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Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools elections (2014)
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Four seats on the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on August 7, 2014. Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 were up for re-election.
District 2, 4 and 6 incumbents all faced challengers. District 2 incumbent Jo Ann Brannon defeated Edward Arnold and Bernie Driscoll. District 4 incumbent Anna Shepherd triumphed over Rhonda F. Dixon and Pam Swoner. District 6 incumbent Cheryl Mayes was unseated by challenger Tyese R. Hunter. District 8 incumbent Michael Hayes did not file for re-election; Mary Pierce defeated Becky Sharpe to take his seat.
About the district
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is located in Davidson County, Tennessee. The county seat of Davidson County is Nashville. Davidson County was home to 626,681 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools was the second-largest school district in Tennessee, serving 80,393 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[2]
Demographics
Davidson County overperformed in comparison to the rest of Tennessee in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 35.0 percent of Davidson County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 23.5 percent for Tennessee as a whole. The median household income in Davidson County was $46,676 compared to $44,140 for the state of Tennessee. The poverty rate in Davidson County was 18.5 percent compared to 17.3 percent for the entire state.[1]
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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.
Voter and candidate information
The Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education consists of nine members elected to four-year terms by specific geographic district. There
was
no primary election, and the general election
was
held on August 7, 2014. Four seats
were
up for election in 2014.[4]
The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was April 3, 2014, and the deadline to withdraw was April 10, 2014.[5]
Elections
2014
Candidates
District 2
- Jo Ann Brannon
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Central State University, University of Northern Colorado and Vanderbilt University
- Retired educator
- Edward Arnold
- Graduate, Middle Tennessee State University
- Educator
- Bernie Driscoll
District 4
- Anna Shepherd
- Incumbent
- Active community member
- Rhonda F. Dixon
- Software tester, consultant
- Pam Swoner
- Business owner, Nashville Cameras
District 6
- Cheryl Mayes
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Tennessee State University
- Community volunteer
- Tyese R. Hunter
- Graduate, Auburn University and Tennessee State University
- Professor, Tennessee State University
District 8
- Mary Pierce
- Graduate, Mississippi University
- Community volunteer
- Becky Sharpe
- Graduate, Vanderbilt University
- Business owner, International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. and Collegiate Sports Data
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Jo Ann Brannon Incumbent |
55.7% | 3,233 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bernie Driscoll | 32.6% | 1,893 | |
| Nonpartisan | Edward Arnold | 11.4% | 659 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 21 | |
| Total Votes | 5,806 | |||
| Source: Nashville, Tennessee, "Election Results August 7, 2014," accessed June 10, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Anna Shepherd Incumbent |
38.4% | 2,348 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rhonda F. Dixon | 35.1% | 2,151 | |
| Nonpartisan | Pam Swoner | 26.2% | 1,603 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 19 | |
| Total Votes | 6,121 | |||
| Source: Nashville, Tennessee, "Election Results August 7, 2014," accessed June 10, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Tyese R. Hunter |
57.9% | 2,345 | |
| Nonpartisan | Cheryl Mayes Incumbent | 41.7% | 1,688 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 18 | |
| Total Votes | 4,051 | |||
| Source: Nashville, Tennessee, "Election Results August 7, 2014," accessed June 10, 2015 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
Endorsements
In District 2, incumbent Jo Ann Brannon was endorsed by the Metro Nashville Education Association, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Women in Numbers, a local action group. Challenger Bernie Driscoll was endorsed by the Service Employees International Union, in addition prominent charter school backer Jeff Bradford, CEO of the Bradford Group. Edward Arnold has not received any major endorsements.
In District 4, incumbent Anna Shepherd was endorsed by the Metro Nashville Education Association, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Women In Numbers and Stand For Children, a local action group. Challenger Rhonda F. Dixon was endorsed by the Service Employees International Union, Stand For Children and many charter school advocates, including Jeff Bradford. Pam Swoner was endorsed by the Service Employees International Union.
In District 6, incumbent Cheryl Mayes was endorsed by the Metro Nashville Education Association, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Women in Numbers. Challenger Tyese R. Hunter was endorsed by the Service Employees International Union, Stand for Children and Jeff Bradford.
