Madison Metropolitan School District elections (2017)
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Two seats on the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. A total of six candidates filed for the seats. A primary election was held on February 21, 2017, because there were over twice as many candidates as seats on the board to be elected.[1]
Three newcomers filed for Seat 6, which was left open when board incumbent Michael Flores chose not to seek re-election. Ali Muldrow and Kate Toews advanced to the general election, defeating Cris Carusi in the primary. Toews defeated Muldrow in the general. In Seat 7, incumbent Ed Hughes filed for re-election and faced challengers Matt Andrzejewski and Nicki Vander Meulen in the primary. Hughes and Vander Meulen advanced to the general, but Hughes dropped out of the race in March. His name still appeared on the ballot, but Vander Meulen won the seat.[2][3][4][5]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Madison Metropolitan Board of Education consists of seven members elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis. Each member is elected to a specific seat that represents a specific group of schools. Two seats were up for election in 2015, and three seats were up for election in 2016. A primary election was held on February 21, 2017, and the general election was held on April 4, 2017.
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.[6]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.[6]
Elections
Candidates and results
Seat 6 General
Results
| Madison Metropolitan School District, Seat 6 General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kate Toews |
55.59% | 25,857 |
| Ali Muldrow | 44.15% | 20,536 |
| Write-in votes | 0.26% | 123 |
| Total Votes | 46,516 | |
| Source: Dane County, "2017 Spring Election Official Canvas," accessed June 5, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Ali Muldrow | Kate Toews
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Seat 6 Primary
Results
| Madison Metropolitan School District, Seat 6 Primary Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ali Muldrow |
40.16% | 14,828 |
| Kate Toews |
30.24% | 11,166 |
| Cris Carusi | 28.90% | 10,670 |
| Write-in votes | 0.7% | 259 |
| Total Votes | 36,923 | |
| Source: Dane County Clerk, "2017 Spring Primary Unofficial Canvass," accessed February 21, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Defeated in primary
| Cris Carusi | |
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Seat 7 General
Results
| Madison Metropolitan School District, Seat 7 General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Nicki Vander Meulen |
68.30% | 29,028 |
| Ed Hughes Incumbent | 31.01% | 13,181 |
| Write-in votes | 0.68% | 291 |
| Total Votes | 42,500 | |
| Source: Dane County, "2017 Spring Election Official Canvas," accessed June 5, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Ed Hughes | Nicki Vander Meulen
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Seat 7 Primary
Results
| Madison Metropolitan School District, Seat 7 Primary Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ed Hughes Incumbent |
38.64% | 13,898 |
| Nicki Vander Meulen |
36.39% | 13,089 |
| Matt Andrzejewski | 24.19% | 8,700 |
| Write-in votes | 0.77% | 278 |
| Total Votes | 35,965 | |
| Source: Dane County Clerk, "2017 Spring Primary Unofficial Canvass," accessed February 21, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Defeated in primary
| Matt Andrzejewski | |
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017
The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education primary election shared the ballot with the primary election for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction. The school board general election shared the ballot with the general election for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and two seats on the Dane County Circuit Court.[7]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:[8][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 16, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1 |
| February 13, 2017 | Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| February 21, 2017 | Primary election day |
| March 27, 2017 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
| April 24, 2017 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2017 | Post-election campaign finance deadline |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
In Seat 6, Ali Muldrow received an official endorsement from the Cap Times, Progressive Dane, the Democratic Party of Dane County, Four Lakes Green Party, the Teaching Assistant Association (TAA), Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg, Judge Paul Higginbotham, Rep. Terese Berceau (D), former Rep. Kelda Roys (D), county supervisors Carousel Andrea Bayrd, John Hendrick, and Heidi Mayree Wegleitner, city alders Shiva Bidar, Maurice Cheeks, and Marsha Rummel, and Madison Metropolitan school board members James Howard, Michael Flores, Ed Hughes, and Anna Moffit.[10][11][12][13]
Kate Toews received official endorsements from the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, and the Democratic Party of Dane County.[14][10][15][11][12]
In Seat 7, Nicki Vander Meulen received official endorsements from the Cap Times, the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Progressive Dane, and the Democratic Party of Dane County.[14][10][15][11][12]
Campaign finance
No candidate in this race had filed a campaign finance report with the City of Madison as of March 29, 2017.[16]
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[17]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[18]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[19]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 5
2015Seat 1Anna Moffit won election without opposition. Seat 2Incumbent Mary Burke won re-election without opposition. 2014Seat 6
Seat 7Ed Hughes won re-election to Seat 7 without opposition. 2013Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 5
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What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Issues in the election
Candidate forum
Ali Muldrow, Kate Toews, and Nicki Vander Meulen participated in a candidate forum hosted on March 16, 2017. Much of the conversation was focused on the inclusion and equity of black, LGBTQ, disabled, homeless, and students residing in the country without legal permission. Muldrow and Vander Meulen spoke about their own struggles with being included, while Toews expressed that one of her priorities was closing the achievement gap.
