Mary Pierce

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Mary Pierce

Prior offices

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools school board, District 8

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Education

Bachelor's

University of Mississippi

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Community volunteer

Contact

Personal website

Mary Pierce is the former District 8 incumbent on the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education in Tennessee. She defeated fellow challenger Becky Sharpe in the general election on August 7, 2014. Pierce did not file to run for re-election in 2018.

Biography

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Pierce has her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi. Before staying home to raise her children, she held numerous roles in higher education fundraising. Most recently she served as the director of development for the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. She and her husband, Mark, have four children. At the time of her tenure, Pierce was tutoring students and serving on the Julia Green Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the Nashville Aquatic Club. She and her family attend Fellowship Bible Church.

Elections

2014

See also: Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools elections (2014)

The August 7, 2014, general election ballot for District 2 included incumbent Jo Ann Brannon and candidates Edward Arnold and Bernie Driscoll. The District 4 ballot included incumbent Anna Shepherd and candidates Rhonda F. Dixon and Pam Swoner. District 6 incumbent Cheryl Mayes faced Tyese R. Hunter. The District 8 ballot included candidates Mary Pierce and Becky Sharpe.

Results

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, District 8, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Mary Pierce	56.6%	7,004
	Nonpartisan	Becky Sharpe	43.2%	5,338
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	23
Total Votes				12,365
Source: Nashville, Tennessee, "Election Results August 7, 2014," accessed June 10, 2015

Funding

While the Nashville Election Commission does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports, a recent report by The Nashville Scene stated that the top two fundraisers in this election are Mary Pierce and Becky Sharpe. The two have over $108,000 in contributions. Pierce has a war chest of $66,000 and Sharpe has $42,000, the majority of which came from pro-charter school activists. Pierce spent more at $22,000, most of which was expended on mailers.

Endorsements

Pierce was endorsed by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, in addition to many charter school advocates, including Jeff Bradford, CEO of the Bradford Group.

Campaign themes

Pierce stated the following as her campaign themes on her website:

“

Equip Equip school leaders and teachers with the supports they need to make better informed decisions about how to improve our schools in meaningful ways for our students. We need more transparency of the student academic performance, as well as the per pupil expenditures, so teachers, administrators, and families can be empowered to make better choices. Equip parents with disaggregated data on a school’s performance. Parents should have access to individualized information about their local schools, including the formula used to determine per pupil spending, to make the best decisions on how to educate their children. Equip students with a solid educational foundation before promoting them to the next grade, with early interventions from elementary school to help them get there. As a district, we must ensure that all students are equipped with the skills that provide them with a firm foundation on which to build the rest of their education. Engage Engage teachers, parents, and school leaders in conversations before adopting new policies that affect stakeholders. There is often a disconnect between policy makers’ intent and what actually happens in the classroom. We must consider students across the educational spectrum when making significant changes to district policy. Regular communication between teachers, parents, administrators, and policymakers in the form of town hall meetings and teacher/parent surveys should be used to determine if the policies work both in theory and in practice. I will work relentlessly to ensure that this happens with fidelity. Encourage As a large, urban school district with about 75% of students living in poverty, MNPS has a number of challenges. But, we cannot wait to change the external effects of poverty before we see all students succeed. We can no longer make excuses, and this does not just apply to students living in poverty. It is a false assumption that only students from economically disadvantaged homes come to school without proper support structures in place, and our district must invest in every child’s education regardless of their background because they deserve it. All students can and will succeed and it is up to us to see that happen.

”

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mary + Pierce + Metropolitan + Nashville + Public + Schools"

Mary Pierce News Feed

See also

• Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee
• Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools
• Campaign website
• Facebook page