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Thomas Lister-Looker
Thomas Lister-Looker was a candidate for the Trustee Area 1 seat on the Palm Springs Unified School District school board in California. Lister-Looker was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
The 2016 election was Lister-Looker's first time running for office. Though the school board seat was nonpartisan, Lister-Looker identified as a Democrat.[1]
Lister-Looker participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Lister-Looker has been a licensed real estate agent since 2012. He is associated with HOM Sotheby's International Realty. Lister-Looker has previously worked for the Charles Schwab Corporation, Goldman Sachs, and UBS Warburg. He also was self-employed as a project management consultant from 2005 to 2009. Lister-Looker has served as the board president of the Coachella Valley Autism Society of America (CVASA) since June 2015. He is also a member of the National Association of Realtors, the California Association of Realtors, the California Desert Association of Realtors (CDAR), the Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors (PSRAR), the United States Tennis Association (USTA), and AARP.[1]
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Palm Springs Unified School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. The race for the open Trustee Area 1 seat featured candidates Madonna Gerrell, Kari Middleton Hendrix, and Thomas Lister-Looker, and Gerrell won. In his bid for re-election to Trustee Area 2, incumbent Richard Clapp ran unopposed and won re-election by default.[2][3]
Results
| Palm Springs Unified School District, Trustee Area 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Madonna Gerrell |
41.09% | 3,652 |
| Kari Middleton Hendrix | 38.54% | 3,425 |
| Thomas Lister-Looker | 20.38% | 1,811 |
| Total Votes | 8,888 | |
| Source: Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated Presidential Election Official Results," accessed December 2, 2016 | ||
Funding
Lister-Looker reported $4,956.66 in contributions and $3,102.11 in expenditures to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, which left his campaign with $1,854.55 on hand as of September 24, 2016.[4]
Endorsements
Lister-Looker was endorsed by the following organizations and public officials:[5][6][7][8][9]
- Riverside County Democratic Party
- Central Labor Council AFL-CIO of San Bernardino and Riverside counties
- Democratic Women of the Desert
- Desert Stonewall Democrats
- Democrats of the Desert
- HONOR PAC
- Equality California
- LGBTQ Victory Fund
- Evolve
- Palm Springs City Council member Geoff Kors
- Palm Springs Cemetery District trustee Jane Alcumbrac
- Greg Rodriguez, candidate for the District 42 seat on the California State Assembly
Lister-Looker was also endorsed by a number of community members. Click here to view a full list of his supporters.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Thomas Lister-Looker 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 September 6, 2016:
| “ | As a board member, my top three priorities would be focused on: 1. Students – providing a safe and encouraging environment with no tolerance for bullying; closing the achievement gap; providing Early Childhood Education throughout the district; and expanding the arts programs. 2. Parents – providing a higher level of customer service and transparency; fostering engagement, involvement, and collaboration; and providing a comprehensive educational road map from kindergarten to graduation. 3. Teachers – being more responsive to our most valuable assets; eliminating the barriers that interfere in providing quality education; and recognizing and rewarding teachers who are innovators.[10][11] | ” |
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 |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| “ | All of these issues have a great amount of importance when it comes to furthering the education of our students, so it is very difficult to rank them. For PSUSD in particular, where 85.2% of the students are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged, closing the achievement gap is crucial, but in order to do that maintaining a balanced budget will be necessary. And although I love and respect our teachers very much (I'm married to one!), the only reason why I ranked "Improving relations with teachers" as number seven is because I believe that our students and their education needs to be our highest priorities. I also believe that compared to other school districts PSUSD does have a good relationship with the teachers and the union, although there is always room for improvement. As a board member I will make myself available to teachers and to the union by ensuring there are open lines of communication.[11] | ” |
| —Thomas Lister-Looker (September 6, 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. PSUSD currently has one charter school, which is approved for K-8 students. I know that in the past the district has approved other charter schools but in the end they haven't been successful; therefore, before I would consider approving any new charter schools, I would have a critical eye in regard to the proposed charter. Applying to to be a charter school involves a tremendous amount of work, both from the applicant, as well as from the district, which during this time period defers valuable resources away from our students and faculty. |
| 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. I believe that as long as the district is adhering to the state mandates, and is fulfilling their obligations then intervention by the state should be limited unless there is something being done by the district, or not being done by the district, that requires intervention. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. I don't believe that standardized tests are an accurate metric, because there are so many facets when it comes to teaching and learning, that it would be impossible to encompass these into one test that is administered once a year. For example, some students perform exceptionally in a classroom environment, but when it comes to taking a test they shut down, or have too much anxiety. In order to determine student achievement there must be an overall approach that isn't only based on test scores but takes into consideration other factors such as, participation, attendance, behavior, and GPA. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| There are educational benefits to the Common Core State Standards, especially for the long term. The transition has been challenging for students, parents, and teachers, and will continue to be especially as it relates to the State Testing aligning with Common Core. The overall roll-out and training of teachers could have been handled better, along with more communication out to the parents so there is an understanding of the differences in the curriculum so they in turn can have meaningful conversations/discussions with their children. |
| 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. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. I believe that in the vast majority of cases additional training, support, resources and mentoring can be extremely beneficial in helping underperforming teachers turn into exceptional teachers. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. I believe merit pay works in a variety of industries, but in education, especially for teachers, it would be challenging to develop a program that everyone felt is equitable and doesn't take away from the main task at hand, which is providing education to our students. With that said, I am interested in exploring ways, in conjunction with the district and the teacher's union, of recognizing and rewarding teachers who are innovative in their classrooms, especially if other teachers, and ultimately the students, can benefit from the creative and innovative ways students can be engaged. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I am not a supporter of state public funds going towards private schools. I believe this would undermine the public education system, which is already a system that is under funded. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used under extreme circumstances when there is a safety concern for the students and the faculty, or if a student is engaging in illegal activity on school grounds. For example, bullying should not be tolerated at school sites or in the education system, but this is also an opportunity to look at the person who is doing the bullying and if resources or additional support is needed for that student either at school or possibly outside of school. When children are still considered minors is when we have the best opportunity to turn a bad situation around with behavior interventions and by collaboraring with parents and utilizing resources within the community. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers This is a tough question to answer because all of the options provided are important factors. But if we're focusing on success in the classroom, then ultimately it is the teacher who is responsible for what takes place within a classroom, along with oversight and support provided by school administration |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Thomas Lister-Looker Palm Springs Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Palm Springs Unified School District, California
- Palm Springs Unified School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ballotpedia's Biographical Information Submission Form, "Thomas Lister-Looker's responses," September 6, 2016
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Facebook, "Lister-Looker for PSUSD Board of Education - Trustee Area 1 on August 29, 2016," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ The Desert Sun, "Insider: School board candidate endorsements," September 16, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Thomas Lister-Looker," September 19, 2016
- ↑ The Desert Sun, "Insider: School board endorsements," October 6, 2016
- ↑ The Desert Sun, "Insider: School board endorsements," September 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Thomas Lister-Looker's responses," September 6, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Palm Springs Unified School District Elections | |
| Riverside County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Madonna Gerrell • Kari Middleton Hendrix • Thomas Lister-Looker Trustee Area 2: • Incumbent, Richard Clapp |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
