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Newark Unified School District recall, California (2018)
| Newark Unified School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Francisco Preciado Jr. Ray Rodriguez |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2018 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall three of the five members of the Newark Unified School District Board of Education in California did not go to a vote in 2018. Board members Jan Crocker, Francisco Preciado Jr., and Ray Rodriguez were targeted for recall after the board voted to lay off 20 employees, including 15 teachers and three counselors, on February 6, 2018. The district superintendent announced on March 20, 2018, that the layoffs were no longer necessary due to retirements, resignations, and negotiations with the teachers union. The district had a $3.2 million budget deficit and was facing a possible state takeover, according to the East Bay Times.[1]
Crocker joined the board in 2003, Preciado joined the board in 2015, and Rodriguez joined the board in 1995. All three members were unopposed in their bids for re-election in 2016. They were next due to be up for re-election in 2020, while the other two members of the board—Nancy Thomas and Tom Huynh—were due to be up for re-election in 2018. Recall supporters said they would seek candidates to run against Thomas and Huynh in November 2018.[1]
Rodriguez was previously targeted for recall along with former member Gary Stadler in 2014 following the resignation of former Superintendent Dave Marken. Stadler resigned from the board, and Rodriguez's recall did not make it to the ballot as supporters of the effort did not submit petitions by the deadline.[1][2][3]
Recall supporters
Recall supporters cited a lack of transparency, fiscal mismanagement, and not listening to constituents as reasons for seeking the recall of Crocker, Preciado, and Rodriguez. “If there’s not going to be accountability, and there’s not going to be oversight, and we the parents don’t have the ability to oust an irresponsible superintendent, then we have to bring this dispute back to the board,” Ryan McCarthy, organizer of the recall effort, said.[1]
McCarthy said he was not happy to hear that “so many of our teachers want to leave that we don’t need to fire anyone and only need to slightly increase class size. This is not a win…Our kids still suffer."[1]
McCarthy acknowledged that the district's financial issues would still need to be addressed if the recall succeeded. “Let’s get some people in there who have to make the tough decisions but do so in a way that’s transparent, that’s upfront with us, that’s respectful of what they’re doing in this process,” he said. “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.”[1]
Recall opponents
Crocker said she understood the recall supporters' anger. “But anytime you have a set amount of resources, you have to make decisions and sometimes you have to make hard decisions. And they disagree with the decisions we’re making, and you know, I’m sorry that they disagree, but I would not change the decisions I’ve made,” Crocker said.[1]
Crocker also said that those who are passionate about the issues facing the school district should run for school board. She said she was unopposed in her last three elections. “If this is your feeling, you need to be there,” she said. “You need to run and if you run against me that’s fine…But you need to run. It’s very easy to be on the outside and say ‘Why don’t you do things?’”[1]
Preciado said that he, Crocker, and Rodriguez acknowledged that transparency could always be better, but he said it had improved under Superintendent Patrick Sánchez. He also said that the recall effort would create instability in the district to students' detriment.[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect approximately 3,200 signatures.[1]
2018 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
A total of 33 school board recall efforts nationwide were covered by Ballotpedia in 2018. They included 74 board members. Twelve recall elections were held in 2018. The school board recall success rate was 28.4%.
Of the 12 efforts that made it to the ballot in 2018, eight were approved and the 20 targeted members were removed from office. Another two recall elections were defeated, and the targeted members kept their seats. One effort saw a mix of results: three members retained their seats, while the fourth was removed from his. Another recall election was held after the board member resigned. Her replacement was elected through the recall. The chart below details the status of 2018 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Newark Unified School District, California
- Ray Rodriguez recall, Newark Unified School District, California (2014)
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2018
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 East Bay Times, "Newark: New recall effort targets three board members," April 1, 2018
- ↑ San Jose Mercury News, "Newark schools: Recall election looms over superintendent's resignation," August 30, 2014
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Lolita Francisco, Alameda County Registrar of Voter's office," February 9, 2015
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