Victor Graham
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Victor Graham represents an at-large seat on the San Marcos Unified School District school board in California. Graham won the seat in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Graham participated in the Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the five seats on the San Marcos Unified School District Governing Board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Janet McClean and Randy Walton ran against challengers Lucia Acosta, Michael Brock, Victor Graham, and Leticia Robles.[1] McClean and Walton won re-election, and Graham won the other seat on the ballot.[2]
Results
| San Marcos Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Randy Walton Incumbent |
20.97% | 17,999 |
| Janet McClean Incumbent |
19.95% | 17,116 |
| Victor Graham |
15.67% | 13,445 |
| Lucia Acosta | 15.60% | 13,388 |
| Leticia Robles | 15.24% | 13,078 |
| Michael Brock | 12.57% | 10,789 |
| Total Votes | 85,815 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Funding
Graham filed an exemption form detailing he would not spend or receive more than $2,000 for this campaign. Because of this, he did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[3][4]
Endorsements
Graham was endorsed by the Republican Party of San Diego County, VoteConservativeSanDiego.com, SanDiegoTaxfighters.com, and NewsRadio 600's San Diego Voter Guide.[5][6][7]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Victor Graham 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 September 20, 2016:
| “ | Promote freedom for teachers, parents, students and taxpayers. Teachers should not have to join a union for employment, parents and students should be able to choose the school that they think is best, and taxpayers should be allowed to employ competition at the local level to improve value.[8][9] | ” |
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 |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | Unable to go back to question 5.[9] | ” |
| —Victor Graham (September 20, 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. |
| 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? |
| Yes . As long as they are done fairly based on agreed to subject matter. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Common Core has not been tested nor has it used the standard methods to determine its effectiveness. |
| 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. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Depends on the seriousness of the infraction, when proper warnings are given and with parental involvement. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers The proper curriculum, active parent involvement, supportive school administration, the appropriate student-teacher ratio and properly educated and motivated teachers produce success in the classroom. In other words, "all of the above". I placed teachers first, because great teachers can overcome many obstacles in producing great results. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Victor Graham San Marcos Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County, "Presidential General Election Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "CampaignDocs eRetrieval: Search by Candidate's Last Name," accessed October 5, 2016
- ↑ California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ The Republican Party of San Diego County, "2016 General Election: Local Endorsements," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Vic Graham," October 19, 2016
- ↑ NewsRadio 600, "San Diego Voter Guide: SCHOOL CANDIDATES," October 4, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Victor Graham's responses," September 20, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 San Marcos Unified School District Elections | |
| San Diego County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Janet McClean • Incumbent, Randy Walton • Lucia Acosta • Michael Brock • Victor Graham • Leticia Robles |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