“I’m running for the School Board to give a voice to the voiceless,” Vander Meulen said. “I know what it’s like to be treated differently.” She said that if elected, she would be the first self-identified individual with autism on the board.
Muldrow remarked that as a woman of color, she wanted to speak for those seeking “a seat at the table.” “Part of the reason I’m running is to hold the door open for other people,” she said. She also noted that LGBTQ students should be able to feel safe and called attention to her work with GSAFE, an organization of LGBTQ youth in schools, to respond to a question on how to achieve equal representation in advanced placement classes, theater, and study abroad programs.
Toews said equitable representation issues begin when children are young, and should be addressed early “to support a whole child from birth to 18.” Vander Meulen added that some of that work should involve relying less on tests and more on parent and teacher recommendations to recognize gifted students.
When Vander Meulen was asked about the district's Pathways program, she said there was an issue of inclusion with the initiative because it did not offer transportation to internships. She also wondered whether eighth graders could make decisions affecting the next five years of their schooling. Muldrow criticized parts of the program, saying students should be able to choose their own pathways and not fit into predetermined ones. Toews said that she understood the criticism, but thought the opportunity meant the pilot program should be tested and fine-tuned.
The candidates were also asked what areas of the budget they would cut or partially cut to free up money to be spent in other areas. Muldrow said police in schools, Vander-Meulen said a top-heavy administration, and Toews named Isthmus Montessori Academy (IMA), which cost the district $300,000 in the 2016-2017 school year.
On the topic of school vouchers and charter schools, Muldrow said that while she did not believe in the privatization of education, she saw the value in Montessori schools and voucher programs. Toews said charter schools should be used to develop and better serve underserved populations, which she said IMA did not do. She also said she did not approve of voucher programs because they direct money away from the district and could result in conventional schools closing. Vander Meulen said she would never support a voucher program unless it was fully accessible to disabled students because the programs cause children to give up their federal disability rights.
In her closing statement, Muldrow emphasized that fast change in the district was necessary. “My biggest fear is that we will aim to get better, that we will be really excited to slowly and small-y move toward equity … I am terrified that we would embrace that," she said. “I’m asking for you to aim for the forefront of inclusion with me.”
Toews said she would stand up to the federal and state governments when dealing with privatization, invest in teachers, and address the achievement gap. “(Success) depends on us making a choice to innovate within our schools, without resorting to private schools, to vouchers, or turning private schools into public ones,” she said.
Vander Meulen said that education is a right, not a privilege. “Every child deserves an excellent public education, but we're not giving that to every child,” she stated.[20]
Issues in the district
Pathways program introduced
The Madison Metropolitan district implemented an educational restructuring in the form of a Pathways program beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. This program offers personalized pathways to students, meaning that between 120 and 150 freshmen at each of the district's high schools were given the option to participate in a health services pathway in the fall of 2017. The district planned to make the program mandatory for all its high schools students by the 2022-2023 school year, at which point there would be four to six pathways from which they could choose.
