West Walker
| West Walker | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | District-level delegate |
| Congressional district: | 9 |
| State: | California |
| Bound to: | Donald Trump |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
West Walker was a candidate for the Trustee Area 1 seat on the Manteca Unified School District school board in California. Walker was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.[1]
Walker participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Walker was a district-level delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from California. All 172 delegates from California were bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention.[2] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.
Elections
2016
Manteca Unified School District
Five of the seven seats on the Manteca Unified School District board of trustees were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. The seats from Trustee Areas 1, 3, and 7 were up for election to four-year terms, and the Trustee Area 2 and 6 seats were up for election to two-year terms due to the resignations of two board members after a recall effort was started against them. Trustee Area 1 incumbent Sam Fant did not file to run for re-election, leaving the seat open for a newcomer. That race featured candidates Eric Duncan Sr., Alison Ordner, and West Walker. Duncan was elected to the seat. In her bid for re-election to Trustee Area 2, appointed incumbent Kathy Howe defeated challenger Tony Berchtold. Trustee Area 3 incumbent Michael Seelye also won re-election, defeating challenger William Klump. In Trustee Area 6, appointed incumbent Stephen Schluer ran unopposed and won re-election by default. Newcomer Robert Wallace also ran unopposed and won election by default to the Trustee Area 7 seat.[3][4][5]
Results
| Manteca Unified School District, Trustee Area 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Eric Duncan Sr. |
37.57% | 1,601 |
| West Walker | 35.81% | 1,526 |
| Alison Ordner | 26.45% | 1,127 |
| Write-in votes | 0.16% | 7 |
| Total Votes | 4,261 | |
| Source: San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "November 8, 2016 Official Final Results," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Funding
Walker reported no contributions or expenditures to the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters in the election.[6]
Presidential election
Delegate rules
Republican presidential candidates were responsible for selecting their own delegates from California to the national convention. California state law required delegates to support the winner of the California Republican primary election unless that candidate received less than 10 percent of the vote at the convention in the first round of voting; or if the candidate released them; or if voting at the convention proceeded to a third round.
California primary results
| California Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
74.7% | 1,582,099 | 172 | |
| Ted Cruz | 9.5% | 201,441 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 11.4% | 242,073 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 0.7% | 14,938 | 0 | |
| Jim Gilmore | 3.7% | 77,417 | 0 | |
| Totals | 2,117,968 | 172 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and California Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
California had 172 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 159 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 53 congressional districts). California's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner in a given congressional district won all of that district's delegates.[7][8]
Of the remaining 13 delegates, 10 served at large. California's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[7][8]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
West W. Walker 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 October 26, 2016:
| “ | I am a credentialed and experienced teacher who has worked in both a G.A.T.E. district, and mostly Title 1 low performing, migrant, and low socioeconomic status. I have been successful at PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT> I know what high achieving looks like and how to get students to that point. I have been the supervisor who was responsible for making and balancing multi-million dollar corporation budgets before entering education: I am good with figures, and as a former law student I am good at understanding legalities. I am also a certified reading specialist. I am running not to MANAGE the board or filling a seat. NOT to be just a volunteer filling a seat, or NOT just as an advocate of the athletic department. I am running with a MANDATE TO IMPROVE OUR DISTRICT LITERACY LEVELS. My mandate is to improve test scores and student confidence. I want to save more students, and get them back into the educational system. Yes, this involves sports and all the programs that make up an enriching education: but it also involves ACADEMICS and the success achieved when one is reading at or above grade level.[9][10] | ” |
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 | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | AS a Certified Reading Specialist, my MANDATE is the urgent need to improve literacy. 39% Proficient or above is not acceptable. Manteca lags behind the state average in CAASPP test results. This effects Common Core Math scores since so much is reading now.[10] | ” |
| —West W. Walker (October 26, 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. Charter schools simply do not have the accountability and transparency that our public schools have. What we need is to fix our public schools, and provide Best Practices. This includes addressing our failing reading levels - data which should be shared with each parent, student. and the overall community should know what the average grade level at each school is reading at. A focus on reading is tantamount to resolving our failed literacy levels. |
| 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? |
| Yes. Multiple assessments are the key-- not just one or two "high stakes" to determine student comparison on national percentile (for that particular age group). The teacher's oral assessments, performance assessments, rubrics and the rest all help to contribute to a discussion on student growth and achievement. Data is crucial to any monitoring and education should be treated as a science. Each student's reading should be "universally screened" so a teacher can understand why the student is struggling or needs higher enrichment. "Progress Monitoring" of reading level growth should be conducted on a regular basis to ensure each student is achieving, and if not to help answer the question as to "Why?" |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I support most aspect of the CCSS. I agree that students should learn what a primary source is (in the past publishers showed a bias-- now they go to the source themselves). I support the close reading. Math fluency and real world application may not be easy to acquire, but it does increase the needed understanding when taught successfully. However, I am not pleased with how most all schools (and districts) ignore ELA/ELD Reading Band 10. That requires school sites and districts to monitor what grade level students are reading at. Do we see those results? Does a classroom see it as well??? There is a real lack in the proper implementation of CCSS. Direct Instruction (what was done previously in our county) also should be more fully integrated to increase student engagement. Students are losing interest in education when they are left exclusively to their peer (group) collaboration. |
| 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. P.A.R. is an example of a successful mentoring program. As the only educator running, I have multi-district experience- this allows a deeper understanding of what is the norm concerning each issue. Most districts offer a required mentorship, and this works well. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Having some incentive to show growth with each student may be the best way to instill new district goals: Such as a district mandate to monitor and improve reading level. Everyone benefits with such a vision. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Private means self-funding. Should our public schools be held to high expectations and accountability? Absolutely! There is no reason why they cannot out-perform the non-credentialed teaches which is the norm at many private schools. The question is, "Should tax dollars fund a private enterprise?" No, with such money comes the limitations and restrictions. Private enterprises should be free to offer a different and unique product. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Those who refuse interventions (including behavioral) and cause repetitive classroom interruption, interfering with other's right to learn, should be removed for the betterment of the whole. Expulsion is the last result. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| The curriculum All stake-holders (teachers, parents, administrators) play a crucial role in collaborating and providing the best outcome for each student's success. Student-teacher ratio is also crucial to have class control and provide an adequate learning environment. However, what is being taught is #1 since lack thereof then there would not be any learning or need for the expense of education. Addressing WHAT is being taught and HOW it is being taught is what will produce success. Best Practices need to be emphasized by each stakeholder. This includes the MANDATE of monitoring READING IMPROVEMENT. How can our students be so many years behind?!? |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'West Walker' 'Manteca Unified School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Manteca Unified School District, California
- Manteca Unified School District elections (2016)
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from California, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ CA GOP, "Updated delegate list," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Manteca Bulletin, "Romero, Fant opt not to run," August 16, 2016
- ↑ San Joaquin County, "November 8, 2016 Unofficial Final Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "San Joaquin County Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed March 7, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "West W. Walker's responses," October 26, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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