Theresa Graham

Theresa Graham

Republican Party

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Theresa Graham was a 2015 Republican candidate for the at-large position 2 seat of the Jacksonville, Florida City Council.

In 2014, Graham was a candidate for the District 2 seat on the Duval County School Board in Florida.

Biography

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Graham earned an associate degree from Florida Community College. She later received a B.A. in applied theology from Logos University Jacksonville. Graham is a realtor and a member of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. She previously served on the Jacksonville Commission on the Status of Women and is the current president of North Florida Right to Life. Graham is also studying criminology at Florida State University.

Campaign themes

2014

Graham provided the following responses to a questionnaire from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund:

“	In the 2014-15 school year, schools across the state will implement new English language arts and mathematics standards called the Florida Standards. These standards are closely aligned with Common Core State Standards adopted by states throughout the country. What is your view of the new Florida Standards? How well do you feel that the new standards have been implemented in Duval County Public Schools and communicated to teachers and parents? Are we really limiting our students in their abitlity to achieve higher levels by simply laying out a snchronized standard? At National Levels Common Core State Standards I feel are a mere attempt to control education at federal levels when it should be left in the hands of the state and local levels. Governement was not placed to take over or control but rather to serve and govern what the people desire, Many parents are not even aware of the new changes. As our tax dollars are utilized to run the Public school system do we as supporters as tax payers really have a say in the type and quality education that are children our receiving? More parents are home schooling to have this opportunity to take back control over a system that has dunbed down society into believing we don’t need to be too educated. You can never have too much education we should strive to be the best in this area as other countries such as Japan and China are offering higher levesls of education expecially in such subjects as Mathematics. To measure the student performance against the Florida Standards, the state will replace the FCAT 2.0 with a new standardized assessment in spring 2015. In addition, the state Legislature has approved a revised school grading formula to go into effect that spring. What are the biggest challenges of the new system? How should the district respond to the changes? Teachers have already been trained and operating under the old system. A new system will mean training for principals first then roll out to the teachers and staff. Costly training and appropriate resources must be utilized to bring everyone on new board with the new inititives of the Legislature approved revised school grading formula. What is your view of the discipline-related initiatives that the district has undertaken in the last year? What is the role of the school board in ensuring a positive school climate and culture throughout the district? I agree with an in school suspension policy for students who are start fights on school property or on buses. Turn the cheek takes on a whole new meeting. If a student is being verbally abused and or bullied they can turn and walk away. Sometimes the better person is the one who igores the words and walks on. If a student is abusive physically toward the student that walked away the terms would be a 1 day in school suspension. I believe students should have a right to defend themselves as in Florida Stand your Ground policy. First option is to walk away, but if attacked I feel the student should defend themeselves in some cases they could be hurt violently if they didn’t defend. But as far as just hitting someone because of words that would put it back onto the student that first made the hit. So now the victim verbally can potentially become the bully. We should not enable enable and encourage strong students to hurt other students. They should know in the Code of Conduct that there is and will be consequences for your abusive actions towards other students. But on the side of the victim there may be times that they must defend themselves if injured by another student who continues. Words hurt but they should not be a reason to hurt another child. Duval County has a complex school choice environment: There are numerous magnet schools and new public school models such as single-gender classrooms and K-6 elementary schools, as well as 9,000 students attending charter schools in Duval County. What is your view of the current school choice environment and how does it impact student achievement? How should the district respond to the impact of charter expansion? A a school Choice activate I believe it imparitive to offer to students and parents different options for their education. One size does not fit all as one school does not accommodate very student. Howver, too many charter schools out with out of reach organizational structures could be debilitating to the Duval County school family. Student acheivement is key. For the over all success of the student and the whole child having “choices”. With checks and balances this goal can be accomplished without out of control charter growth. Face the reality that charter schools are still public schools as they are funded. Make sure we have the same quality edcuation for students in charter schools that are being offered on the main campus. Over the past couple of years, Duval County Public Schools have expanded opportunities for families to enroll their children in Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten programs at select elementary schools. What role do you feel the Public School system should play in promoting and expanding quality pre-kindergarten programs within public school? What you put into a child from 0-5 will determine many times the type of student you will have from ages 14-17 years of age. Many of the students who were not afforded a Pre school or Early education education will end up dropping out at legal age of 16. Basic reading, arithmitic and science many times skills were laid in foundation excellence for children who received Early Education. I like seeing the partnerships with Pre schools around the city that offer Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten programs. Where space is capable we could enter and put into place Voluntary Pre Kindergarten programs within elementary schools. The voluntary program is excellent and much needed for our youngest of students. It allows these students to have the very best educational start made available to secure success for their futures. Duval County Public Schools has grouped Raines, Ribault and Jackson high schools and 33 feeder pattern elementary and middle schools under a new Duval Transformation Office. These schools will benefit from the Quality Education for All Fund, a philanthropic investment of $50 million of private funding. The goal of this effort is to improve the pipeline of great teachers and leaders in Duval County Public Schools, especially at the 36 Transformation schools. Do you support these efforts? In your view, what else should the district do to support the high-needs schools within the Transformation region? We must Hire the Best Teachers in the Transformation Schools circle Raines, Ribault, and Jackson High Schools. The benefit of a philanthropic investment of $50 million dollars should go to improving the education standards. Many of the student population in these areas are already falling behind. Many will drop out of school bcause they are so far behind by the legal age to leave of 16. Already here in Jacksonville Floirda we in Duval County are second in the nation just under New York City for African American male students to drop out of school. This coupled with an already higher than average crime rate and released criminals in the area contribute to ever increaseing crime numbers and opportunities for these students to leave school and prosper illegally taking a chance of getting caught and for many a life of jail and or death. Career and technical education is an important component of the school district’s programming. In your opinion, what should be Duval County Public Schools’ biggest focus when it comes to career and technical education? One size does not fit all children as choices are offered in schools career paths must allow for students. These students who do not plan to take the college or university path but rather technical career path. What is your view of the role of technology in preparing Duval County students for the future? Should Duval County Public Schools increase the use of technology in classrooms, and if so, how should it be funded? How big of a priority should it be? Technology in the class rooms will be imparative for continued progress of growth in increasing performance for Duval County schools. Just as the I phone has replaced the blackberry advances must be made in technology to keep competive . Most issues faced with advancing technology as systems, computers ect become so out dated that they are more costly to maintain than to replace with newer more innovative technology resources. Priority must be made to keep current in technology so our students do not lag behind the ever changing employment opportunities to allow for students to achieve independence, financial stability and contribution to society.	”
—Jacksonville Public Education Fund, (2014)

