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Arthur Kaff
Arthur Kaff was a member of the Harford County Board of Education in Maryland, representing District E. Kaff assumed office in 2012.
Kaff ran for election to the Harford County Board of Education to represent District E in Maryland. Kaff lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Kaff represented District E on the Harford County Board of Education from his appointment in 2012 until being defeated in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Biography
Kaff earned a B.A. in political science from SUNY-New Paltz. He also holds a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and a J.D. from the University of Bridgeport. At the time of his tenure, Kaff was serving as an attorney for the Department of the Army. He is also a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Kaff and his wife, Cheryl, have three children.[1][2]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Harford County Board of Education District E
Incumbent Rachel Gauthier defeated Arthur Kaff in the general election for Harford County Board of Education District E on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rachel Gauthier (Nonpartisan) | 71.2 | 9,590 |
 | Arthur Kaff (Nonpartisan) | 28.0 | 3,769 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 105 | ||
| Total votes: 13,464 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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2014
The June 24, 2014, primary ballot included primaries for Districts B, C, D, E and F with the top two vote recipients in each primary advancing to the general election on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Robert "Bob" Frisch and challenger Laura Runyeon defeated Greg Johnson in District B. District C incumbent Alysson L. Krchnavy and challenger Joseph L. Voskuhl advanced to the general election by defeating John Anker. Nancy Reynolds faced challenger Mike Simon in her bid for another term in District D after defeating challengers Chris Scholz and Tishan D. Weerasooriya in the primary. The primary race for District E resulted in board member Arthur Kaff and newcomer Rachel Gauthier defeating Stephen Eric Macko and Barney Michel. Macko dropped out of the race after the withdrawal deadline which meant his name still appeared on the ballot. District F incumbent Thomas Fitzpatrick and Michael R. Hitchings squared off in the general election after defeating Joe Fleckenstein in the primary.
The District A race advanced to the general election without a primary as newcomers Frederick A. Mullis and Jansen M. Robinson were the only candidates to file for the seat.
In the general election Jansen M. Robinson won District A, incumbent Robert "Bob" Frisch was returned to District B, challenger Joseph L. Voskuhl defeated incumbent Alysson L. Krchnavy for District C, incumbent Nancy Reynolds won District D, newcomer Rachel Gauthier defeated incumbent Arthur Kaff for District E and incumbent Thomas Fitzpatrick won another term in District F.
This was the first time that county voters selected members for these seats on the Harford County Board of Education. Board members were appointed by the governor prior to a 2009 state law that turned six of the nine board seats into elected positions. There were board elections for two-year terms in Districts A, B and D in November 2010. Victorious candidates in the general election took office in July 2015 along with three newly appointed members.[3]
Results
General
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Rachel Gauthier |
62% | 6,760 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arthur Kaff Incumbent | 37% | 4,035 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 0.9% | 100 | |
| Total Votes | 10,895 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election results for Harford County," accessed December 20, 2014 | ||||
Primary
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Rachel Gauthier |
43.3% | 1,874 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arthur Kaff Incumbent |
24.8% | 1,072 | |
| Nonpartisan | Barney Michel | 17.8% | 769 | |
| Nonpartisan | Stephen Eric Macko | 14.1% | 612 | |
| Total Votes | 4,327 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Harford County," July 17, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Kaff reported $685.00 in contributions and no expenditures to the Maryland State Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $815.00 on hand as of June 10, 2014. This total includes amounts from previous filing periods.[4]
Endorsements
Kaff received endorsements from The Baltimore Sun and the New Harford Democratic Club prior to the primary election.[5][6] He was endorsed by The Aegis and The Baltimore Sun for the general election.[7]
Campaign themes
2014
Kaff explained his themes for the 2014 race in an interview with The Baltimore Sun:
| “ |
