Walter Garcia Kawamoto
Walter Garcia Kawamoto was a member of the Twin Rivers Unified School District school board in California, representing Trustee Area 3. He assumed office in 2012. He left office in 2016.
Kawamoto ran for election to the Sacramento County Board of Education to represent Area 3 in California. He lost in the general election on June 7, 2022.
Biography
Kawamoto moved to Sacramento in 1998. He is an adjunct professor at American River College. He has experience serving on a number of boards and committees, including the Del Paso Heights Redevelopment Advisory Committee, the Sacramento Racial Profiling Commission, the Latino Complete Count Committee, the Florin Japanese American Citizens League, Capital Area Indian Resources, and the Creative Connections Arts Academy PTO. Kawamoto earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a Ph.D. in family studies from Oregon State University. He and his wife were foster parents for two years. Kawamoto is a delegate for the Democratic Party in the California State Assembly District 9.[1][2][3]
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Sacramento County, California (2022)
General election
General election for Sacramento County Board of Education Area 3
Incumbent Paul Keefer defeated Walter Garcia Kawamoto in the general election for Sacramento County Board of Education Area 3 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Paul Keefer (Nonpartisan) | 57.8 | 21,333 | |
 | Walter Garcia Kawamoto (Nonpartisan) | 42.2 | 15,600 | |
| Total votes: 36,933 | |||
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2016
Four of the seven seats on the Twin Rivers Unified School District Board of Trustees were up for general election on June 7, 2016. The Trustee Area 1 election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Michael Baker was unopposed in his bid for re-election, so he was automatically appointed to another term. In Trustee Area 3, incumbent Walter Garcia Kawamoto was defeated by challenger Ramona Landeros. Incumbent Sonja Cameron did not file to keep her Trustee Area 5 seat. Michelle Deleon and Basim Elkarra ran to fill that open seat. Elkarra, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in a recall election in 2015, won the election. The Trustee Area 7 race featured incumbent Linda Fowler and challengers Francisco Garcia and Daniel Savala. Fowler won re-election.[4][5]
Results
| Twin Rivers Unified School District, Trustee Area 3 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ramona Landeros |
52.98% | 1,468 |
| Walter Garcia Kawamoto Incumbent | 46.37% | 1,285 |
| Write-in votes | 0.65% | 18 |
| Total Votes | 2,771 | |
| Source: Sacramento County, "Official Results: Primary Election - June 7, 2016," accessed July 5, 2016 | ||
Funding
The Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports unless they are filed online. Kawamoto filed his reports in the county office, so those reports were unavailable to Ballotpedia.
Endorsements
Kawamoto received endorsements from the following organizations and elected officials:[6][7][8][9]
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Kawamoto also received endorsements from community leaders, other school board members, and former elected officials.[6] A full list of his supporters can be found here.
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Walter Garcia Kawamoto |
39.3% | 6,643 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christine Jefferson | 35.3% | 5,964 | |
| Nonpartisan | John Berchielli | 25% | 4,231 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 55 | |
| Total Votes | 16,893 | |||
| Source: Sacramento County, "Primary Election - June 5, 2012," accessed May 26, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Walter Garcia Kawamoto did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Walter Garcia Kawamoto, Ph.D. 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 April 4, 2016:
| “ | During the last couple years my priorities have been about helping the district be the best it can be while advocating for issues I believe in such as the importance of literacy, student safety, and civic engagement. I think there is more I can do for the district, and I ask for the opportunity to serve another term as your Trustee.[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 | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | There really are many achievement gaps. There is the gap between black and white, male and female, rich and poor, different areas, math scores, reading scores, drop out rates, English Language Learners, and so on. The REAL achievement gap is between where all our students are and where we want them to be. The honest truth is that there is no one solution to these gaps. Everyone in the community (and on the Board) must act upon their conscience and on their strengths and interests to address these gaps. ALL of my actions and positions on issues are directed at the gaps. That's what I have done, and what I pledge to continue to do.[11] | ” |
| —Walter Garcia Kawamoto, Ph.D. (April 4, 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. As far as charter schools, I see them as an interesting, but failed experiment. To justify the time and taxpayer expense, they should be better than traditional public schools. On the whole, they are about the same. And so, generally, not worth the bother to create new charter schools. What is a good charter school? I have three criteria to even consider this question: 1) It must be poor. If it is corporately sponsored, I find it suspect. 2) It must be union. There must be a balance, and workers must be respected. 3) Parents must truly be respected. I am wary of a small group controlling everything. THEN we can talk. Even then, I look for things like skimming, true support for special ed students, etc. This being said, our current charters have TRUSD students and are supported by TRUSD taxdollars, so I do everything I can to support them. This being said, while most independent charters are the worst offenders of what I have mentioned, I have heard of some who have gone union, rejected corporate money, etc., and could be guided to greatness. |
