Paul Greenawalt
Paul Greenawalt was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Waterford School District school board in Michigan. Greenawalt was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Greenawalt was a 2014 Republican candidate for District 43 of the Michigan House of Representatives. He unsuccessfully ran for the same seat in 2008 and 2012.
Biography
Greenawalt received his associate degree in general studies from Oakland Community College. He earned his B.S. in communications from Louisiana Baptist University. His professional experience includes working as a Christian rapper and musician.[1]
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Waterford School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Robert Petrusha, Bob Piggott, and Robert Seeterlin filed for re-election. They faced challengers Mary Barghahn, Paul Greenawalt, Jon Knapp, and Eric Lindemier. Petrusha, Barghahn, and Piggott won in the general election.[2]
Results
| Waterford School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Robert Petrusha Incumbent |
19.50% | 12,298 |
| Mary Barghahn |
17.23% | 10,867 |
| Bob Piggott Incumbent |
15.83% | 9,988 |
| Robert Seeterlin Incumbent | 14.48% | 9,132 |
| Jon Knapp | 13.71% | 8,650 |
| Eric Lindemier | 11.67% | 7,362 |
| Paul Greenawalt | 7.08% | 4,465 |
| Write-in votes | 0.5% | 318 |
| Total Votes | 63,080 | |
| Source: Oakland County Elections Division, "November 8, 2016 General Election," November 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $7,117.95 and spent a total of $5,067.09 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.[5]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Petrusha (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Bob Piggott (incumbent) | $797.95 | $782.09 | $15.86 |
| Robert Seeterlin (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mary Barghahn | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Paul Greenawalt | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jon Knapp | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Eric Lindemier | $6,320.00 | $4,285.00 | $2,035.00 |
Endorsements
Greenawalt was endorsed in the election by local organization Waterford Forward.[6]
2014
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Dennis Ritter defeated Neil Billington and Robin McGregor in the Democratic primary. Jim Tedder defeated Jose Aliaga, Paul Greenawalt, Nate Knapper and Andrea Schroeder in the Republican primary. Tedder defeated Ritter in the general election.[7][8][9][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Tedder |
58.2% | 18,662 | |
| Democratic | Dennis Ritter | 41.8% | 13,379 | |
| Total Votes | 32,041 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Dennis Ritter |
49.6% | 2,504 |
| Robin McGregor | 42.9% | 2,164 |
| Neil Billington | 7.5% | 377 |
| Total Votes | 5,045 | |
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Tedder |
30.5% | 3,007 |
| Andrea Schroeder | 28.9% | 2,846 |
| Jose Aliaga | 21.8% | 2,146 |
| Nate Knapper | 15.4% | 1,515 |
| Paul Greenawalt | 3.4% | 332 |
| Total Votes | 9,846 | |
Endorsements
In 2014, Greenawalt's endorsements included:
- Right to Life of Michigan[11]
2012
Greenawalt ran in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 43. He was defeated by incumbent Gail Haines in the Republican primary on August 7.[12][13]
In the 2012 Republican Primary race for State Representative, Greenawalt acquired 29% of the vote, or 2757 votes. Without endorsements, Greenawalt used door to door campaigns and social media outlets to spread his message.
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Gail Haines Incumbent |
71.2% | 6,807 |
| Paul Greenawalt | 28.8% | 2,757 |
| Total Votes | 9,564 | |
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Paul J. Greenawalt 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 5, 2016:
| “ | I Paul J. Greenawalt believe we need to expand our education system to teach useful things that children can use. Much time is spent on teaching minds what to learn. Not teaching minds how to think. Once somebody knows how to think, nobody can stop them.[14][15] | ” |
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 Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| “ | #1 says it all. Our schools are to far behind. We need to catch up.[15] | ” |
| —Paul J. Greenawalt (September 5, 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. The more educating options we have for our children the better for our children. This is not about teachers, administrators, budgets, or unions. However, all also these things are important. At the end of the day it comes down to the children, and these people serving them to the best of their ability. |
| 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. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| A teacher and a school district should never be stuck with a core. We need to expand the core and teach to the student. People learn in all different ways.. Many children are left behind as common. Some of the world's Educations systems are putting us to shame. |
| 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. If there is money in the budget, perhaps we can reward them. I would think a 75% of students passing and meeting set standards for this pay. These are your children those folks who better your kids should have incentive for a job well done. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. The money should follow the children to all religious private schools. The federal government or state government should not be able to tell these Registered Non Public Schools what to do or teach. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| It should be looked at in a case by case basis. However, kids need to be held accountable for their actions or lack of them. Other countries show respect for educators and a good education. My wife being from South Africa, many children would love to have the same opportunities that we have here. They would never take it for granted. We must hold students to a high level as we must hold good teachers. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. Nothing else matters if parent's don't care or get involved. |
Additional themes
Greenawalt provided the following responses to the League of Women Voters Oakland Area regarding his top priorities for the district:
| “ |
There is many problems with our school systems. I would say my biggest three issues are: to teach life skills to children, catching up with the rest of the state in test scores and reading, Create more programs for parents to be in. If parents are not involved, children will not be either. No one person makes or breaks a school. Nor does one person have all the ideas or all the votes. I would gladly work with other school board members to implement great ideas.[16][15] |
” |
| —Paul Greenawalt (2016) | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Paul Greenawalt Waterford School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Waterford School District
- 2012 campaign website
- Follow the Money
- Paul Greenawalt on Twitter
- Paul Greenawalt on Facebook
- Paul Greenawalt on LinkedIn
Footnotes
- ↑ Paul Greenawalt, Campaign Facebook page, accessed August 6, 2012
- ↑ Oakland County Elections Division, "Unofficial Candidate List," August 19, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, "Campaign Finance Reporting System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Waterford Forward," accessed November 2, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan General Candidate Listing," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ Right to Life of Michigan, "Elections," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "2012 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed June 6, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press, "Michigan - Summary Vote Results," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Paul J. Greenawalt's responses," September 5, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ League of Women Voters Oakland Area, "Voter Guide - November General Election," accessed October 24, 2016
| 2016 Waterford School District Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Robert Petrusha • Incumbent, Bob Piggott • Incumbent, Robert Seeterlin • Mary Barghahn • Paul Greenawalt • Jon Knapp • Eric Lindemier |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