In District 8, Mary Pierce was endorsed by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, in addition to many charter school advocates, including Jeff Bradford. Becky Sharpe was endorsed by Women in Numbers, the Service Employees International Union and the Metro Nashville Education Association.[6][7][8]
Campaign finance
The Nashville Election Commission does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. However, The Nashville Scene published a news article containing a limited amount of financial information after the second campaign finance filing deadline.
The article stated that Metropolitan Nashville school board candidates raised over quarter of a million dollars in this election. Major contributors included the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, which divided $30,000 up among the three incumbents and District 8 candidate Mary Pierce. Other than the chamber, incumbents have collectively received over 20 donations, though they are small in comparison to the chamber's donation. The Service Employees International Union backed all the challengers in the 2014 race, donating over $6,000 to their campaigns. The two largest fundraisers in this election were the District 8 candidates, Becky Sharpe and Mary Pierce, who raised over $108,000 in contributions. Pierce had a war chest of $66,000 and Sharpe has $42,000, the majority of which has come from pro-charter school activists. Pierce also spent more at $22,000, most of which was expended on mailers.[6]
Past elections
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2012
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What was at stake?
Issues in the election
Satellite spending and charter schools
As of June 2014, CEOs, investors, business executives, doctors, lawyers, parents and homemakers had donated over a quarter million dollars into the 2014 school board races. And those with the biggest contributions in their war chests were candidates on board with charter schools. Candidates Rhonda F. Dixon, Bernie Driscoll, Tyese R. Hunter and Mary Pierce maintained a positive view on charter schools and their effect on the district, while incumbents Jo Ann Brannon, Cheryl Mayes, Anna Shepherd and candidate Becky Sharpe were less enthusiastic about their implementation. The Nashville Chamber of Commerce contributed a significant amount of money into the race, splitting $30,000 up amongst the three incumbent board members and District 6 candidate Mary Pierce.[6]
Views on Common Core
A large issue in the Metropolitan Nashville school board race was Common Core. District 4 candidate Pam Swoner maintained that the standards were too confusing for children, saying that the nation, "[needs] to go back to a basic structure where there is fundamental information given to the children and give them some time outside so they can run and play and make them happy.” District 2 candidate Bernie Driscoll differed from Swoner and claimed that the standards weren't stringent enough. All three incumbents who ran for re-election, Jo Ann Brannon in District 2, Anna Shepherd in District 4 and Cheryl Mayes in District 6 stand behind Common Core. According to Mayes, those who oppose the standards "don’t really understand it."[9]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools election in 2014:[5][10]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2014 | First day to pick up nominating petitions |
| April 3, 2014 | Last day to file nominating petitions |
| April 10, 2014 | Last day to withdraw and last day to file first campaign finance report |
| May 5, 2014 | Last day to file statement of interests with the Tennessee Ethics Commission |
| June 18, 2014 | Last day to file as a write-in candidate |
| July 8, 2014 | Voter registration deadline |
| July 10, 2014 | Last day to file second campaign finance report |
| July 18, 2014 | Early voting begins |
| July 31, 2014 | Last day to file third campaign finance report |
| August 2, 2014 | Early voting ends and last day to withdraw as a write-in candidate |
| August 7, 2014 | Election day |
Additional elections on the ballot
This election shared the ballot with primary elections for several Tennessee state executive offices, state legislative seats and federal legislative seats in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. It also shared the ballot with county, municipal, and judicial elections.[11]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Metropolitan + Nashville + Public + Schools + Tennessee"
See also
- Tennessee
- Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee
- Tennessee school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Davidson County, Tennessee ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Tennessee
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "Davidson County, Tennessee," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, "Board Members," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tennessee Department of State-Election Information, "Election Calendar," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Nashville Scene, "The new norm in Nashville: House-race money for school-board races," July 17, 2014
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Charter issue may dominate school board races — again," May 20, 2014
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Nashville chamber endorses school board incumbents," June 19, 2014
- ↑ Nashville Public Radio, "Nashville School Board Candidates Wander All Over The Map On Common Core," July 21, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Dates," accessed June 27, 2014
- ↑ Nashville, TN, "August Sample Ballot," accessed July 23, 2014
| 2014 Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Elections | |
| Davidson County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 7, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Incumbent, Jo Ann Brannon • Edward Arnold • Bernie Driscoll District 4: • Incumbent, Anna Shepherd • Rhonda F. Dixon • Pam Swoner |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
