Andrew Becker

Ballotpedia does not currently cover this office or maintain this page. Please contact us with any updates.

Andrew Becker

Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large

Tenure

2012 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

13

Prior offices

Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large

---

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

April 3, 2018

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Information technology professional

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Andrew Becker is a member of the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. He assumed office in 2012. His current term ends in 2027.

Becker ran for re-election to the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. He won in the general election on April 3, 2018.

Becker also served on the board from 1998 to 2010.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Becker's professional experience includes working as an I.T. systems specialist. He is also a former Green Bay educator.

Board membership

The Green Bay Board of Education voted unanimously on 93.5 percent of its votes between January 1, 2014, and July 1, 2014. Every vote recorded by the board passed.

The voting data indicates that Michael Blecha, Mary Frantz, Katie Maloney, Chris Wagner and Brenda Warren are the governing majority on the board. Andrew Becker and Celestine Jeffreys may be the minority faction, although their voting patterns are different enough to indicate that they are not unified on a majority of votes.

Elections

2018

See also: Green Bay Area Public School District elections (2018)

Three of the seven seats on the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education in Wisconsin were up for at-large general election on April 3, 2018. Two of the at-large seats were up for three-year terms and one seat was up for a one-year term. Incumbents Andrew Becker, Edward Dorff, and Rhonda Sitnikau defeated challengers Paul Boucher, Jason Davies, and Eric Duncan. Dorff won election to the one-year term because he won with the lowest number of votes.

General election

General election for Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education At-large on April 3, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rhonda Sitnikau (Nonpartisan)	23.9	9,182
✔		Andrew Becker (Nonpartisan)	21.6	8,317
✔		Edward Dorff (Nonpartisan)	17.8	6,834
		Eric Duncan (Nonpartisan)	13.7	5,267
		Jason Davies (Nonpartisan)	13.0	4,996
		Paul Boucher (Nonpartisan)	10.1	3,888

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 38,484
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

2015

See also: Green Bay Area Public School District elections (2015)

The general election on April 7, 2015, in the Green Bay Area Public School District featured two at-large seats up for election. Incumbent Andrew Becker and newcomer Edward Dorff sought election unopposed, since incumbent Mary Frantz opted not to file for re-election.

Results

Incumbent Andrew Becker and newcomer Edward Dorff were elected without opposition.

Funding

Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:

• accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
• accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns

Endorsements

Becker received no official endorsements in this election.

2012

Green Bay Area Public School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Andrew Becker	37.1%	10,995
	Nonpartisan	Mary Frantz	31.6%	9,372
	Nonpartisan	Mary Ann Anderson	30.6%	9,069
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.6%	187
Total Votes				29,623
Source: Brown County Clerk, "Official 2012 Election Results," accessed September 24, 2014

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.   2007 Green Bay Area Public School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2007 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Andrew Becker Incumbent 26.9% 12,280      Nonpartisan Brenda Warren Incumbent 25.4% 11,572      Nonpartisan Linda McKeag 24% 10,933      Nonpartisan Steven Terrien 23.5% 10,742      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 100 Total Votes 45,627 Source: Brown County Clerk, "Official 2007 Election Results," accessed September 24, 2014 2004 Green Bay Area Public School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Brenda Warren 20.8% 7,640      Nonpartisan Dotty Juengst Incumbent 19.4% 7,134      Nonpartisan Andrew Becker Incumbent 18.9% 6,936      Nonpartisan William F. McIntyre Incumbent 15.2% 5,601      Nonpartisan Steven Terrien 13.9% 5,100      Nonpartisan Sid Vineburg 11.7% 4,294      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 57 Total Votes 36,762 Source: Brown County Clerk, "Official 2004 Election Results," accessed September 24, 2014 2001 Green Bay Area Public School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2001 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Dotty Juegnst 23% 7,885      Nonpartisan William F. McIntyre Incumbent 18.5% 6,330      Nonpartisan Andrew Becker Incumbent 18.5% 6,322      Nonpartisan James Coates Jr. Incumbent 14.6% 5,001      Nonpartisan Patrick Doherty 14.3% 4,906      Nonpartisan Edward Jensen 11% 3,779      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 37 Total Votes 34,260 Source: Brown County Clerk, "Official 2001 Election Results," accessed September 24, 2014

