Nancy Van Doren
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Nancy Van Doren is an at-large incumbent on the Arlington Public Schools school board in Virginia. She was appointed to the board for a two-year term in September 2014, following the resignation of board member Noah Simon.[1] She ran unopposed in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Van Doren won re-election in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Van Doren participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Biography
Van Doren previously worked in corporate communications before leaving her job to travel with her husband who is a Foreign Service Officer. She has experience in education and community development. She is also fluent in Spanish. Van Doren has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a master's degree in management from the Hartford Graduate Center.[2]
Elections
2016
Two of the five seats on the Arlington Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Nancy Van Doren and newcomer Tannia Talento ran unopposed and won election to the two seats. Incumbent Emma Violand-Sanchez did not run for re-election to the board.[3]
Results
| Arlington Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Nancy Van Doren Incumbent |
54.16% | 83,721 |
| Tannia Talento |
44.47% | 68,746 |
| Write-in votes | 1.37% | 2,116 |
| Total Votes | 154,583 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 November General Official Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Van Doren reported $65,150.17 in contributions and $59,948.03 in expenditures to the Virginia Department of Elections, which left her campaign with $5,202.14 on hand as of October 17, 2016.[4]
Endorsements
Van Doren received the follow official endorsements:
2016 Arlington school board members
- Emma Violand-Sánchez
- James Lander
- Barbara Kanninen
- Reid Goldstein
Former Arlington school board members
- Elaine Furlow
- Noah Simon
- Diane Smith
Arlington County board members
- Jay Fisette
- Katie Cristol
- Christian Dorsey
Former Arlington County board members
- Mary Hynes
- Walter Tejada
Other county politicians
- Paul Ferguson, Clerk of the Court
- Beth Arthur, Sheriff
- Carla de la Pava, Treasurer
- Theo Stamos, Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney
State politicians
- Patrick Hope (D-47), member of the Virginia House of Delegates
- Alfonso Lopez (D-49), member of the Virginia House of Delegates
- Rip Sullivan (D-48), member of the Virginia House of Delegates
- Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30), member of the Virginia State Senate
- Sen. Barbara Favola (D-31), member of the Virginia State Senate
- Former Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple
Click here for a full list of Van Doren's supporters.
2014
The November 4, 2014, general election in the Arlington Public Schools featured two seats up for election. The at-large seat occupied by Sally M. Baird was open as she did not file for re-election. Barbara Kanninen and Audrey R. Clement vied for her seat, with Kanninen winning. The other race was for a two-year term that resulted from the resignation of board member Noah Simon. Nancy Van Doren was appointed to that seat in September 2014; she ran unopposed in the November election.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Nancy Van Doren Incumbent |
97.2% | 52,719 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 2.8% | 1,492 | |
| Total Votes | 54,211 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "Official Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Nancy Van Doren 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 10, 2016:
| “ | I hope to singularly focus the school system on ensuring every single child is successful in Arlington Public Schools.[5][6] | ” |
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 Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | My top priority is ensuring that every single student succeeds and that teachers have the training and resources to make that happen.[6] | ” |
| —Nancy Van Doren (October 10, 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? |
| Yes. Standardized tests are one of many ways to measure student achievement. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| We use Standards of Learning in Virginia. |
| 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. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| School districts should expel rarely and all other avenues to modify behavior and protect students should be pursued first. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nancy Van Doren Arlington Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Insidenova, "Van Doren appointed to Arlington School Board," September 12, 2014
- ↑ Nancy Van Doren For Arlington School Board, "About Nancy," accessed October 6, 2016
- ↑ Arlington County, Virginia, "Voting and Elections," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Nancy Van Doren's responses," October 10, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Arlington Public Schools Elections | |
| Arlington County, Virginia | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Nancy Van Doren • Tannia Talento |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
| 2014 Arlington Public Schools Elections | |
| Arlington County, Virginia | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Audrey R. Clement • Barbara Kanninen At-large (unexpired term): • Nancy Van Doren |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