Q: How will you address the budget issues that each year leave Harford County Public Schools millions of dollars short of what school system officials say they need to operate? I will first serve as a strong advocate for education who will continue to work collaboratively with the County Executive, the County Council, the delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, and other leaders in order to secure additional funding in the upcoming year and in future years for Harford County Public Schools. In addition, I will serve to protect the classroom as a current Board member while carefully managing a very tight budget. More specifically, this means we must strive to avoid losing teachers and advocate to protect key programs, such as instructional support in the core subjects of math, language arts, science and social studies; as well as special education, intervention, gifted and talented, the fine and performing arts, foreign languages, vocational education, and Harford Glen. We must also work hard with the goal of getting teachers and staff their steps and salary increases. I will also listen very carefully to PTA and PTO leaders, parents, teachers, staff, students, and other key stakeholders before working with other board members to decide how to balance the budget this year. Q: In the wake of years of tragedies committed in schools across the country, please explain your position on school safety and security and what, if anything, should be done in Harford County Public Schools. The need to keep our schools safe and secure is a subject of the utmost concern to me as the parent of two current students in Harford County Public Schools, especially in light of tragic events that have occurred in schools such as Sandy Hook Elementary School. Cameras and card scanning equipment need to be successfully installed in all schools. We need to eliminate open classrooms as these classrooms designs are no longer appropriate. In addition, we must work collaboratively with the Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement officials, listen to our security chief in Harford County Public Schools, and work with parents, students, and other key stakeholders to address security concerns and initiate improvements. Full funding for our schools will serve to address safety and security concerns, I am also working on improving the anti-bullying policy and addressing concerns about bullying, which is also related to the issue of safety and security in our schools. Q: What is your position on two controversial cost savings measures – ending bus transportation waivers for students who live close to school and having tiered schedules in elementary schools to save on the number of buses needed. I am unhappy with these measures and I fully understand that they have caused hardships. However, we were forced to make tough decisions in 2013 in order to address a steep budget shortfall. We did not want to hurt the classroom further by laying off massive numbers of teachers. The Board of Education is essentially where the rubber meets the road. We have no authority to generate revenue through taxes and must rely on what the county, state and Federal Government allocates to us. The bottom line is that we must receive full funding in order to restore bus transportation cuts and eliminate the fourth tier for elementary school bus routes. I note that that these subjects show that I have the capacity to make difficult decisions. Q: How will you address student achievement in all ages in the various testing programs? The results of various testing programs such as the PARCC assessments need to be thoroughly examined so that the data can be used to inform teachers and staff about any deficiencies in student achievement and in order to implement any necessary interventions. We need to look carefully at how our high and low performing students are doing on the PARCC assessments so that the needs of all our students are addressed. Again, we must secure additional funding to implement interventions in order to assist all our struggling students. Q: How has HCPSS performed in implementing the Common Core state standards? Should anything be done differently as the school system continues its implementation? The results so far appear to be mixed, as Harford County still needs to secure full funding for education in order to successfully implement the Common Core. The school system so far has not received adequate funding for education. Additional funds and resources need to be provided for Common Core so that our teachers can be properly trained in its implementation. Problems with the implementation of Common Core must be addressed. In addition, adequate technology must be placed in our schools, such as the best computers and electronic devices, in order to successfully administer the PARCC assessments.[8] |
” |
| —The Baltimore Sun, (2014) | ||
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Harford County Public Schools
- Campaign Facebook page
- LinkedIn profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Harford County Public Schools, "Board of Education of Harford County," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia via email on March 30, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Five Harford school board members run for election; four don't," February 26, 2014
- ↑ Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System, "View Filed Reports," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Aegis school board voter recommendations (Editorial)," June 3, 2014
- ↑ New Harford Democratic Club, "Endorsed Candidates," accessed June 10, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ The Aegis, "Robinson, Runyeon, Voskuhl, Simon, Kaff, Hitchings for Harford School Board," October 17, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Arthur Kaff," accessed June 10, 2014
| Harford County Public Schools elections in 2018 | |
| Harford County, Maryland | |
| Election date: | November 6, 2018 |
| Candidates: | District A: • Incumbent, Jansen Robinson District B: • David Bauer District C: • Jim Antal • Kathryn Carmello District D: • Tamera Rush • Alfred Williamson District E: • Incumbent, Rachel Gauthier • Arthur Kaff District F: • Incumbent, Thomas Fitzpatrick • Sonja Karwacki |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