| 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. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. They are best used as one tool among many. In my college classes, standardized testing amounts to one tenth of how I judge my students' achievement. I think that is about right in a K-12 context. There are many other ways to measure achievement that should also be used. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| It can work if done properly. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. In these times of a serious shortage, teachers who have the desire to be great but don't yet have the ability should be given every support possible. Retention is the key to a lot of our teacher issues, including increasing diversity. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. All our teachers should be excellent, and they all should be paid well. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| As a last resort for extreme cases. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers People often talk about who is to blame and/or who is responsible for the state of American education today. First, let me say that you have to remember that we "enjoy" the most varied schools in the world. Our best public schools still turn out some of the brightest students in the world, and out worst public schools are an international disgrace. Now onto my formula. I believe that a student's success is determined by four components that can be put into a formula Parents + Teachers + Students + Everything else (facilities, support staff, peers, community resources, etc.). The three most important components are Parents, Teachers, and Students. BUT the key is that the role of these players changes over time. The parents have the most impact as the child is younger. They can help with projects, read to children, make after school choices, and foster an atmosphere of valuing education and school (OR NOT). The student has the most impact as he/she gets older. It's the student who chooses to stay in school and work hard or not. All we can do is help the student to make and have good choices. In the middle is the teacher. He/she needs to understand the changing impact of the players in the formula, and help wherever possible. I do not think that the key to fixing schools is just to fix teachers and I do not blame teachers for the gaps. I think there is enough responsibility to go around, and all aspects of the formula need to be addressed. Of course teachers should always want to be better, and no one wants bad teachers to stay indefinitely. I celebrate teachers and staff as the dedicated professionals they are, who have committed to their profession and our children far beyond what they are compensated. I recognize that our employees have done the best they could under very difficult conditions. |
Candidate website
Kawamoto highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | I am a teacher. I have professional experience working with every age group, from head start to adult education. I have a BA in Elementary Education, and a PhD in Family Studies.
It's been over three years that I have had the privilege of serving on the Twin Rivers School Board for Area 3. The first year was about "cleaning house". It took a lot of work to make the changes necessitated by the Grand Jury Investigations. The decisions that needed to be made were not always easy, but we truly have turned a corner. I feel the district is moving in the right direction from installing the HVAC systems at Grant Union High School to summer programs for many schools. During the last couple years my priorities have been about helping the district be the best it can be while advocating for issues I believe in such as the importance of literacy, student safety, and civic engagement. I think there is more I can do for the district, and I ask for the opportunity to serve another term as your Trustee.[11] |
” |
| —Walter Garcia Kawamoto (2016)[12] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Twin Rivers Unified School District, "Meet The Board," accessed April 1, 2016
- ↑ Walter T. Garcia Kawamoto, PhD Facebook, "About," accessed April 1, 2016
- ↑ Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections, "Contest/Candidate Proof List: 2016 Presidential Primary Election," accessed March 14, 2016
- ↑ Sacramento County, "Unofficial Results: Primary Election - June 7, 2016," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Walter Garcia Kawamoto for Twin River USD Trustee, "Endorsements," accessed May 31, 2016
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Elkarra, Savala, Kawamoto for Twin Rivers board," May 12, 2016
- ↑ Democratic Party of Sacramento County, "DPSC Endorsements for June 7, 2016 Primary Election," accessed May 31, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: June 7, 2016 Election," accessed May 31, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Walter Garcia Kawamoto, Ph.D.'s responses," April 4, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Walter Garcia Kawamoto, PhD, "Home," accessed April 1, 2016
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