Matthew Hanser
Matthew Hanser was the District 8 representative on the Racine Board of Education in Wisconsin. Hanser won a three-year term in the general election on April 5, 2016.[1]
Biography
Hanser earned his B.S. in education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He later received his master's degree in educational leadership from Cardinal Stritch University. Hanser was a teacher with Kenosha Unified School District from 1997 to 2007. He left the position to become a UniServ director with the Illinois Education Association.[2]
Elections
2016
The 2016 election for all nine seats on the Racine Unified School District was the district's first using a by district system rather than electing members at-large. A primary election was held on February 16, 2016, for Districts 6 and 7 with the general election on April 5, 2016. Board candidates were required to live in their election districts. The change was enshrined in state law through legislation sponsored by State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) and State Rep. Tom Weatherson (R), who represent districts that include Racine. The election districts approved by the school board on October 27, 2015, led to three races in 2016 where three incumbents were assured defeat because they faced fellow board members.[3][4]
Candidates backed by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO won seven of the board's nine seats in 2016. Michelle Duchow in District 1 was not endorsed due to her unopposed race and District 9 winner Robert Wittke was endorsed by The Journal Times as a candidate who would stand up to unions.
District 1 candidate Michelle Duchow was the only unopposed candidate in the race. Dennis Wiser defeated fellow incumbent John Koetz in District 2, while incumbent Michael Frontier ousted fellow board member Pamala Handrow in District 3. Julie McKenna defeated Kim Plache to take the District 4 seat. Challenger Steven Hooper defeated incumbent Chuck Goodremote for the District 5 seat. Newcomer Matthew Hanser narrowly defeated board president Melvin Hargrove in District 8. Incumbent Don Nielsen finished first in the District 7 race against challenger Brian O'Connell. Nielsen and O'Connell defeated Adrienne Moore in the primary. Three newcomers were guaranteed to join the board after this election with no incumbents running in Districts 1, 6 and 9. John Heckenlively defeated Jim Venturini for the District 6 seat, while Robert Wittke defeated Kurt Squire in District 9.[4] Ernest Ni'A was defeated by Heckenlively and Venturini in the District 6 primary. Bryn Biemeck was removed from the ballot in District 6 following a Wisconsin Government Accountability Board appeal by the Racine Education Association.[5]
Results
| Racine Unified School District, District 8 General Election, 3-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Matthew Hanser |
50.19% | 2,196 |
| Melvin Hargrove Incumbent | 49.81% | 2,179 |
| Total Votes | 4,375 | |
| Source: Racine Unified School District, "Racine Board of Education Official Election Results," accessed June 15, 2016 | ||
Endorsements
Hanser received the endorsement of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.[6]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Matthew Hanser 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 March 19, 2016:
| “ | If elected to the school board I hope to ensure that everyone in the community gets what they need, including my own children who attend RUSD schools. I have the expertise to urge our district forward so together we can continue to build a school system that meets the needs of our most important assets. Our students.[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 Wisconsin. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Closing the achievement and opportunity gaps are of utmost importance. Strong schools are the foundation of a strong community. The Board of Education must engage our community in a dialog so we can create schools where students and staff feel supported, valued, and safe.[8] | ” |
| —Matthew Hanser (March 19, 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 would be willing to consider proposals for new charter schools on a case-by-case basis. |
| 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. Standardized tests may provide a baseline of student achievement. However, standardized tests do not accurately portray the cultural diversity, background knowledge or life experiences that a student has. These tests only show where a student's knowledge may be on a given day, not what they are actually capable of learning. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The CCSS are designed to prepare students to enter college or a career. The standards provide a goal for students to aspire to. This doesn't have to be bad. I will work towards ensuring educators have the appropriate materials, professional development, and voice in both areas. I am also of the opinion that the implementation of CCSS may need to be decelerated. Wisconsin adopted the CCSS in 2010. We have been holding educators and students accountable for these standards since then. I believe the implementation of CCSS needs to build slowly between grades to give every stakeholder the opportunity to become comfortable using the CCSS successfully. |
| 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. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. When it comes to underperforming teachers, I believe a school district has the obligation to find out a teachers' strengths and weaknesses. Once those are defined it is the responsibility of the school district to help the teacher build on those strengths and address those weaknesses. I am of the opinion that teachers themselves are not underperforming, rather, they have not had the opportunity to fully develop their professional skillset. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Rarely. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Teachers are the most important factor for success in the classroom. When a teacher has adequate resources to support instruction they are better able to meet the diverse needs of students. |
Additional themes
Hanser answered the following questions from The Journal Times:
| “ |
1) Last year, the School Board was divided for months on the district’s employee handbook. What role should administrators, unions and the board have in future handbook changes? The three parties should actively engage in a collaborative, consensus-based problem solving process to determine what best meets the interests of the staff and the students they serve. 2) The district recently entered into a tentative agreement to buy the Sturtevant Sportsplex for $5.2 million, and the district is studying how to use and pay for the complex before the board’s May 10 deadline to approve the deal. If you are elected, under what conditions would you support the district buying the Sportsplex? I think the RUSD should first evaluate the space needs of the district. Once the needs have been identified, the current facilities should be evaluated and then a determination made about what is needed, if anything, going forward. I would use the findings as the guide in determining if purchasing the Sportsplex is the appropriate path to address those needs. 3) As the district implements block scheduling in high schools next year in preparation for new career academies, some have criticized the district for moving ahead on the change too fast, most notably employee unions. Should the district go ahead with block scheduling next year? Why or why not? I do support block scheduling. However, I do not support implementing block scheduling as early as the 2016-2017 school year. There is a lot of professional development that goes into modifying curriculum, writing schedules and researching best practices for block scheduling. I think it is in the best interest of all stakeholders that those implementing the block scheduling have the proper training, knowledge and comfort level to bring about this change effectively. 4) Over the last year, the villages of Caledonia, Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant have been weighing whether to fund a study of leaving the Racine Unified School District. Would you support these communities breaking away from Unified? Why or why not? This is an issue that is community specific and the residents’ voices need to be heard so an informed decision can be made. With an open mind I will listen to the residents of the respective communities before I make any decision on this issue. 5) If elected, what is the most pressing change you would push for the district to make? If elected, the most pressing change I would push for is equity of voice. The School Board has an obligation to hear all voices that have a stake in our community, our students and our schools. |
” |
| —Matthew Hanser (2016), [9] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Matthew Hanser' 'Racine School Board'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedlist - ↑ Facebook, "Hanser for Board of Education: Bio," accessed March 10, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namednewmap - ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Journal Times, "Election filings, Racine County school boards," January 6, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbiemeck - ↑ Wisconsin AFL-CIO, "2016 Spring Election Candidate Endorsements," March 10, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Matthew Hanser's responses," March 19, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Matthew Hanser on the issues," March 23, 2016
