Amy Fankhauser
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Amy Fankhauser is the Howell Township representative on the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education in New Jersey. She was first elected in 2013. Fankhauser won re-election in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Biography
Fankhauser earned her juris doctor from the Seton Hall University School of Law. She has worked as an attorney for the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services as well as a lawyer for a local school board.[1]
Elections
2016
Three of the nine seats on the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. All three incumbents—Elizabeth Canario (Englishtown Township), Amy Fankhauser (Howell Township), and Kathie Lavin (Farmingdale Borough)—ran unopposed and won re-election to their seats.[2]
Results
| Freehold Regional High School District, Howell Township General Election, 3-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Amy Fankhauser Incumbent (unopposed) |
99.34% | 15,156 |
| Write-in votes | 0.66% | 101 |
| Total Votes | 15,257 | |
| Source: Monmouth County, New Jersey, "Official Results," accessed December 1, 2016 | ||
Funding
Fankhauser reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in the election.[3]
2013
Fankhauser ran against fellow challenger James T. Truszkowski on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Freehold Regional High School District, Howell Township, Three-year term, November 5, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Amy M. Fankhauser |
70.6% | 192 | |
| Nonpartisan | James T. Truszkowski | 29.4% | 80 | |
| Total Votes | 272 | |||
| Source: Monmouth County Clerk, "Election Information," accessed January 29, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Fankhauser reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[4]
Endorsements
Fankhauser received no endorsements during this election.
Campaign themes
2013
Fankhauser explained the major themes of her campaign on her website:[5]
Merit pay
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I believe the majority of education professionals also support merit pay because they have nothing to fear from it. They are well-trained, eminently competent professionals who would welcome salary increases they have earned, as well as the incentives that a merit based salary system includes.
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Seniority rights for staff
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I believe in the preservation of reasonable seniority rights provided they are connected to staff performance and quality educational services. I believe merely rewarding someone for their staying power and not their meritorious length of service is outmoded. Likewise, being forced to promote, retain or rehire someone of lesser qualifications merely because they have seniority over a more qualified candidate is not in our children's best interests. |
School choice
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I believe in educational choice, whether it is your district public school, private secular school, private religious school, another district's public school, charter schools, vouchers, or homeschooling. Our State Constitution and education laws support a parent's right to choose what educational setting is best for his/her children. I believe that competition based on choice benefits students by keeping everyone on top of his/her game, with professional development, creative learning opportunities, and keeping abreast of technological advances. |
Instructional autonomy
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I believe in the instructional autonomy of our teachers and in giving staff the training, resources and support they need to give students the best educational advantage possible, within the confines of our taxpayers' ability to pay. I believe in leadership that has the philosophical approach to its staff that says, "What can I do to help you help your students?" I believe in establishing and supporting policies that foster that philosophical belief. |
Standardized assessments
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I do not believe in standardized assessments, but I understand that the State mandates them and I will support those mandates. I believe there is too much of an emphasis on mastering the standards than on acquiring knowledge, and especially on acquiring the skill of learning how to acquire knowledge on your own - those critical thinking skills that are fundamental to college or career readiness, and that grow and evolve with use, unlike the standards themselves. I believe young people today are in a different world than the one we grew up in. For us, there was a promise of a job waiting when we completed college or vocational training, and in some cases when we simply possessed a high school diploma. That promise does not exist for young people today. There is great uncertainty about the future and where the jobs will be. However, there will always be a job waiting for a student who possesses higher order thinking skills - logic and creativity - along with a solid academic background. We need to be educating our young people to be thinkers, getting to the answers themselves, even in different ways, not just getting to "the answer." I believe we need to create an environment for staff that encourages that type of education, and not "clip their wings" in order to meet state imposed standards. I believe we fail the students when we tell our staff to prepare young people for the 21st century, but tie them to 19th and 20th century techniques determined by "the test. |
Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Amy Fankhauser' 'Freehold Regional High School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Freehold Regional High School District, New Jersey
- Freehold Regional High School District elections (2016)
- Freehold Regional High School District elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Amy Fankhauser for FHRSD BOE, "Biography," accessed November 19, 2013
- ↑ Greater Media Newspapers,"Candidates seek school board seats," August 5, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Public Information," accessed December 12, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Standard Search," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Amy Fankhauser for FRHSD BOE, "Why Am I Running," accessed November 19, 2013
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