Victoria Kemp

Victoria Kemp

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Victoria Kemp was a candidate for at-large representative on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District school board in Texas. Kemp was defeated in the at-large general election on May 6, 2017.

Kemp participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.

Elections

2017

See also: Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District elections (2017)

Three of the seven seats on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District board of trustees were up for at-large election on May 6, 2017. Two seats were up for election to regular three-year terms, and the third seat was on the ballot for a two-year term due to a vacancy on the board. In their bids for re-election to regular three-year terms, incumbents Nancy Cline and James Goode faced challengers Nic Rady, Derek Glatz, Victoria Kemp, and Candace Valenzuela. Incumbent Nancy Cline and newcomer Candace Valenzuela defeated their challengers. Tara Hrbacek defeated John DeLorme for the open two-year term.

Results

Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, At-large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Nancy Cline Incumbent	29.99%	4,156
Candace Valenzuela	22.85%	3,166
James Goode Incumbent	18.33%	2,540
Nic Rady	17.88%	2,478
Victoria Kemp	8.55%	1,185
Derek Glatz	2.39%	331
Total Votes		13,856
Source: Dallas County Elections, "2017 Joint Election," accessed September 20, 2017

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District elections

Kemp reported $700.00 in contributions and $388.70 in expenditures to the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, which left her campaign with $311.30 on hand as of April 10, 2017.

Campaign themes

2017

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

Victoria (Viccy) Kemp participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 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 March 8, 2017:

“

Effective Leadership: Cultivate leadership from the school board down to the elementary schools. Create a plan with strategic goals and metrics for continual school improvement. Base decisions on adequate information received from multiple reliable sources. Set high expectations for all. Authentic Collaboration: Ensure transparency. Perform regular outreach to all stakeholders through various means. Strengthen partnerships within the community, with business as well as civic organizations. Ensure access to broadband Internet. Innovation Provide new platforms that support innovation. Implement new technologies to better develop learning. Encourage innovation from all stakeholders. Aim to surpass all state-mandated standards. Focus on STEM and STEAM initiatives to develop 21st century learners.

”

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 Texas.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Closing the achievement gap
2	Improving post-secondary readiness
3	Improving education for special needs students
4	Improving relations with teachers
5	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
6	Expanding school choice options
7	Blank

“	I believe that improving students' test scores is in direct correlation with teaching students to think beyond the STAAR or any other standardized test. This includes restoring funding for arts and humanities and encouraging teachers to create innovative curricula.	”
—Victoria (Viccy) Kemp (March 8, 2017)

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer eight 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. Charter schools can be useful for some students who might perform poorly in a traditional class environment. However, noting the number of charter schools that have disappeared from CFBISD, I am skeptical of how useful they actually are.
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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement.
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?
No. Data categorically demonstrates there are students who test well and those who do not test well. The pressure of performing on a standardized test may be too much for students to bear thus creating a no-win situation for all. Students need to learn how to think in school, not learn how to take standardized tests.
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. Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district.
Should teachers receive merit pay?
Yes. If a teacher has gone to the effort to learn a new skill, they should be compensated for this. It will encourage teachers to go outside their usual way of thinking and approaching subjects. In many workplaces, merit pay has been demonstrated to improve both morale and job satisfaction.
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program?
No. I am absolutely dead set against vouchers for education. This is nothing but a method to funnel money away from where it is most needed into the pockets of people who have no oversight or regulations to follow. In order to provide an outstanding education, school boards need to concentrate funds into training teachers and providing classes that will train students for the 21st century world of global economies and businesses.
How should expulsion be used in the district?
Only as a last resort. Students who act out should be handled on a case-by-case basis and not be subjected to one-size-fits-all discipline. This can only hurt the student more, in the long run.
What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration?
Teachers Teachers are the basis for every student's learning. If they do not perform well, students do not either. Train teachers and they be able to teach students well. The administration does have a responsibility to support teachers, as do the parents of students. Curriculum may change over the course of time; teachers who can teach should always be the priority.

Candidate website

Kemp highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:

“	Public School Vouchers In 2008, the Texas legislature pulled $4 billion from public school financing in order to alleviate a $24 billion budget shortfall. While the 2011 legislature restored more than 90% of those funds, Texas still grapples with issues resulting from this shortfall. Conservatives would have you believe these issues are a result of inefficiencies rather than underfunding: • According to school data, public school staffing remains lower than it was before the cuts, with at least 3,700 fewer teachers in regular, non-charter districts last school year. That’s as student enrollment in those schools grew by more than 220,000. • The state is still approving far too many waivers, allowing elementary schools to exceed the 22-student class size limit established in 1984. Last year, the total number of campuses requesting waivers exceeded 2,100, according to state data. In the five school years leading up to the 2011 budget cuts, it never topped 1,375. • Scores on the high-stakes STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) exam remain flat, with success rates hovering in the 70th percentile, even though students have now had several years to get used to the more difficult testing regime implemented in early 2012. • Nearly 30 percent of school districts receive less per-student funding from the state than they did before the reductions, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Board. Now, the federal government wants to impose its power. Representative Steve King (R-IA-4) has introduced House Bill 610 which repeals the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and limits the authority of the Department of Education such that the Department is authorized only to award block grants to qualified states. It also repeals certain nutrition standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programs, that currently feed 64% of the children in CFBISD. Every school board in America needs to fight against this attempt to push children out of public schools and into private and charter schools. Our children deserve a well-rounded, well-funded PUBLIC education. It’s what your tax dollars should be funding. How Net Neutrality affects your student in CFBISD The CDFISD Technology Department has a forward-looking platform: Vision – Create a learning environment to prepare students for a global society Mission – Seamless integration of technology and digital tools Goal – Highly, knowledgeable skilled digital learners An essential component of achieving and maintaining this platform is an assumption of net neutrality, where schools are not charged a premium for accessing the Internet. Net neutrality has been an issue between users of the Internet and access providers since the 1990s. Until 2015, there were no clear regulations impeding what corporations could charge for connectivity to the Internet. In May 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered two options: permitting fast and slow broadband lanes, which would essentially end net neutrality. In February, 2015, the FCC ruled in favor of net neutrality by reclassifying broadband as a common carrier under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 and Section 708 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. These rules went into effect on June 12, 2015. Outside of the US several countries have removed net neutrality protocols and have started double charging for delivering content (once to consumers and again to content providers). This equates to a toll being required for certain internet access, essentially limiting what is available to all people, in particular, low income households. Large, already well established companies may not be hurt by the cost increase that providers such as Comcast intend to levy upon them, but it would permanently stifle small businesses and the internet's ability to encourage start-ups. And, most importantly, rescinding net neutrality rules will directly impact students and school access to the Internet by increasing costs: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/01/27/educators-fear-net-neutrality-reversal-will-increase-cost-learning.html The current chair of the FCC, Ajit Pai, is a proponent of less regulation. He is seen as being a close ally of communication corporations, which advocate for tiered broadband access. He has stated in Ars Technica, that 'net neutrality days are numbered.' https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/fccs-ajit-pai-says-net-neutralitys-days-are-numbered-under-trump/ Every school board in America needs to be paying attention to this issue because it will directly impact students in America.	”
—Victoria Kemp (2017)

See also

• Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, Texas
• Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District elections (2017)

External links

Suggest a link

• Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page
• LinkedIn profile