Campaign themes

2018

Campaign website

Becker listed the following goals on his Facebook campaign website:

“

What am I planning do to in the next 3 years? 1-Smaller class sizes with actual limits, not just "class size guidelines". 2-Continue to expand options for kids. We have far more options for university and technical college credits than anywhere and more unique options like Aldo Leopold Community School, John Dewey, the East side K-12 Fine arts pathway, and Bay City Automotive just to name a few. 3-Create an Ombudsman/Navigator position. This person would assist anyone who felt they were stuck in "red tape". They would be an problem solver, not part of the regular chain of command. 4-Continue updating our schools on a regular maintenance schedule, including budget funds and referenda as appropriate, with *no tax rate increase*, like I have insisted on since 2001.

”

Green Bay Press Gazette survey

Becker participated in the following survey conducted by the Green Bay Press Gazette. The questions provided by the Green Bay Press Gazette are bolded, and Becker's responses follow below:

“	Relevant experience: Board member 1998-2010, 2012-present Why are you running for office? I believe there are a lot of great things we are doing in at the Green Bay Area Public schools. We are providing more educational options than any district in the area and partnering with both the University of Wisconsin system and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to offer more college credit courses to our high school students than ever before. We have held referendums to rebuild and expand our schools and create a secured entrance with cameras in every school, and planned carefully to make sure there would be no tax rate increases. I want to keep expanding opportunities for our students and families. When there are problems and concerns, I have always been an independent voice. I always search for new solutions and new ways of doing things. My track record clearly shows that I ask tough questions, and have not been afraid to vote against the administration’s recommendations when I disagree. Are you satisfied with the district’s response to student behavior and discipline issues at Washington Middle School? Why or why not? We are doing the right things at Washington now. We are making a leadership change and will start the year with a new principal. Washington has additional staff and has relocated offices to put administrators closer to kids. A school-within-a-school academy program has started to reach out and better meet the needs of some of our students who have not been engaged in school. Our expectations are being taken seriously, and behavior incidents have dropped. I believe in hands-on leadership and have visited Washington multiple times over the past year just to talk with staff and students informally. I needed to see for myself if things were moving in the right direction and I believe that they are. The information about the problems at Washington came to the Board much later than I wish it had. The Board now gets regular direct updates about student behavior and what we are doing to improve. I will continue to follow what is happening at Washington very closely the rest of this year and as we move forward with new leadership, while making sure I have the information I need to make sure this type of problem never happens again. What do you consider to be the key issue or issues in this race and what would you do to address them? School safety and security is a topic of critical importance and I look forward to our community outreach efforts to find the best ideas to keep our kids safe. We will be seeking out and hearing a wide range of opinions which will help us find the solutions that are right for Green Bay. I have supported plans to ensure our schools have secure entrances and have insisted on moving up the timeline to complete these sooner. We also need to invest in student achievement and making sure all students can succeed. This means working towards smaller class sizes. I am proposing that class sizes in core academic subjects never exceed 30 students and that elementary classrooms never exceed 26 students. I believe now is the time to make that commitment and I believe it can fit within our existing budget without increasing the tax rate. Student behavior is also something we need to address to make sure we never again have an issue like we did at Washington Middle School. I believe in finding out where principals and staff are doing things amazingly well in our district, learning from it, and sharing those approaches with any schools and teachers that can benefit. What makes you the best qualified candidate to hold this office? During my board service I have always been willing to speak up and challenge the administration, while providing fresh ideas and a view from outside the system. At the same time I have been very supportive of the District’s efforts to expand opportunities to our kids who thrive with a different kind of approach to learning. I listen and respond to ideas and concerns in the community and actively look for solutions and solve problems.	”
—Andrew Becker, 2018

2013

School vouchers

Becker has repeatedly stated that he is against the use of school vouchers in Green Bay Area Public School District. In May 2013, the seven members of the Green Bay School Board, along with Superintendent Michelle Langenfeld, sent a letter to the members of the Joint Finance Committee at the Wisconsin State Legislature, urging them to remove the use of vouchers from the 2013-2014 state budget proposal. The text of this letter can be read below:

