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Stacy Thomas
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Stacy Thomas ran for election to the Oakland Unified Board of Education to represent District 1 in California. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Thomas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Stacy Thomas was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She obtained a bachelor's degree from Frostburg State University in 1985. Her professional experience includes working a bookkeeping business.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Oakland Unified School District, California, elections (2020)
General election
General election for Oakland Unified Board of Education District 1
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Sam Davis in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 34,256 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Reginald Mosley (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
To view Thomas' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Stacy Thomas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thomas' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am running for school board to help change the direction of our school district. Our current board has 4 seats of 7 up for election in November and I am working with Action2020 (Action2020oakland.org) to get all four seats elected with like minded progressives who will not vote to close our schools. Oakland has almost 1/3 of our schools as charter schools which is taking funding away from our public schools which we'd like to stop. I have 30 years of accounting experience and run my own bookkeeping business which can help me to understand the complex finances of our $600 million budget. I have been a mentor for many years with the McCullum Youth court and have seen how restorative justice programs can work. We can support our teachers, our parents and our students better by being very clear on our priorities and how best to spend our significant, but not unlimited, budget. Please check out my website at stacyforoaklandpublicschools.org.
- I will vote no on school closings.
- I will actively engage in a budget process that supports teachers and students and takes a very in depth look at how our current budget is built.
- I will do everything I can to fund our schools equally in both the wealthy parts of town and the less affluent parts of the city. I advocate for a racial justice department that can respond to comments and questions about inequities.
I would like to see that standardized tests are used as little as possible. I believe in a review for each student at the beginning of the year revisited throughout the school year. I do not believe standardized tests are a good indicator of how well a student can learn, rather how well they can take that particular test. Standardized tests have been shown to prove how wealthy your family is better than any other indicator which is why SATs are being questioned as an indicator of success in college.
Shirley Chisolm, Malcolm X, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martin Luther King, Muhammed Ali. I would like to follow all of their examples. They each represent a commitment to fairness for all and unwavering dedication to the truth. They represented the less fortunate and were not afraid to challenge the self interests of the wealthy.
The autobiography of Malcolm X. He grew and learned and changed and became an outspoken person about the rights of the less privileged - namely people of color. He was honest and fearless and spoke truth to power in a way that was so inspirational, he scared the people around him so much that he paid for it with his life. That kind of leadership and fearlessness has inspired me as well.
Honesty, the ability to listen and be non partisan when decision making, inclusive when decision making, the ability to ask for more information when something is unclear or one -sided.
I am a good listener and negotiator. I believe voices should be heard and feel they have been heard. I understand complex financial data and believe in budgeting by department and or division objective which I think could be very helpful at OUSD. I think quickly on my feet and am not afraid to ask for help when I need it.
Ensuring that our schools support all of our students equally and that the ability to grow and thrive and be happy in school is also felt equally. That all students feel heard and respected. That the OUSD administration and superintendent work with the board to create long term plans that most efficiently utilize our finances and that our budgets reflect these priorities. That we not close any more schools and figure out ways to bring students back into the district and get that funding back. As I have campaigned I have talked with a number of parents who felt badly about their decision to remove their kids from OUSD schools and want to come back. I'd like to help figure out how we do that.
If it were possible, I would like to have every student departing from their elementary, middle school and high school fill out a questionnaire that said they felt like OUSD had done at least a "good" (ideally great) job of making them feel prepared for the next phase of their life in terms of math, reading, comprehension, life skills (this would be elaborated on), and felt respected. I think if we were achieving that, everything is easier to fall into place.
Sandra Day O Conner was first woman appointed to the supreme court in 1981. I was 17 years old.
waitress. 2 years.
I don't have a favorite book, but I have some favorite authors. Walter Mosley is one. Caimh McDonnell, Morgan Jerkins, Ta Nehisi-Coates, James Baldwin
I don't have one
Wishing the playing field were leveled (education, housing, access to capital, treatment by the police) for everyone and being frustrated and sad that it is not.
Technically it is to review the superintendent of the OUSD, to set policy and prepare a budget that supports that policy and priorities. In addition, I feel it would be my job to listen to the people in my district and take their needs into consideration as well since I represent district 1 citizens.
District 1 North Oakland citizens. Parents, teachers, students, principals, folks in the OUSD administration. We all need to work together to manage our funds as effectively as possible and ensure each child gets what he or she needs to thrive in our public schools.
Fully understand the needs by talking with principals, teachers and parents and make sure there is a liaison with each school we can communicate with. Perform an audit of the existing school board budget to find out where there might be funding put to better use. Understand the organizational structure of the OUSD administration and find out from them what they think is working and what is not (ideally anonymously).
