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Tony Whiteside
Tony Whiteside was a candidate for District 10 representative on the Richmond County Board of Education in Georgia. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2016.[1]
Biography
Whiteside served in the U.S. Army for 23 years prior to his retirement.[2]
Elections
2016
Five of the 10 seats on the Richmond County Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. District 1 incumbent Marion Barnes defeated challenger Brian Green, while challenger Wayne Frazier defeated incumbent Barbara Pulliam in the District 4 race. District 10 incumbent Helen Minchew won her re-election bid against challenger Tony Whiteside. District 5 incumbent Patsy Scott and District 8 incumbent Jimmy Atkins won without opposition in 2016.[1]
Results
| Richmond County School System, District 10 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Helen Minchew Incumbent |
73.05% | 24,005 |
| Tony Whiteside | 26.95% | 8,854 |
| Total Votes | 32,859 | |
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016 | ||
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Tony Whiteside 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 July 3, 2016:
| “ | I want to focus on my four priorities (visit http://www.whitesidercboe.com/). If we start there, we'll have a chance to bring our district back from the brink of disaster. Just like every home needs a good foundation as a start, every child needs a good foundation as well.[3][4] | ” |
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 Georgia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | My Priorities are: 1. Parent Involvement 2. Community Involvement 3. Increase Accountability 4. Improve Culture[4] | ” |
| —Tony Whiteside (July 3, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. I am running on behalf of the parents. I will give parents every opportunity to have a say in the educational process for their children. If the majority of parents in my district are in favor of a charter school, then I will support such a measure. |
| 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. It depends: Some school districts need more oversight than others, so it's a case by case basis. The state should write policies that clearly define when they would intervene, but should give every district the opportunity to thrive and produce highly-educated, world-class students. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. As I stated before, standardized tests are good for a particular type of learner. Our children learn in different ways. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Change is always hard. When change comes, we must do all that we can as leaders to usher it in and welcome it. As citizens, we must do all that we can to get involved in the political process in order to urge our elected leaders to either support or reject those laws that are on the horizon. |
| 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? |
| 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. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. I selected all four, because different situations call for different remedies. The same way we shouldn't limit teaching options for our children, we shouldn't just call it quits for our educators. In my opinion, some educators fall through the cracks due to a lack of proper mentorship during their entry period into the profession. We have to lay the proper foundation and framework for all our newly minted professionals in order to give them a proper chance to perform to the best of their ability. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. There are a vast array of factors that effect students learning. Basing a teacher's pay on the performance of their students leads to "teaching to the test". That's the situation we are in now with state-mandated testing. Children and experiential learning suffer due to merit-based systems. Our children learn at different paces and in different ways, and teachers should be allowed to teach according to a standard, but in a way that compliments their unique styles and abilities. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Private schools are for-profit institutions with endowments set aside for their scholarship programs. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| It should start with a new concept that's on the horizon: allow the parents an opportunity to participate in what is called a "reverse suspension" first. The parent will spend a school day at the child's school in an effort to get more involved, and get an good look at their child's behavior. It the behavior continues, expulsion is used as a last resort. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement All of the above. I could only select one answer, but it take's a combination of "all of the above" to make a school successful. First, if you have a ratio of 25:1, you will have a hard time trying to give struggling students the time they need. Secondly, if parents are not involved, that student will not be as focused and disciplined as they should be. Thirdly, if we don't have highly-qualified and motivated teachers, students won't be excited to learn. Lastly, our schools must teach a variety of subjects that explore a plethora of cultures, and the administration must support teachers whose (proven) methods may be outside of the norm. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Tony Whiteside' 'Richmond County School System'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed April 18, 2016
- ↑ Whiteside for Richmond County Board of Education, "Meet Tony," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Tony Whiteside's responses," July 3, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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