Martha Cherry Mentzer
Martha Mentzer was a candidate for District 4 representative on the Brunswick County Schools school board in North Carolina. Mentzer lost the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Elections
2016
Three of the five seats on the Brunswick County Schools school board—Districts 1, 2 and 4—were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. All three seats saw Republican primary elections on March 15, 2016. No Democrats filed for the District 1 race, which left the Republican primary winner without any official opposition in the general election. The other two primary winners each faced a Democratic challenger in the general election.[1][2]
District 1 incumbent Olaf Thorsen did not file to see a third term on the board. Republicans Harry "Ed" Lemon Jr., Gene Steadman Jr. and Joseph "Joey" Causey were on the primary ballot. Harry "Ed" Lemon Jr. won the primary and, having faced no formal opposition in the general election, won the seat. Write-in votes were allowed.
In District 2, the Republican primary election showed that incumbent Catherine Cooke could defeat challengers Christy Faircloth Judah and Steve Wray. Cooke faced Sharon Woodard Crawford (D) on the general election ballot and won re-election to her seat.
District 4 saw the fewest Republican filings of the three races, but a primary was still necessary. Ellen Milligan (R) successfully challenged incumbent Shirley Babson and faced Marty Mentzer (D) in November. Milligan won the general election.[3]
Results
| Brunswick County Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ellen Gore Milligan |
63.12% | 40,243 | |
| Democrat | Martha Cherry Mentzer | 36.88% | 23,515 | |
| Total Votes (100) | 63,758 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official General Election Results-Brunswick," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||||
Funding
Mentzer reported $1,452.00 in contributions and $231.01 in expenditures to the Brunswick County Board of Elections, leaving her campaign with $1,220.99 cash on hand as of July 11, 2016.[4]
School board candidates in North Carolina were required to file campaign finance reports to their county's board of elections unless the candidate:
(1) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in contributions, and
(2) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in loans, and
(3) Did not spend more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).[5]
The third quarter campaign finance deadline was October 31, 2016, and the fourth quarter deadline was January 11, 2017.[6]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Martha Mentzer 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 October 2, 2016:
| “ | 1. Reduce the drop out rate. 2. Transparency and accountability. 3. Retain and support quality teachers.[7][8] | ” |
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 North Carolina. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | The number 1 priority is decreasing the drop out rate and expanding vocational options[8] | ” |
| —Marty Mentzer (October 2, 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. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Tests are often biased against students who are capable of analysis and therefore less able to respond definitively to multiple choice questions. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| It's worthy of more study. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Merit pay divides teachers into non-significant groups which disguises the real problem of inadequate teacher pay. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I am for 100% of public money for public schools |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used in extreme cases only. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Martha Mentzer' 'Brunswick County Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Brunswick County Board of Elections, "Primary Election Candidate List," January 19, 2016
- ↑ Brunswick County Board of Elections, "General Election Candidate List," January 4, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Unofficial General Election Results-Brunswick," accessed November 8, 2016
- ↑ Brunswick County Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Chapter 163: Elections And Election Laws, Article 22A - Regulating Contributions and Expenditures in Political Campaigns," accessed February 11, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Reporting Schedules," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Martha Mentzer's responses," October 2, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Brunswick County Schools Elections | |
| Brunswick County, North Carolina. | |
| Election date: | Primary: March 15, 2016 General: November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 1: Joseph "Joey" Causey (R) • Harry "Ed" Lemon Jr. (R) • Gene Steadman Jr. (R) District 2: Incumbent, Catherine Cooke (R) • Christy Faircloth Judah (R) • Steve Wray (R) • Sharon Woodard Crawford (D) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
