Jennifer Luteran
Jennifer Luteran was a candidate for District 7 representative on the Williamson County Board of Education in Tennessee. The general election was held on August 4, 2016.[1] She lost the election[2]
Luteran participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to view her responses.
Biography
Luteran is a stay-at-home mom and former attorney. She has served as a Girl Scout troop leader since 2010, and she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She also serves on the Edmondson Elementary PTO and the Brentwood Middle PTO. Luteran previously served as a board member for Davidson County CASA. She and her husband have three children, all of whom attend Williamson County Schools.
Elections
2016
Seven of the 12 seats on the Williamson County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on August 4, 2016.[3] The District 1, 3, and 11 seats were left open for newcomers when incumbents Kenneth Peterson, PJ Mezera, and Mark Gregory, respectively, did not file to run for re-election. Richard Davis and Angela Durham ran for the District 1 seat, and Durham won the election. The District 3 race featured candidates Christy Coleman, Kimberly Little, and Eliot Mitchell. Mitchell was elected to the seat. The District 11 race featured candidates Stuart Cooper and K.C. Haugh, and Haugh won the election. In the race for the unexpired term in District 4, incumbent Anne McGraw defeated challenger Joey Czarneski. In District 5, incumbent Gary Anderson defeated challenger Julie Ellen Mauck to win another term on the board. District 7 incumbent Robert Hullett won re-election against challengers Jennifer Luteran and Christopher Richards. The District 9 race featured incumbent Rick Wimberly and challenger Denise Boothby. Wimberly was re-elected to the seat.[1][4][2]
Results
| Williamson County Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Robert Hullett Incumbent |
49.44% | 1,050 |
| Jennifer Luteran | 40.73% | 865 |
| Christopher Richards | 9.60% | 204 |
| Write-in votes | 0.24% | 5 |
| Total Votes | 2,124 | |
| Source: Williamson County Election Commission, "Summary Report: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed August 5, 2016 | ||
Funding
Luteran reported $3,338.50 in contributions and $1,756.18 in expenditures to the Williamson County Election Commission, which left her campaign with $1,582.32 on hand as of June 30, 2016.[5]
Endorsements
Luteran received no official endorsements in the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Jennifer Luteran participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on July 7, 2016:
| “ | I hope to bring a reasonable and sound voice back to the constituents of District 7. I hope to engage the business community in a way that improves and enhances our children's learning experience. I hope to make the school budget more transparent to that the average tax payer is able to clearly review it and make clear sense out of the numbers. I hope to make sure that all future rezonings are done out in the open instead of behind closed doors. I hope to have more frequent community meetings so that taxpayers have a easy way to voice their concerns. I hope to make sure that every single taxpayer dollar that can go into the classroom, makes it to the classroom.[6][7] | ” |
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 Tennessee. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I have knocked on over 2,000 doors while campaigning. A recurring theme that I have heard from so many is that our special need students need more assistance. This encompasses our children who have a different type of learning style as well as our gifted students. Therefore, this is an area that I would like to see addressed. We have got to continue to close the achievement gap. Currently Williamson County Schools has been designated as one of the Intermediate Districts in Tennessee. In order to be designated as an Exemplary District, we must come up with a plan to raise proficiency levels, narrow achievement gaps and guarantee growth for all students. As a School Board member, we are responsible for coming up with a plan to make sure that the needs of every student is being met. When that happens, then we deserve the title of “exemplary”. We are still falling short in the areas of educating our students with disabilities, racial minorities, and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. I believe that it is going to take the community at large to help solve this problem. After talking to hundreds of parents along the campaign trail, I have learned that each of them has a unique perspective on solving this problem. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I believe that if we engage the community more, we will be able to come up with a plan that takes us from “Intermediate” to “Exemplary”. I believe that the Board's relationship with each other as well as the teachers and the community could be better. Once the Board is able to get people on the Board that have mutual respect for one another, and that work with one another, the current teacher/Board/community relationship will heal itself.[7] | ” |
| —Jennifer Luteran (July 7, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine 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.) |
|---|
| No. I don't believe that charter schools are needed in Williamson County. |
| 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 always defer to school board decisions. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. All I can think of is how my own teachers, and my children’s teachers, have impacted our lives in ways that cannot be captured on a standardized achievement test. The most skillful teachers don't rely very heavily on standardized tests. They observe their students, and communicate with them on a daily basis. Good teachers can often tell, without using exams, how well a student understands the material being taught. Large-scale standardized tests have never been validated to measure student growth over time, nor have they been validated to attribute that growth to teachers. Teachers have an enormous effect on our children, and there is no standardized test that measures that. Many states are adding assessment tools such as student portfolios and work collected over time, group presentations, reports and papers as additional measures of student understanding. I think that this is a much better and reflective way to gauge a student's achievement than to judge him/her on how well they performed on one or two single days out of the school year. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| There is no evidence that imposing a uniform education system will result in more educated citizens. Some countries with uniform “standards” rank higher than the United States. However, it is also true that many countries with uniform standards rank lower than the United States. The problem is not a lack of uniform “standards,” but rather a laundry list of other factors that cannot be reduced to a single numerical score on a standardized test. Contrary to the claims of the Common Core supporters, it is completely unlike any education system in the world. Common Core was never evaluated or peer reviewed by teachers or education specialists, nor did parents have any say in their development or implementation. |
| 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? |
