Paul Reese
Paul M. Reese was a candidate for at-large representative on the Waukesha School Board in Wisconsin. He was defeated in the general election on April 7, 2015.
Reese participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey.
Biography
Reese is married and has one child who attends district schools. He has been a commentator on the board's decision not to ban or flag books as requested by some district parents.[1]
Elections
2015
Three at-large board seats were up election on April 7, 2015. Incumbents Patricia Madden, Patrick McCaffery and Kurt O'Bryan won re-election against challengers Kari Schulte, Amanda Medina-Roddy and Paul Reese.[2]
Results
| Waukesha School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Patricia Madden Incumbent |
18.2% | 5,197 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patrick McCaffery Incumbent |
17.5% | 4,992 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kurt O'Bryan Incumbent |
16.6% | 4,738 | |
| Nonpartisan | Amanda Medina-Roddy | 16.3% | 4,649 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kari Schulte | 16% | 4,562 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Reese | 15.4% | 4,383 | |
| Total Votes | 28,521 | |||
| Source: Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin 2015 spring general election results," April 7, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us. | ||||
Funding
Reese reported no contributions or expenditures to the Waukesha School District as of March 30, 2015. He filed as "Exempt from Filing Campaign Finance Records" on his campaign registration statement.[3]
Endorsements
Reese had not received any official endorsements as of January 9, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Reese 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:
| “ | If I had to pick just one, then it would have to be to bring back the 4.0 GPA grading system (A,B,C,D,F). There is not a college in this country that doesn't accept anything but a 4.0 GPA grading system and if it is good enough for colleges, it ought to be good enough for parents. This is one of many things I would do to start reducing the confusion/frustration that many of us have.[4] | ” |
| —Paul Reese (2015)[5] | ||
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 Wisconsin. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
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 |
|---|---|
| "They should not be implemented." | |
| "I have great concern here because charter schools have elected/unaccountable governance boards solely in charge of far too many things. When parents have a problem or concern about the charter school, there is little to nothing they can do about it. This atmosphere can sometimes lead to poor communication between board members and parents." | |
| "Yes." | |
| "No." | |
| "I believe every student should be matched with the proper educator." | |
| "Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools." | |
| "The #1 thing to success in any school is parental involvement. However, it seems this district is more interested in confusing and frustrating parents rather than seeking their involvement. An example would be the poor grading system that is in place. They are "trying" to create something less confusing when in the past we already had a system that didn't confuse parents like the A,B,C,D,F grading system which everyone understood and that alone has tremendous value. The less confused parents are in their kid's education, the more likely they are to be involved. This kind of thing is unacceptable to me which is why I am running for school board." | |
| "Yes." | |
| "Teachers who have been underperforming for a number of years need to have their contracts terminated. However, I would like to see merit pay be tied to mentoring teachers just starting out in a classroom setting." | |
| "As a school board member, it is my duty to represent the community at large. I find it disingenuous at best when you have members or former members of the teacher's union negotiating current teacher contracts. I feel this board is too focused on how teachers feel about things rather than the concerns of the community and I will do everything I can to change that." |
Campaign page
Reese provided the following statement on his Facebook campaign page:
| “ | I am running for one of three seats on the Waukesha School Board that are coming up for election on April 7, 2015. Some of the reasons I have decided to run for school board is Waukesha School District's poor and confusing grading system, inappropriate (pornographic) books in the middle school and high school levels, common core and school board members improperly giving themselves raises in an unethical way.[4] | ” |
| —Paul Reese's Facebook campaign page (2015)[6] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Paul Reese Waukesha School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Waukesha School District, Wisconsin
- Waukesha School District elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state...
- Wisconsin school districts 2014 review
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Waukesha NOW, "Waukesha School Board race is crowded this spring," February 2, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Phone call with Waukesha School District Superintendent's Office," January 8, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Sue Ettinger, Executive Assistant to the WSD Superintendent’s Office," March 31, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Paul Reese's responses," February 17, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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| 2015 Waukesha School District Elections | |
| Waukesha County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Patricia Madden • Incumbent, Patrick McCaffery • Incumbent, Kurt O'Bryan • Kari Schulte • Amanda Medina-Roddy • Paul Reese |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
