Detroit Public Schools elections (2014)
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Four seats on the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education were up for election on November 4, 2014. All four at-large positions on the board were up for election. Sixteen candidates filed for the seats, including incumbents LaMar Lemmons, Reverend David Murray, and Ida Carol Short. Fellow incumbent Jonathan Kinloch did not run in the election. All three incumbents who sought re-election retained their seats, and Patricia Johnson Singleton won the fourth open seat.
As of the 2014 election, the role of newly elected and re-elected board members remained unclear, as the board continued to operate with limited powers under the state’s emergency manager law. The district had been under emergency management since 2009. The board made efforts to remove the state-imposed emergency manager, which were dismissed in court, and stated that it would continue to pursue the manager’s removal.
About the district
- See also: Detroit Public Schools, Michigan
Detroit Public Schools is located in Wayne County, Michigan. The county seat of Wayne County is Detroit. Wayne County had a population of an estimated 1,775,273 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] Detroit was the largest school district by enrollment in Michigan and served 67,064 students in the 2012-2013 school year.[2]
Demographics
In 2013, Wayne County had a lower percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree compared to the state overall. The United States Census Bureau reported that 21.3 percent of residents aged 25 and older in Wayne County had earned a bachelor's degree, compared with 25.9 percent for Michigan. The county’s median household income was $41,184, below the state median of $48,411. The poverty rate in Wayne County was 24.5 percent, above the state rate of 16.8 percent.[1]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
As of the 2014 election, the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education was composed of 11 members elected to four-year terms. Four members were elected at-large and the other seven were elected to represent specific geographic areas. The four at-large seats were up for election in 2014. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014.
School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period, which ended on July 22, 2014. The deadline to withdraw was July 25, 2014. Write-in candidates had to file by October 24, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 6, 2014.[4]
Elections
2014
At-large
- LaMar Lemmons
- Incumbent
- Reverend David Murray
- Incumbent
- Ida Carol Short
- Incumbent
- Dennis M. Bryant
- Victor B. Gibson
- Wytrice Harris
- Arlyssa Heard
- Georgia Lemmons
- Ramon J. Patrick
- Robin Paul
- Sharon Render-Johnson
- Kerry Sanders
- Ulice Sherman Jr.
- Patricia Johnson Singleton
- Gregory White
- James W. Williams IV
- Russ Bellant - Withdrew July 25, 2014
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | LaMar Lemmons Incumbent |
11.9% | 42,112 | |
| Nonpartisan | Reverend David Murray Incumbent |
10.8% | 38,242 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ida Carol Short Incumbent |
9.5% | 33,453 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patricia Johnson Singleton |
8.5% | 30,130 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arlyssa Heard | 7.3% | 25,959 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kerry Sanders | 7.2% | 25,514 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dennis M. Bryant | 7.1% | 24,963 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sharon Render-Johnson | 6.8% | 23,975 | |
| Nonpartisan | Victor B. Gibson | 5.2% | 18,456 | |
| Nonpartisan | Georgia Lemmons | 4.8% | 16,913 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wytrice Harris | 4.6% | 16,255 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gregory White | 4.5% | 15,952 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robin Paul | 3.2% | 11,321 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ramon J. Patrick | 3.2% | 11,175 | |
| Nonpartisan | James W. Williams IV | 2.8% | 9,984 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ulice Sherman Jr. | 1.7% | 5,844 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.9% | 3,094 | |
| Total Votes | 353,342 | |||
| Source: Wayne County Clerk, "Elections Division - Results," accessed January 5, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Candidates received a total of $15,245.20 and spent a total of $15,131.63 in the election, according to the Wayne County Clerk's Office.[5]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaMar Lemmons | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Reverend David Murray | $0.00 | $0.00 | $4,086.00 |
| Ida Carol Short | $0.00 | $0.00 | $474.15 |
| Dennis M. Bryant | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Victor B. Gibson | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Wytrice Harris | $7,687.50 | $7,686.37 | $1.13 |
| Arlyssa Heard | $7,157.70 | $7,154.58 | $3.12 |
| Georgia Lemmons | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ramon J. Patrick | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Robin Paul | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Sharon Render-Johnson | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Kerry Sanders | $400.00 | $290.68 | $109.32 |
| Patricia Johnson Singleton | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Gregory White | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| James W. Williams IV | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
What was at stake?
Seventeen candidates initially filed for four seats on the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education. Thirteen challengers and three incumbents ultimately appeared on the ballot, ensuring that at least one new member would join the board. The election winners joined a board dealing with ongoing disputes related to a state-mandated emergency manager.
Issues in the district
Emergency manager lawsuit
The Detroit Board of Education sought the removal of the state-imposed emergency manager for a third time in September 2014. The district had been under emergency management since 2009, which has been described as leaving the school board "essentially powerless."[6] The board, the emergency manager, and the state had been involved in ongoing disputes, including a lawsuit by the attorney general seeking to remove the entire board from office. That effort failed in 2013.[7]
The school board had previously challenged the legal authority of emergency managers, but those efforts were unsuccessful. At one point, a majority of the board believed they had the authority to vote on then-emergency manager Jack Martin. According to the emergency manager law that provided for the position, Public Act 436, a governing body can remove the emergency manager by a two-thirds vote after the manager has served for 18 months. In the resolution passed by the board to remove Martin, the board accused the state of putting the district into a deficit through poor financial decisions and by refusing to let the board take action against those decisions.[8]
The board then filed a lawsuit asking a judge to allow them to remove Martin immediately, while Martin's lawyers argued that he could not be removed until January 2015, which would be 18 months after his appointment. The school board calculated the 18 months from when PA 436 was passed. The judge gave a summary ruling and dismissed the school board's case. The board stated at the time that they would turn their focus to a pending federal court lawsuit challenging the emergency manager law on constitutional grounds.[6]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Detroit Public Schools election in 2014:[4][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 22, 2014 | Candidates nomination documents filing deadline |
| July 25, 2014 | Candidates withdrawal deadline |
| October 6, 2014 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 24, 2014 | Pre-election campaign finance report deadline |
| October 24, 2014 | Write-in candidates nomination documents filing deadline |
| November 4, 2014 | Election Day |
| December 4, 2014 | Post-election campaign finance report deadline |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Michigan elections, 2014
This election shared the ballot with general elections for a U.S. House seat, U.S. Senate seat, Michigan state executive offices, Michigan House of Representatives seats, and Michigan State Senate seats. It also shared the ballot with county, municipal, and judicial elections.
See also
- Michigan
- Detroit Public Schools Community District, Michigan
- Michigan school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Wayne County, Michigan ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Michigan
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "Wayne County, Michigan," accessed January 5, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ Department of State, "Previous Election Information," accessed February 3, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Secretary of State - Department of State, "2014 Michigan Election Dates," accessed September 1, 2014
- ↑ Wayne County Campaign Finance Information System, "View Filed Reports Information," accessed January 5, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Detroit Free Press, "DPS board loses court battle over emergency manager," October 1, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Radio, "Michigan AG loses a bid to remove Detroit school board members," February 7, 2013
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "DPS board votes to get rid of emergency manager," September 29, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Registration Deadlines and Election Dates 2014 Election Cycle," accessed January 5, 2015