Elections

2015

See also: Jacksonville, Florida municipal elections, 2015

The city of Jacksonville, Florida, held elections for mayor and city council on May 19, 2015. A primary took place on March 24, 2015. Because one candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary election for the at-large group 2 seat, its general election was canceled. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was January 16, 2015. All 19 city council seats were up for election.

In the primary election for the at-large group 2 seat, incumbent John R. Crescimbeni (D) defeated Dave Barron (R) and Theresa Graham (R).

Jacksonville City Council, At-large Group 2, Primary Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John R. Crescimbeni Incumbent	52.8%	93,676
	Republican	David Barron	29.6%	52,502
	Republican	Theresa Graham	17.6%	31,312
Total Votes				177,490
Source: Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "Primary election results," accessed May 29, 2015

2014

See also: Duval County Public Schools elections (2014)

The August 26, 2014, general election in Duval County featured three seats up for election. Two races were determined in the general election. Incumbent Paula D. Wright defeated challenger Darryl Willie in the District 4 race. District 6 incumbent Becki Couch won re-election without opposition.

The general election determined if candidates for each seat could garner a majority of the vote total. Because no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the general election votes in District 2, the top two vote recipients advanced to the runoff election on November 4, 2014.

The District 2 race featured four newcomers running to replace incumbent Fred Lee, who did not file for re-election. Scott Shine and Samuel Hall advanced to the runoff election. Hall led by just two votes over Theresa Graham for second place in the general election. A recount was held which ultimately found Hall the second place winner with a four vote lead over Graham. The fourth candidate, Shannon Russell, was defeated in the general election.

Results

Duval County Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Scott Shine	45.8%	5,788
	Nonpartisan	Samuel Hall	19.4%	2,449
	Nonpartisan	Theresa Graham	19.3%	2,445
	Nonpartisan	Shannon Russell	15.5%	1,965
Total Votes				12,647
Source: Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed September 10, 2014

Funding

Graham reported $2,077.00 in contributions and loans and $1,675.44 in expenditures to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections, which left her campaign with $401.56 on hand.

Issues in the district

Firing, suspension of district teachers

School board members voted unanimously during a July 1, 2014, meeting to fire Julie Bennett and suspend Courtney Spruill from their teaching positions due to separate disciplinary issues. Bennett, a sixth-grade history teacher at Fletcher Middle School, was fired for making fun of a student's weight in February 2014. Her disciplinary record dated back to 2003 with reprimands and fines in 2005, 2012 and 2013 for volatile behavior, leaving students unattended and insulting students.

Spruill, a physical education teacher at Kernan Middle School, was suspended for 15 days for showing poor judgement when dealing with students. She was accused of attending a party for the school's soccer team where she received a lap dance, drank alcohol and demonstrated a sexually suggestive dance known as twerking. The host of the party noted that Spruill brought vodka as a house-warming gift but did not drink alcohol around students. The board concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant the suspension, including a video of Spruill dancing with students.

State investigation of special education programs

The Florida Department of Education issued a report in July 2014 showing that the district violated federal laws guaranteeing "free and appropriate education" for students with disabilities. A complaint was lodged against the district's Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program by advocacy group Disability Rights Florida in April 2014. The group received reports from district parents that students with disabilities were not receiving sufficient assistance in reading and math courses. State investigators found that 53 out of the 93 individualized education plans at 18 district schools were not compliant with state or federal education laws. The investigation determined that some teachers were unable to provide additional assistance because they were assigned to proctor state assessments. The state report also found confusion between ESE teachers and principals about requests for substitutes during teacher absences. District schools are required to revise their approach to ESE courses by September 1, 2014, with reports on student progress due by October 1, 2014, and December 15, 2014.

Mixed results of 2013-2014 state grades

Duval County Public Schools experienced an increase in schools receiving failing grades from the Florida Department of Education, according to the state's 2013-2014 report on academic performance. Twenty-two schools in the district were considered failing by state standards in 2013-2014 compared to 11 schools during the 2012-2013 school year. The district also received A grades for 32 schools and four schools moved up three letter grades compared to the previous year. The state's annual grading system is based on student test scores and faces scrutiny from parents, teachers and education advocates concerned about a heavy focus on standardized testing.

Recent news

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Theresa Graham News Feed

See also

• Jacksonville, Florida
• Jacksonville, Florida municipal elections, 2015
• United States municipal elections, 2015
• Duval County Public Schools, Florida
• Duval County Public Schools elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Duval County Supervisor of Elections - Official 2015 Candidate List
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page