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Paula Phillips
Paula Phillips was a member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors in Wisconsin, representing District 7. Phillips assumed office in 2017. Phillips left office on April 26, 2021.
Phillips ran for re-election to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors to represent District 7 in Wisconsin. Phillips won in the general election on April 4, 2017.
Phillips participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Biography
Phillips moved to Milwaukee in 2010. Her work experiences includes serving as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Milwaukee and as a project coordinator for the women's initiative at the Medical College of Wisconsin.[1]
Elections
2017
Four of the nine seats on the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of School Directors were up for general election on April 4, 2017. In her bid for re-election to District 4, incumbent Annie Woodward defeated challenger Aisha Carr. In District 5, incumbent Larry Miller defeated challenger Kahri Phelps Okoro. District 6 incumbent Tatiana Joseph and District 7 incumbent Claire Zautke did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Tony Baez and Jonatan Zuñiga ran for the District 6 seat, and Joey Balistreri and Paula Phillips ran for the District 7 seat. Baez and Phillips won election to the board.[2][3]
Results
| Milwaukee Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Paula Phillips |
61.24% | 3,512 |
| Joey Balistreri | 38.24% | 2,193 |
| Write-in votes | 0.52% | 30 |
| Total Votes | 5,735 | |
| Source: Milwaukee City Election Commission, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election: Final Official Results," accessed May 2, 2017 | ||
Funding
Phillips reported $18,716.02 in contributions and $17,108.75 in expenditures to the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, which left her campaign with $1,607.27 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Phillips was endorsed by the following organizations:[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
- Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA)
- Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
- Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO
- Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans
- Wisconsin Progress
- Wisconsin Gazette
- Shepherd Express
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Paula Phillips participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[12] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on February 9, 2017:
| “ | Candidate did not respond to the question.[13][14] | ” |
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 Wisconsin. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | n/a[14] | ” |
| —Paula Phillips (February 9, 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.) |
|---|
| No. As a rule, I do not believe that charter school expansion will directly result in higher quality education for students. However, there are charter schools that are MPS schools and I would not be oppose to expanding high quality MPS options in my district. |
| 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? |
| Yes. They can be an accurate measure of student growth, but should not be the only measure for 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? |
| Offer additional training options. 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. I have yet to see a comprehensive model for merit based pay that takes more into account than standardized testing. I am opening to learning about more ways we can reward good teachers and make a career in teaching possible. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. As it stands, private schools do not have to abide by the same standards for our public schools. Until there are the same standards across the board, there should not be public money going to schools that are not accountable to set academic standards. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Out of school expulsions are not an effective tool for discipline. More resources are needed to address students that have difficulty in schools |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement |
Candidate website
Phillips highlighted why she ran for school board on her campaign website:
| “ | I'm running for Milwaukee Public School Board of Directors because my success has been rooted in great education and I want all of our kids to have high-quality schools.
As your school board director, I will advocate for the success of every child through supporting our educators, strengthening our community partnerships, and protecting the future of public education.[14] |
” |
| —Paula Phillips (2017)[15] | ||
See also
External links
|
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Eight candidates vie for four Milwaukee Public Schools board of directors seats," March 19, 2017
- ↑ City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "2017 Spring Election Candidates," accessed January 4, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee City Election Commission, "Latest Election Results: April 4, 2017 - Spring Election," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ City of Milwaukee Election Commission, "Campaign Finance Reports 2017 Election Cycle," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, "MTEA Endorsements," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, "Spring Election Endorsed Candidates," March 9, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Gazette, "Endorsements: Milwaukee School Board Candidates," March 23, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, "WIARA Spring Election Endorsements," March 17, 2017
- ↑ Shepherd Express, "Four School Board Seats Up for Election on April 4," March 28, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Area Labor Council AFL-CIO, "Committee on Political Education Recommendations for Spring 2017 Election," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Progress, "Our Endorsements for Spring 2017," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Paula Phillips's responses," February 9, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Paula for MPS, "About," accessed March 14, 2017
| Milwaukee Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Milwaukee County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 4: • Incumbent, Annie Woodward • Aisha Carr District 5: • Incumbent, Larry Miller • Kahri Phelps Okoro District 6: • Tony Baez • Jonatan Zuñiga District 7: • Joey Balistreri • Paula Phillips |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
