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Matt Andrzejewski
Matt Andrzejewski was a candidate for Seat 7 representative on the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education in Wisconsin. Andrzejewski was defeated in the at-large primary election on February 21, 2017.
Elections
2017
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]
Results
| Madison Metropolitan School District, Seat 7 Primary Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| 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. | ||
Funding
Andrzejewski had not filed a campaign finance report with the City of Madison as of March 1, 2017.[6]
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:[7]
- 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.[8]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[9]
Campaign themes
2017
League of Women Voters questionnaire
Andrzejewski participated in a questionnaire published by the League of Women Voters of Dane County. The questions and his responses are listed below:
| “ | 1. What in your professional and community background qualifies you for this elective office?
I’m a parent, I’m an educator, and I’m a scientist. I’ve been active in my child’s school and the community, volunteering in the classroom, helping run Math Olympiad, coaching softball, and serving as a US Swimming official, to name a few. I currently teach in Psychology and School Psychology Program at UW-Whitewater. I am a well-published neuroscientist and statistician. Currently, I am the President of the Wisconsin Association for Behavior Analysis (WisABA.org) and Vice President of the West Side Swim Club. I’ve worked on countless budgets, chaired committees, and put in the grunt work to get things done. 2. Voters recently approved a referendum question to allow the Madison Metropolitan School District to exceed the state-imposed revenue cap. What criteria will you use to authorize spending of these funds? This is a serious issue, for the referendum meant a tax increase for all of Madison, not just those with students in the district. Thus, any spending authorization will need careful analysis of its costs, both present and future, and benefits. My criteria for authorizing funds, as with all budgetary decisions, will follow from a careful analysis and questioning: what are the goals of this expenditure? What evidence do we have that this program will be effective? How do we measure its effects, to be accountable to the taxpayers? What are the terms of this commitment? 3. What do you see as the pros and cons of the Personalized Pathways program for high schools, which will begin implementation in 2017–2018? The Personalized Pathways program appears to be situated to address some limitations in our current high schools, namely providing career guidance and a post-graduation plan for some students. Its goals are noble. I’m concerned, though, that it might limit many electives for students and places a lot of pressure on 8th-graders to make career choices. The roll out suffered from shortfalls in communication and could have benefited from more teacher, parent, and community buy in. For a superintendent that referred to the “initiative fatigue” facing teachers, the programs seems to do little to alleviate that. 4. With fewer journalists dedicated to covering education issues, what do you see as your role in advocacy with the community? Indeed, the Board of Education needs to be more visible than ever. Members need to be more available: listening and acting on the concerns of our community will be foremost in my mind. Attending events, visiting schools, and going into our community, will help serve part of that function, but not all. And this is where psychological research can help, for we know that families and kids on the margin are not represented in surveys and questionnaires; they are underrepresented. We need to find them, find what they need, and provide the resources for them to succeed.[10] |
” |
| —Matt Andrzejewski (2017)[11] | ||
See also
- Madison Metropolitan School District, Wisconsin
- Madison Metropolitan School District elections (2017)
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
- ↑ City of Madison, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed March 1, 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
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Matt A+ for School Board, "Posts," accessed February 19, 2017
| 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? |
