Tia Redd
Tia Redd was a candidate for the District 8 seat on the Richmond Public Schools school board in Virginia. Redd was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Redd participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Biography
Redd is an educator in Henrico County Public Schools. She obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She went on to earn a master's degree in teaching and a doctorate degree in educational administration from the same school.[1]
Elections
2016
- See also: Richmond Public Schools elections (2016)
A total of 22 candidates ran for the nine seats that were up for election, including incumbents J.E. Dawson Boyer (District 1), Jeff Bourne (District 3), Mamie Taylor (District 5), and Shonda Harris-Muhammed (District 6). District 9 incumbent Tichi Pinkney Eppes filed to run in the election but was seven signatures short of qualifying for candidacy.
In District 1, Boyer lost his bid for re-election to Elizabeth Doerr. In District 2, James Scott Barlow defeated Mariah White. Bourne was the only incumbent to win re-election by defeating challengers Jesse Perry and Kevin Starlings in District 3. Newcomer Jonathan Young overtook Barrett Hardiman, Irvine Reaves, and Sean Smith for the open District 4 seat. Taylor lost her seat to Patrick Sapini in District 5. Felicia Dionne Cosby defeated Harris-Muhammed for the District 6 seat. In District 7, Nadine Marsh-Carter defeated Kirsten Gray and Rick Tatnall. Dawn Page won the District 8 seat by defeating Tia Redd and Christopher Woody. Newcomer Linda Owen ran unopposed and won the District 9 seat after Pinkney Eppes was disqualified from the race.[2]
Results
| Richmond Public Schools, District 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Dawn Page |
64.07% | 5,076 |
| Christopher Woody | 19.92% | 1,578 |
| Tia Redd | 15.69% | 1,243 |
| Write-in votes | 0.33% | 26 |
| Total Votes | 7,923 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 November General Official Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Redd reported $2,375.00 in contributions and $0 in expenditures to the Virginia Department of Elections, which left her campaign with $2,375.00 on hand as of October 17, 2016.[3]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Tia Simone Redd 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 10, 2016:
| “ | I hope to get Richmond Public Schools back on track. I would like to really assess the curriculum and ensure that it is suitable for all of the students. My goal is to create a system that can attract and retain quality teachers and provide a secondary education that encourages parents to allow their students to become proud RPS alum. I would love to see the athletics and fine arts programs that were boast worthy and extra curricular activities that help boost academic performance. I have such high hopes for our city and I know that any chance at greatness begins with education. Richmond Public Schools has the potential to be amazing. I would love to see that potential come to fruition for the students because that is what they deserve. In a nut shell I hope to begin moving Richmond Public Schools in the right direction. There is much work to be done but nothing that is impossible.[4][5] | ” |
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 Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| “ | The ranking system in question 7 was extremely hard because all of those choices can be seen as equally important to the success of the school system. I was able to rank post-secondary readiness as a 1 because if all other things are in place that will happen. Besides that all students are not interested in post-secondary education in the traditional sense and it is time that we create a system that will prepare them as well.[5] | ” |
| —Tia Simone Redd (October 10, 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. The state of Virginia lays the responsibility of charter schools on the school district in which the school is housed. The function of the charter is to provide an autonomous form of learning that may be unavailable in the public school setting. They are usually funded privately and students are chosen in a lottery system. In Virginia the responsibility of funding has fallen on the housing district which equates to another budget item for the school system. |
| 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. Students can demonstrate mastery in various ways. They should be allowed to showcase their level of knowledge in various ways to measure understanding. The big buzz word in schools is differentiation and a hype about the various types of learners. As educators we are taught to make sure lessons address our auditory, tactile, and visual learners, only to assess them with a standardized test. Standardized tests only account for one demonstration of understanding and if we want a clearer picture and a more representative sample than there have to be other avenues and methods of demonstration. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Common Core State Standards are not much different than Standards of Learning other than the fact that the initiative is newer. I understand the concept of having a nationwide base level of knowledge |
| 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. First I feel that the term under-performing should be clarified. If a teacher is performing poorly there could be various reasons and a conversation should be had to address the issues. Once they are determined training should be offered in the areas that may help the teacher or additional resources if necessary. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. I believe merit pay is unfair. To base a teachers pay on the performance of other individuals says nothing to the actual teaching ability of the teacher or lack thereof. It adds extra stress to the teacher and still does not guarantee successful schools or students. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. State money should be used to fund public education. Private schools receive their finances by way of tuition and are not subjected to the same performance and assessment based restraints placed by local, state, and national governments. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Students should not be denied an education. However there are some situations that warrant a student being educated in a nontraditional setting. Expulsion should be used to separate students from individuals who may cause them harm but allow the individual student to continue his/her education. Expulsion should be used as a method to prevent harm to others in severe cases, and not as a scare tactic or last ditch effort when all else fails. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| School administration The school administrators set the tone for the school. They decide what teachers will be in the building, which helps to create the atmosphere in the building. Parents who feel welcome and comfortable in a school will want to be involved. Everything centers around the chosen leadership. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tia Redd Richmond Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Tia Redd," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "58 file to run for Richmond City Council, School Board," June 15, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Tia Simone Redd's responses," October 10, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
