
| Sonoma County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Laura Gonzalez • Incumbent, Jenni Klose • Evelyn Anderson • Caroline Bañuelos • Laurie Fong • Edward Sheffield |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