Ensure there is a new student package in as many languages as possible. Support a racial justice department that has a phone line for comments and questions of what is working and what is not. That department would also include the Black Teach Project to support the hiring of teachers of color, supporting them after hiring them, and trying to reduce barriers to their being hired in the first place. Encourage things like recruiting from HBCU's and encourage kids in our schools to get into teaching.
Ensure there is a new student package in as many languages as possible. Support a racial justice department that has a phone line for comments and questions of what is working and what is not. That department would also include the Black Teach Project to support the hiring of teachers of color, supporting them after hiring them, and trying to reduce barriers to their being hired in the first place. Encourage things like recruiting from HBCU's and encourage kids in our schools to get into teaching.
Oakland Rising Action, Black Teachers Project, Action2020, Kitty Kelly Epstein as a mentor. And really any group that wishes to speak with me to the extent time allows.
I would like to meet with PTAs or other parents groups from each school in my district at least once per school year. More often if possible. Ideally we could meet in groups, ie, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools to meet more often.
Yes. See above answer re diverse needs.
Funding is part of it. It would be ideal if we could find a way to fund the schools in the flats the same as the schools in the hills. or at least do our best to provide similar services and class options. Which does not necessarily mean equal funding. It might take some But there are social issues as well. And racial inequities. I am glad that the OUSD police have been voted out. I think we can use that funding towards racial justice education for all teachers and creating programs that divert kids from suspension and expulsion. That will require social workers in our schools. And we need to ensure meals are served. Finally, that our textbooks are inclusive of all students' histories and selected books include authors from many diverse cultures.
Good teaching is respectful of all students. It's encouraging of all students. It is setting the same expectations of excellence of all students. It is understanding different kids learn different ways. I think we should be measuring our teachers with surveys at the end of each term based on those criteria as well as how inspired a child feels to read and learn the next level of math. How well can our teachers incorporate real world situations to teach and hot have to do so much standarized tests.
Foreign languages should be required for all students. Racial diversity training should be required of all students. Trades should be offered as well such as welding, electrical, plumbing, auto mechanics, accounting. Computer science coding basics and how to use the most generally used softwares such as word, spreadsheets, graphic design. It would be great if we could include courses with an emphasis on solving a community issue such as food deserts or pollution.
A diploma should reflect the ability to read a newspaper and understand its contents. It should reflect an understanding of local and national politics. It should reflect an understanding of the institutional barriers to equity such as access to bank loans for small business, housing, education and jobs. A diploma should reflect the ability to do basic math through algebra.
I would very much like to see technical training and apprenticeships. I'd like to see a pipeline to teaching that starts at the high school level. Perhaps senior high school school courses with a B grade or better could go towards reducing the requirements for teaching credentials. I think joint ventures with local business owners to learn small business skills and entrepreneurship would be great. I run my own bookkeeping business and am surprised accounting is not taught in high school. It is needed in pretty much every business. Basic financial management should be offered. Joint ventures with organizations like The Crucible in West Oakland that can teach kids how to create things. Auto mechanics. So many things could be offered to the kids that are simply not interested in college but can be huge contributions to their communities. Gardening classes with the objective of setting up individual gardens or community gardens. Where age appropriate coastline cleanups to get out and learn how we can do better for our environment since they will inherit it. Partnerships with the fire department.
Well we first need to define "properly funded". Some research with teachers and principals to learn from them what is needed and lacking would be step 1. Step 2 is to really understand the makeup of the OUSD. How does it function? What does its organization chart look like and who is responsible for what parts of the $600 million annual budget. I've emailed twice since I began this campaign in August and have not received any information yet. Their 2020/2021 budget as submitted in the 8/12/20 school board meeting was at very summary levels. I would like to meet with e department heads in OUSD and break the budget down into pieces as owned by individuals who are held accountable and required to report at least quarterly at the board meetings. I would request a report of what vendors got paid what in the previous school year and ask how the department heads felt those vendors did? Did they provide the services they were asked to effectively as far as the teachers and principals and parents thought they should?
That all of our children and employees deserve to feel physically and emotionally safe and secure in their school environment. That all of our employees are responsible for the safety of our kids. And safety includes feeling like school is a place they want to be.
It would be wonderful if we had social workers and folks trained in de-escalation of situations at every school. Now with the removal of the OUSD police, we can fund that. Or find those funds elsewhere in our budget. Are there services we are paying for that teachers and students don't find useful? Diversity training for ALL OUSD employees would be great. Restorative justice programs instead of expulsions except in the most extreme cases of student behavior.
Technology should be taught, ie, learning how to code. But other subjects should not be taught via a computer as soon as we can start getting back into our schools. Technology will play a significant role in our futures as it already does. But it should not replace the humanities such as foreign language, sociology, art, philosophy, theatre and music. And lots of reading. But reading books that represent the diverse life experience and cultures of the student body of Oakland and authors that are diverse. Technology will also include math and science and we need to find ways to really encourage girls and people of color to participate in those areas.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 25, 2020