The program would have five components, according to the Wisconsin State Journal:
| “ | ” |
Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham said she wanted to create an environment that helps each student to develop a post-high school plan. “This is new, and it’s incredibly important if every child is to be successful,” Cheatham said. “We want students to be in the driver’s seat, to set their own goals for after high school and to do it in a systematic way.” The superintendent said that the program also addressed issues that were brought up at community forums and in student focus groups, such as achievement gaps and high school drop-outs. “Students and families said they could not see the relevancy of the coursework,” she said. “Students were going from one class to the next in a disconnected way. And because of this lack of relevancy, they were not making it to the finish line.”[21]
District parents voiced concern about the program, saying it could diminish the wide range of elective options available to students. “I think if you have a 91 percent graduation rate (like at West), then there’s probably a better way to help the other 9 percent than reorganizing the entire high school,” Michelle Mouton, a district parent, said. Mouton was also concerned that “pushing pathways so hard and so rapidly” put the district in danger of losing skilled teachers, limited the educational scope of the curriculum offered, and risked losing parent support.[21]
Although the district planned to fully-implement the program by 2022, the administration and Board of Education evaluated whether or not it has been successful enough to move forward with phasing it in.[21]
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2017
The average number of candidates who filed to run in the 2017 Madison Metropolitan school board election was 3.00, which was higher than it has been in at least three years. That number was 1.00 in 2016 and 2015, and it was 1.50 in 2014. In 2015, the district's rate of unopposed seats was 100.00 percent, the Wisconsin state average was 32.00 percent, and the U.S. average was 35.95 percent. During the same year, 35.29 percent of the seats up for election in Wisconsin were filled by newcomers, while newcomers won 40.81 percent of school board seats in the largest school districts across the United States. The state saw a lower rate of seats won by newcomers in 2014 when that rate was 23.33 percent, while it was 38.24 percent in the U.S.
| School board election trends | |||||
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| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Madison Metropolitan School District | |||||
| 2017 | 3.00 | 00.00% | TBD | TBD | |
| 2016 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 00.00% | |
| 2015 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| 2014 | 1.50 | 50.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| Wisconsin | |||||
| 2015 | 1.38 | 32.00% | 84.00% | 35.29% | |
| 2014 | 1.40 | 46.67% | 88.46% | 23.33% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.59% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
About the district
The Madison Metropolitan School District is located in the city of Madison in south-central Wisconsin. Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital of Wisconsin. The city was home to 248,951 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[23] The district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 27,274 students.[24]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Madison outperformed Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 55.1 percent of Madison residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.8 percent for Wisconsin as a whole.[23]
Median household income
From 2011 through 2015, the median household income in Madison was $54,896, compared to $53,357 for the state of Wisconsin. The median household income for the United States during that same period was $53,889.[23]
Poverty rate
The poverty rate in Madison was 19.0 percent from 2011 through 2015. During that same period, the poverty rate for the entire state was 12.1 percent, and for the United States as a whole it was 13.5 percent.[23]
| Racial Demographics, 2010[23] | ||
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| Race | Madison (%) | Wisconsin (%) |
| White | 78.9 | 86.2 |
| Black or African American | 7.3 | 6.3 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Asian | 7.4 | 2.3 |
| Two or More Races | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 6.8 | 5.9 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Madison Metropolitan School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Madison Metropolitan School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Election of School Board Members," accessed January 4, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Let Madison's great school debate begin," January 6, 2017
- ↑ Dane County Clerk, "2017 Spring Primary Unofficial Canvass," accessed February 21, 2017
- ↑ The Cap Times, "Madison School Board candidates debate how to narrow achievement gap," March 17, 2017
- ↑ Dane County, "2017 Spring Election Unofficial Canvas," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates: 2017 Spring Election Edition," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking by Office: 2017 Spring Election - 4/4/2017," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Guided for Candidates," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Cap Times, "Editorial: For School Board: Nicki Vander Meulen and Ali Muldrow," March 23, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Progressive Dane, "2017 Spring Endorsements," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Democratic Party of Dane County, "Endorsed Candidates for April 4," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Ali Muldrow," April 3, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, "Spring Election Endorsements," accessed March 19, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, "WIARA Spring Election Endorsements," March 17, 2017
- ↑ City of Madison, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed March 29, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Cap Times, "Madison School Board candidates debate how to narrow achievement gap," March 17, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Wisconsin State Journal, "With 'pathways' initiative, Madison looks to fundamentally change its high school experience," November 27, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 United States Census Bureau, "Madison, Wisconsin," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Madison Metropolitan School District elections in 2017 | |
| Dane County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | Primary: February 21, 2017 General: April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Seat 6: Cris Carusi • Ali Muldrow • Kate Toews Seat 7: Incumbent, Ed Hughes (Withdrawn) • Matt Andrzejewski • Nicki Vander Meulen |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
