Mark Wilkinson
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Mark Wilkinson was a candidate for Hunter Mill District representative on the Fairfax County School Board in Virginia. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1] Mark Wilkinson lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
Biography
Wilkinson earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the United States Air Force Academy. He worked in federal government agencies for three decades. Wilkinson works as a technical program manager at Chantilly. He and his wife have two children.[2]
Elections
2015
The Fairfax County School Board is a 12-member board elected to serve four-year terms. Three seats are elected at large and nine seats are elected by district.[3] All 12 seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.
At-large incumbents Ryan McElveen, Ilryong Moon and Ted Velkoff faced Robert Copeland, Omar Fateh, Jeanette Hough, Manar Jean-Jacques, Peter Marchetti and Burnette Scarboro for three seats. While Moon and McElveen won re-election, Velkoff was defeated, placing fourth to challenger Hough.
Braddock District incumbent Megan McLaughlin, Hunter Mill District incumbent Pat Hynes and Providence District incumbent Patricia Reed faced Katherine Pettigrew, Mark Wilkinson and Dalia Palchik, respectively. Dranesville District incumbent Jane Strauss competed against challenger Peter Kurzenhauser. McLaughlin, Hynes, and Strauss won re-election; the fourth incumbent, Reed, lost to Palchik.
The races for both the Mount Vernon District and Sully District seats featured newcomers after neither incumbent filed for re-election. Karen Corbett Sanders defeated W. Anthony Stacy in the Mount Vernon race, while Karen Keys-Gamarra lost to Thomas Wilson in the Sully District race. Lee District incumbent Tamara Derenak Kaufax, Mason District incumbent Sandra Evans and Springfield District incumbent Elizabeth Schultz all ran unopposed and won re-election to their seats.
Results
| Fairfax County School Board, Hunter Mill District, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Pat Hynes Incumbent |
61.3% | 12,955 |
| Mark Wilkinson | 38.4% | 8,118 |
| Write-in votes | 0.29% | 61 |
| Total Votes | 21,134 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 3, 2015 | ||
Funding
Wilkinson reported $3,315.00 in contributions and $2,549.19 in expenditures to the Virginia State Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $765.81 on hand as of October 28, 2015.[4]
Endorsements
Wilkinson received an official endorsement for his campaign from the Fairfax County Republican Committee.[5]
Campaign themes
2015
Candidate website
Wilkinson's campaign website listed the following themes for 2015:
| “ |
I am running as an independent candidate for Hunter Mill School Board Member because... I believe that the children of Fairfax County must come first with any decisions made by the school establishment, particularly the School Board. I am well suited to be an independent and non-partisan advocate for children and sound education. As a parent, I know that no one knows a child and his/her needs as well as a parent. I have been troubled by the appearance, the current Board has given, that it has a disregard for parent knowledge and involvement. There is no room for a "we know best" attitude from the School Board. Let the teacher teach. Part of being responsive to the needs of children is a lower student to teacher ratio in overcrowded classrooms. The more interaction a teacher has with each student, the better the student will comprehend and retain what is taught. The basics of education are a very important foundation that can only be achieved on a more individual basis. It is the relationship between student and teacher that is the greatest classroom factor for success. But if the children of Fairfax are going to be successful in their education, they need to be given the facilities and environment to learn. Parents can be extremely useful if they feel welcome in the discussion on topics such as class-size, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), honors programs, Family Life Education (FLE)/health/emotional health curricula, discipline, after-school care, the consistency of grading within and across schools, etc. Too often, the current system is distracted from the fundamentals of learning with programs that go nowhere. The Board must insist on review and evaluation of educational programs and curricula to ensure that they are meeting their objectives and not just continued because those courses have always been there. Parents must be integral to all reviews. If parents raise concerns about programs, the school has an obligation to consider it. The parents can see the impact of programs on their children outside the classroom. The parents can work with teachers and the School Board to continue to focus on the important educational needs of children and avoid faddish theories that detract from the educational process. There should be no need for parents to hire tutors for what the school has not taught properly. I disagree with the School Board voting to increasing member’s salaries 60% this election year. I believe that the School Board is a community service for the public good and the children of Hunter Mill district. Serving the public interest should not be driven by the need to vote for ever-increasing self- serving pay raises. The current board has not resolved a $70 to $100 million-dollar deficit budget. Over the next four years, hard choices will need to be made with creative solutions, not the same old approach and blame all problems on a lack of funding. The School Board needs a line by line review of the $2.8 billion dollar budget. There must be review of contracts and an evaluation of whether the expenditures are necessary and effective. The existing audit is limited to a review of whether proper accounting practices and the law has been followed. As important as that is, we need an independent audit to determine if expenditures are appropriate to meeting the goal of high quality education. This necessary review is something the current board had been unsuccessful in doing as internal politics override the value of education. Let’s partner with the parents and the community to get the job done! [6] |
” |
| —Mark Wilkinson, (2015), [7] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Mark Wilkinson' 'Fairfax County Public Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia
- Fairfax County Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Friends of Mark Wilkinson, "About Mark," accessed October 14, 2015
- ↑ Fairfax County Public Schools, "School Board: Overview," May 14, 2015
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ Fairfax County Republican Committee, "2015 Elections," accessed October 12, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Friends of Mark Wilkinson, "Why I Am Running," accessed October 14, 2015
