Stanton Strickland

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Stanton Strickland

Education

Bachelor's

Baylor University

Law

South Texas College of Law

Personal

Profession

Associate commissioner

Contact

Personal website

Stanton Strickland was a candidate for the District 1 seat on the Austin School Board in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Biography

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Strickland is the associate commissioner at the Texas Department of Insurance. He has his bachelor's degree from Baylor University and his J.D. from the South Texas College of Law. He has served as president of the Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods (OCEAN) and the Robertson Hill Neighborhood Association (RHNA).

Elections

2014

See also: Austin Independent School District elections (2014)

The November 4, 2014, general election in Austin Independent School District featured five seats up for election. The District 1 race featured four candidates; P. Kevin Bryant, Edmund T. Gordon, Stanton Strickland, and David “D” Thompson competed for the seat held by Cheryl Bradley. Since neither Gordon nor Thompson garnered 50 percent "plus one" or more of the vote, they faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014. Gordon triumphed over Thompson in that race.

The District 4 race featured newcomers Julie Cowan and Karen Zern Flanagan, as incumbent Vincent Torres did not file for-election. Cowan triumphed over Flanagan in that race. The District 6 race featured three candidates; Kate Mason-Murphy, Monica Sanchez, and Paul Saldaña vied for the seat held by Lori Moya. Mason-Murphy and Saldaña headed to the runoff election, where Saldaña was victorious.

The lone incumbent to file for re-election was Robert Schneider in District 7. He defeated challenger Yasmin Wagner. Meanwhile, the at-large position held by Tamala Barksdale drew five challengers; Nael Chavez, Kendall Pace, Kazique J. Prince, Hillary Procknow, and Andy M. Trimino competed for that seat. Neither Pace nor Procknow received a majority of the vote, so they competed in the runoff election. Pace defeated Procknow in that election.

Results

Austin Independent School District, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Edmund T. Gordon	34.5%	3,624
	Nonpartisan	David “D” Thompson	28.4%	2,984
	Nonpartisan	P. Kevin Bryant	18.7%	1,967
	Nonpartisan	Stanton Strickland	18.3%	1,917
Total Votes				10,492
Source: Travis County Clerk, "Austin Independent School District Cumulative Results," accessed December 30, 2014

Funding

Candidates must file reports with the Texas Ethics Commission or the appropriate county clerk. They must disclose the amount of each contribution (or the value and nature of any in-kind contribution), the name and address of the individual or political committee making the contribution and the date of the contribution. Filers must also report all expenditures, including the date of an expenditure, the name and address of the person to whom the expenditure is made and the purpose of the expenditure.

As of September 30, 2014, Strickland had not filed a campaign finance report with the Travis County Clerk.

Endorsements

Strickland did not receive any endorsements during the election.

Campaign themes

Strickland stated the following regarding his campaign themes on his website.

“	Three big challenges facing AISD and their related opportunities are: Hiring a Permanent Superintendent We must find a candidate who has unyielding integrity that the public trusts and is a dynamic and innovative leader. He or she must be collaborative and work well with others, including the Board of Trustees, parents, teachers, and community partners and must not be polarizing. The new superintendent must also be compassionate, understanding and respectful of the different needs with respect to the diversity of the student body and communities for which AISD serves. He or she must be experienced and accomplished in leading a large diverse school district with challenges similar to AISD. The process of selecting a new permanent superintendent presents a great opportunity for the Board of Trustees to fully engage the public and collaborate with them to collect input. This will not only facilitate transparency, but will generate a profound amount of trust in the board and a feeling of ownership over the decision. School Funding A State district court ruled twice that the current school funding law is unconstitutional. Under the current law, AISD’s payments to the State are greater than any other district in Texas. According to news reports, since 2002—under the current structure—the AISD has paid an astronomical amount of approximately $1.6 billion back to the state under the recapture provisions of the law. Without legal intervention or legislative change the district will be mandated to send approximately $176 million more to the state next fiscal year. Balancing and stretching the budget under these conditions will be an extremely difficult challenge, however, AISD has a window of opportunity next year during the legislative session to strongly support and urge the legislators to enact school funding law that is fair and constitutional. Regardless of the outcome, the AISD Board of Trustees must work together to prudently and strategically allocate our limited public funds in a manner that provides an equal opportunity for every student to achieve academic success; and in a manner that looks first to sources other than Austin homeowners for additional funding. A critical part of the formula to success is for AISD to more actively engage parents, students, teachers, principals and community to better determine the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and needs of the schools. It is then imperative that the Board of Trustees be responsive to those needs to provide an equal opportunity for all students. Bridging the Socioeconomic Achievement Gaps Although AISD statistics are beginning to reflect a slight decrease in dropout rates, there is no question that students who are subject to socioeconomic inequities are especially vulnerable to drop out and subject to overwhelming challenges. African American students experienced an increase in their graduation rate from 65.7% in 2008 to 79.6% in 2012. Hispanic students have increased their graduation rate from 63.9% in 2008 to 78.6% in 2012. Bridging the gap in academic achievement resulting from socioeconomic inequalities presents a big challenge, especially under the current public school financing law. AISD’s efforts in recent years to partner with Communities in Schools and incorporate Family Resource Centers in schools that serve a majority of our Hispanic and African American students has had a positive impact, but much more can be done. Opportunities exist to expand AISD partnerships with other public and private entities to create equal resources and opportunities for every student.	”
—Stanton Strickland's campaign website (2014)

Recent news

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Stanton Strickland News Feed

See also

• Austin Independent School District, Texas
• Austin Independent School District elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Austin Independent School District
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page