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Ruthee Goldkorn
Ruthee Goldkorn was a candidate for the Trustee Area 5 seat on the Moreno Valley Unified School District school board in California. Goldkorn was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Goldkorn participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Moreno Valley Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. No incumbents filed to run for re-election, guaranteeing two newcomers joined the board. Candidates Tiffany Alvarez, Kevin Giser, Marisela Felix Lopez, Susan Smith, and Daryl Terrell ran for the open Trustee Area 2 seat, and Smith won the election. The race for the open Trustee Area 5 seat featured candidates Wende Deaton Ashley, Ruthee Goldkorn, Irick Vaughn Hale, Evan Morgan, and George Schoelles. Morgan was elected to the seat.[1][2]
Results
| Moreno Valley Unified School District, Trustee Area 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Evan Morgan |
30.39% | 2,435 |
| George Schoelles | 25.12% | 2,013 |
| Wende Deaton Ashley | 18.74% | 1,502 |
| Irick Vaughn Hale | 13.70% | 1,098 |
| Ruthee Goldkorn | 12.04% | 965 |
| Total Votes | 8,013 | |
| Source: Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated Presidential Election Official Results," accessed December 2, 2016 | ||
Funding
Goldkorn filed an exemption form detailing she would not spend or receive more than $2,000 for this campaign. Because of this, she did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[3][4]
Endorsements
Goldkorn was endorsed by the Riverside County Democratic Party and the community organization Evolve.[5][6]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Ruthee Goldkorn 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 October 25, 2016:
| “ | Exceling the programs into the 21st Century which is the fastest Space-Time Continuum is history. technology is leaping ahead of curricula and implementation of new programs for non traditional education. The federal student loan program MUST be adjusted and post secondary education must STOP placing decades if not life long debt loads on our kids. Coding academies must be public with Pell grants and government grants covering the costs. Russia and China are kicking our a** in this technology and we must catch up FAST.[7][8] | ” |
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 |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Blank | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Blank | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Blank | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | This district has had an excellent relationship with the teachers and the union for several years which is why I chose the importance factor that I did. Not being able to use the same factor more than once is terrible!!! Questions 2,3,4,and 7 are all factor 7 but I cannot indicate this.[8] | ” |
| —Ruthee Goldkorn (October 25, 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.) |
|---|
| No. We have several charters under the district and several private that are more than adequate to handle the needs of our kids. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. CRIMINAL matters belong with law enforcement, gross negligence matters belong with the legal system. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Self explanatory. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Needs work!!! Law makers stick to making laws, educators should be responsible for matters related to education! |
| 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. ONLY if there is not gross conduct that is dangerous or criminal. Student teaching programs and the process in credentialing is inadequate to prepare all teachers for the rigors of the class room and mentor or Master Teacher programs can address this matter. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. NOT as a single factor of determing pay scales but those who give and go above and beyond the baseline of their job need to be compensated as workers are in the private sector |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Self explanatory |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| CASE BY CASE!!! and every kid who is suspended MUST have due process or the district must be held liable by the justice system in their city/county. An audit of these proceedings must NOT demonstrate a disproportionate number of kids with disAbilities vs. kids without appreciable or diagnosed disAbility. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio Smaller class size performance prove the fact |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ruthee Goldkorn Moreno Valley Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Moreno Valley Unified School District, California
- Moreno Valley Unified School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 19, 2016
- ↑ Riverside County, "Consolidated Presidential Election," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "County of Riverside Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed October 4, 2016
- ↑ California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ Riverside County Democratic Party, "2016 Endorsed Non-Partisan Candidates," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Ruthee Goldkorn's responses," October 25, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Moreno Valley Unified School District Elections | |
| Riverside County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 2: • Tiffany Alvarez • Kevin Giser • Marisela Felix Lopez • Susan Smith • Daryl Terrell Trustee Area 5: • Wende Deaton Ashley • Ruthee Goldkorn • Irick Vaughn Hale • Evan Morgan • George Schoelles |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
