Daniel Albert
Daniel Albert was a candidate for District VI representative on the Houston Independent School District Board of Education in Texas. Albert was defeated in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Albert participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Albert received a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from Tulane University, a master's degree in business administration in finance and accounting from the University of New Orleans, a Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central School of Law, a master's degree in laws in taxation from Northwestern University School of Law, and a master's degree in real estate development from Auburn University. He has worked as the Chief of Staff and Agenda Director for District F Council Member Steve Le, a tax and finance attorney, and in banking.[1]
Elections
2017
Six of the nine seats on the Houston Independent School District Board of Education in Texas were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. Candidates in Districts I and III advanced to a runoff election scheduled for December 9, 2017, after no candidate received a majority of the vote. The District III seat was up for special election to fill an unexpired term following the death of Manuel Rodriguez Jr.[2] The incumbents in Districts VI, VIII, and IX filed for re-election, while the incumbents in Districts I and V opted not to seek additional terms.[3][4][5]
In District I, newcomer Elizabeth Santos defeated fellow newcomer Gretchen Himsl. They defeated Monica Richart in the general election. In District III, newcomer Sergio Lira won against Jesse Rodriguez in the runoff election. They defeated Carlos Perrett and Rodolfo Reyes in the general election.[6]
Newcomer Sue Deigaard defeated three other newcomers—Kara DeRocha, Sean Cheben, and Susan Shafer—for the open District V seat. District VI incumbent Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca defeated challengers Daniel Albert and Robert Lundin for the seat with 50.42 percent of the vote. Incumbent Anne Sung defeated challenger John Luman in the District VII election. District IX incumbent Wanda Adams defeated challengers Karla Brown and Gerry Monroe.[3][4]
Results
| Houston Independent School District, District VI General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca Incumbent |
50.42% | 3,260 |
| Robert Lundin | 35.01% | 2,264 |
| Daniel Albert | 14.57% | 942 |
| Total Votes | 6,466 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017 | ||
Funding
Albert reported $5,600.00 in contributions and $18,746.89 in expenditures to the Houston Independent School District as of October 30, 2017.[7]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Daniel Albert participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[8] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 14, 2017:
| “ | I hope to reduce the number of IR schools in our district, achieve school finance reform, and balance the school's budget while improving the over-all academic achievement of our students.[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 Texas. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | I believe that our school district is facing unprecedented fiscal and academic challenges that needs to be addressed and resolved as soon as possible. It starts with balancing the budget, school finance reform, and finding better ways to help our children achieve higher academic levels.[10] | ” |
| —Daniel Albert (October 14, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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. I support charter schools but I also demand that that charter schools be held to the same accountability standards as public schools. |
| 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. |
| 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. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Teachers are the cornerstone of our children's education and should be rewarded for doing a great job. A merit pay would also incentivize teachers to do a even better job. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. The state should not give valuable tax dollars to private schools if the state is not demanding the high level of accountability that it does on public schools. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be the last resort. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Daniel Albert Houston Independent School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Daniel Albert 4 HISD, "Meet Daniel and his Family," accessed November 3, 2017
- ↑ Houston Independent School District, "HISD trustees appoint José Leal to fill District III seat until special election in November," accessed August 21, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Houston Independent School District, "Election Information," accessed September 12, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017
- ↑ Houston ISD, "Three HISD incumbents prevail on election night, one open seat filled, and two open seats head to runoffs," November 8, 2017
- ↑ Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Unofficial, Joint Runoff Election," accessed December 9, 2017
- ↑ Houston ISD, "Election Information," accessed November 2, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Daniel Albert's responses," October 14, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