“	Dear Members of the Joint Finance Committee: As the Joint Finance Committee begins to make its final decisions on K12 education, we are writing to urge you to remove the following policy issues from the budget: Remove all private school voucher expansion proposals from the budget Remove all charter school proposals from the budget Remove the special education voucher proposal from the budget There is no community groundswell for voucher expansion in Green Bay. The Press-Gazette Editorial Board joins us in calling on members of the Joint Finance Committee to remove voucher expansion from the budget. It stated, “Two years ago we editorialized on the proposal to expand school vouchers to the Green Bay School District. We believe then as we do believe today, that such a profound change in the way public education is funded deserves time for a full debate.” The Press-Gazette Editorial Board also joins us in the recognition that the Green Bay Area Public Schools are NOT failing. It stated, “The Green Bay School District has many very good schools and to characterize it as failing is unfair.” Our district newsletter will be delivered to every household in our community in the upcoming days. Highlights of the newsletter include factual information on our increased graduation rates, the impact of voucher expansion on our school community and a review of the innovative programs and partnerships we are implementing to ensure that all of our students are college, career and community ready, regardless of their life’s circumstance. There has also been no groundswell for voucher expansion in the state of Wisconsin. Numerous editorial boards across the state have consistently echoed the fact that they do not believe that voucher expansion, with its twenty year unproven track record, is the answer to improving public education. They join us in supporting the belief that changes in education policy should stand as separate pieces of legislation that should be debated in the light of day and stand, or fall, on their own merits. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced a belief that the Joint Finance Committee should remove all education policy issues from the budget. Perhaps this is because they too believe that their constituents are deserving of transparency when there is such a profound change in how public education will be funded. They may have read the Legislative Fiscal Bureau report and recognize the significant fiscal impact voucher expansion will have on their constituents in their communities. They may also believe that the local taxpayers deserve to have a voice in determining whether their tax dollars should fund a second statewide school system that some are referring to as an entitlement program with little accountability. Finally, we ask you to support the Ellis/Olsen increase to the revenue cap by at least $200 per student in each year of the biennium. As residents of the Green Bay area, taxpayers, registered voters, and the elected officials and leaders responsible for the education of almost 21,000 students in the Green Bay Area Public Schools, we trust that you will do the right thing.	”
—Green Bay Progressive's website, (2013)

Becker's clarification

On June 8, 2013, Becker clarified his position on vouchers by posting the following statement to his school board member Facebook page:

“	I am 150% ANTI-voucher. I would vote no on a state budget if it had any vouchers in it. That being said, I want to share some things that should alleviate a little bit of the fear that's going around with the latest proposal. 1) It is very good for Green Bay that the vouchers expanded statewide. With 500 vouchers and then 1000 for the whole state to share, Green Bay's proportional share shouldn't exceed 100. Half of them may be private school students already. This is not good for our budget or our kids, BUT it won't be a devastating impact like "unlimited" vouchers shared among 9 districts. 2) Even though a district could lose up 1% of its students, it's very unlikely that any large district actually would because there are only enough vouchers to go around for about 0.3% of Wisconsin students. 3) If the plan keeps an ongoing cap of 1000 vouchers, that is VERY good news. Could a future legislature and governor raise the cap? Yes. Has it happened in Milwaukee and Racine? Yes. But all that is needed is a pro-public education majority in the Assembly OR the Senate OR the Governor's mansion. Any one of the 3 will be enough to protect us. Keep fighting! Keep calling legislators. The budget can still be amended for better or for worse! But I want you to know that this is one that we will survive and in my opinion will not cause layoffs nor prevent me from fighting for a respectable raise for staff this year.	”
—Andrew Becker's Facebook page, (2013)

See also

• Green Bay Area Public School District, Wisconsin
• Green Bay Area Public School District elections (2018)
• Green Bay Area Public School District elections (2015)
• Green Bay Area Public School District elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Green Bay Area Public School District
• Office website
• Campaign Facebook page