Shantel Okorie
Shantel Okorie was a candidate for Position 2 representative on the Vancouver Public Schools school board in Washington. Okorie was defeated in the at-large primary election on August 1, 2017.
Elections
2017
Two of the five seats on the Vancouver Public Schools school board in Washington were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. A primary election for the Position 2 seat was held on August 1, 2017, because more than two candidates filed for the seat.
In the Position 2 general, incumbent Mark Stoker defeated challenger Anthony Licerio. They moved on to the general by defeating Shantel Okorie in the primary. Newcomer Wendy Smith defeated Heather Christiansen in the race for the open Position 3 seat in the general.[1]
Results
| Vancouver Public Schools, Position 2 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mark Stoker Incumbent |
74.92% | 12,451 |
| Anthony Licerio |
13.18% | 2,190 |
| Shantel Okorie | 11.91% | 1,979 |
| Total Votes | 16,620 | |
| Source: Clark County, "August 1, 2017 Primary," accessed August 18, 2017 | ||
Funding
Okorie opted for mini reporting in this election, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.[2] Candidates who opted for this had to keep a record of their contributors and expenditures, but were not required to report them. If they raised and spent more than $5,000 in aggregate or received more than $500 from any one contributor, including themselves, they would have had to switch their filing status from mini to full reporting.[3]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Shantel Okorie participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[4] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on July 31, 2017:
| “ | I hope to change the way we teach Sex Ed. to our students, to start actually enforcing the zero tolerance bullying rule.[5][6] | ” |
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 Washington. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Closing the achievement gap is most important because our top priority as a school district should be to make sure every student is getting the knowledge they need to grow.[6] | ” |
| —Shantel Okorie (July 31, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. If a teacher is doing a really awesome job in helping their students |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| I believe, unless a child is a direct threat to either themselves or other students/teachers I do not think that children should be expelled. Expelling a child only disrupts the child's learning experience and further hinders the child. We should be working with these children instead of against them. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| The curriculum. |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Clark County, Washington, "2017 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Local Candidates," accessed October 16, 2017
- ↑ Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, "New Candidates," accessed June 22, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Shantel Okorie's responses," July 31, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Vancouver Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Clark County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary: August 1, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Position 2: Incumbent, Mark Stoker • Anthony Licerio • Shantel Okorie Position 3: Heather Christiansen • Wendy Smith |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