| No. There is no way to accurately compare teachers on one subject to teachers in another subject. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I don't believe that voucher systems are needed in Williamson County. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used as a corrective tool as outlined by the District policy. Expulsion must be used fairly and consistently within the policy guidelines. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement Williamson County is truly blessed to have the parental involvement that we have. Most, if not all, of the parents in WCS have a desire to see their child succeed in our school system and they are actively involved in the child's learning process. |
Candidate website
Luteran highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | Why Elect Jennifer? I decided to run for School Board because as a parent and a community volunteer, I could no longer sit on the sidelines. We have so much to be proud of in both our schools and our community. I also believe that there is so much more opportunity ahead. My campaign is about offering new solutions. If elected, I intend to further enhance partnerships between the schools and the business community. As a School Board member, I want to bring about more transparency in how we spend tax payers' money, operate the schools, manage resources, and educate our children. Did you know that this year our school budget proposal is currently a little over $300 million? This figure represents approximately 70% of our County's overall budget – and even more if you factor in the school debt. I also want to make sure that we are better preparing our children for what comes after their senior year of high school - whether that be college, community college, trade school, a military career, or joining the workforce. It would be a priority of mine to take a different approach to the tremendous growth that our school system is experiencing. Yes, we need school buildings, and lots of them since we are the fastest growing county in Tennessee. But, do I think that we need to be building public schools that can rival some college campuses? No. Since our County is in debt by over 500 million and the world is increasingly becoming more competitive, we can’t continue to afford building these schools that look magnificent on the outside but are lacking much needed learning tools inside the classrooms. I would consider it a privilege to serve my neighbors in Williamson County's district 7 as their School Board representative. I appreciate your attention today, and I look forward to more time with you along the campaign trail.[7] |
” |
| —Jennifer Luteran (2016)[8] | ||
Franklin Home Page interview
The Franklin Home Page asked Luteran the following bolded questions. Luteran's responses are shown below.
| “ | Rezoning is one of the first issues the new board will deal with together as the Nolensville schools open and Thompson's Station on the horizon. What's your philosophy on school rezoning, grandfathering and the anticipation of future growth for rezoning?
My philosophy is to try and keep feeder patterns intact whenever possible. I think that rising fifth-, eighth- and 12th-graders should be grandfathered. I also think that the sibling(s) of these students should be grandfathered as well if the sibling(s) is/are already at the existing school, or will be at the existing school the school year the rezoning is to take effect. What is your position on standardized testing - is there too much, too little? I think that we have entirely too much standardized testing. I would like to see the return of the days where our children are tested once at the end of each school year. The current testing is too long, difficult and has reflected many examples of inappropriate content. I would have liked to see Williamson County Schools announce several weeks prior to TNReady part two that given the admitted failure of TNReady part one, our county would not be partaking in TNReady part two. We need to get back to letting our teachers teach. What is your position on Common Core, and do you agree with state phasing it out? I am not in support of Common Core. I think that it shouldn't be phased out, but immediately eliminated, with all control being returned locally. The same policies that forced adoption of Common Core standards require use of the Common Core tests to evaluate educators and students. These tests have been shown to be unreliable and inaccurate. The costs of the tests, which have multiple pieces throughout the year plus the computer platforms needed to administer and score them, are enormous and come at the expense of more important things. I am afraid that if we continue to support Common Core's "college and career ready" platform, we will push more kids out of high school than we will prepare for college. What do you think of current state education standards? From what I have reviewed, the new state standards are Common Core standards with nothing changed but the name. The parents and educators have made it clear that they do not support Common Core. Simply renaming the standards is not what they asked for. Do you think world religions should be part of history or social studies curricula? I have no problem in teaching world religions as part of this curriculum as long as it is taught accurately with no biases to one religion or the other. What is your opinion of the current state of WCS and the current leadership? I think that our schools are a wonderful asset to our community. The schools have active parental involvement and wonderful teachers and staff. I think that Dr. [Mike] Looney has a very difficult job and takes this responsibility very seriously. The school board has been somewhat dysfunctional lately. I attribute this to very different personalities on the board as well as the disrespectful tone of certain board members. We need a board that can function as one cohesive unit, and I don't see that being a possibility with this current board. What is the best thing about WCS? The parents, teachers and children. Without these three, our schools would not be the number one county in the state. What needs attention and what aspect of it could need adjustment? I believe that our schools could explore other means to bring additional resources to our schools. I would like to see the business community and the schools work more closely together in a beneficial manner for both. I would also like bring about greater transparency to the budget, rezoning and educational process. If I want to look at the 2016 budget, you can't find it online. It might be buried to an attachment on a school board agenda, but it's not on the website under budget. We need to have an open checkbook, and we as taxpayers need to know where the money is being spent. It needs to be broken down where the average person can look at it and offer savings suggestions.[7] |
” |
| —Jennifer Luteran (2016)[9] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Jennifer Luteran' 'Williamson County Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Williamson County Election Commission, "Candidate List-August 4, 2016-State Primary/County General Election," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Williamson County Election Commission, "Summary Report: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Calendar 2016," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ Williamson County Schools, "Board Members," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Chad Gray, Williamson County Administrator of Elections," July 29, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Jennifer Luteran's responses," July 7, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Vote Luteran, "Why Elect Jennifer," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ Franklin Home Page, "Election 2016: Brentwood mom would create more transparency if elected to school board," May 8, 2016
