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Portland Public Schools elections (2015)
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Four seats on the Portland Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on May 19, 2015. All of the seats were elected at-large, meaning all voters in the district were eligible to vote for every seat up for election.
Zone 1 incumbent Ruth Adkins, Zone 2 incumbent Matt Morton, Zone 3 incumbent Bobbie Regan and Zone 7 incumbent Greg Belisle's seats were up for election, but Regan was the only incumbent to file to seek re-election. He faced three challengers, Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm, Gretchen Hollands and Wes Soderback, and was defeated by Kohnstamm.
Julie Esparza Brown defeated Andrew Davidson in the race for the open Zone 1 seat. Four candidates, Paul Anthony, José González, Emma Russac Williams and John Sweeney, filed for the open Zone 2 race. Anthony triumphed over his three fellow challengers in that race. Mike Rosen won the open Zone 7 seat unopposed.
About the district
- See also: Portland Public Schools, Oregon
Portland Public Schools is based in Portland, the county seat of Multnomah County, in northeastern Oregon. The county was home to an estimated 766,135 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] Portland Public Schools was the largest school district in the state serving 46,930 students in the 2011-2012 school year.[2]
Demographics
Multnomah County outperformed Oregon as a whole in terms of higher education achievement and median household income while it underperformed in terms of poverty rate in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 39.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had earned a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 29.7 percent of residents statewide. The median household income in the county was $52,511 while it was $50,229 for the state. The percentage of persons below the poverty line in Multnomah County was 17.8 percent in comparison to 16.2 percent for the entirety of Oregon.[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 Portland Board of Education consists of seven members who are elected at-large to four-year terms. While elected at-large, each seat on the board has a zone number associated with it, and candidates must live in the zone they run for. The seat numbers correlate to geographic areas in the district. They serve to separate the elections for each seat on the board into its own race. Candidates filed to run for a specific seat in the zone of their residence, but all voters in the school district were eligible to vote for both seats up for election. There was no primary election, and the general election for Zones 1, 2, 3 and 7 was May 19, 2015.
Candidates were required to file for the election by March 19, 2015. Voters were required to register by April 28, 2015, in order to vote in this election.
Elections
2015
Candidates
Zone 1
Julie Esparza Brown 
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Andrew Davidson | ||
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Zone 2
| Paul Anthony
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José González | ||
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| Emma Russac Williams | John Sweeney | ||
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Zone 3
| Bobbie Regan | Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm
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| Gretchen Hollands | Wes Soderback | ||
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Zone 7
| Mike Rosen | |
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District map
While candidates had to reside in the zone they were running for, all of the seats were voted upon at-large. The map below outlines the geographic zones in which the candidates were required to reside to run for the respective seats.
Election results
Zone 1
| Portland Public Schools, Zone 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Julie Esparza Brown |
77.5% | 39,230 | |
| Nonpartisan | Andrew Davidson | 22% | 11,135 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.5% | 276 | |
| Total Votes | 50,641 | |||
| Source: Washington County Elections Divsion, "Official Summary Report: Special District Election May 19, 2015," June 4, 2015, Multnomah County, Oregon, "May 2015 Special Election Results," June 3, 2015, and Clackamas County, Oregon, "Specail District Election May 19, 2015, Official Results for Election," accessed June 9, 2015 | ||||
Zone 2
| Portland Public Schools, Zone 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Anthony |
54.1% | 27,471 | |
| Nonpartisan | José González | 28.3% | 14,356 | |
| Nonpartisan | Emma Russac Williams | 11.4% | 5,808 | |
| Nonpartisan | John Sweeney | 5.7% | 2,900 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 219 | |
| Total Votes | 50,754 | |||
| Source: Washington County Elections Divsion, "Official Summary Report: Special District Election May 19, 2015," June 4, 2015, Multnomah County, Oregon, "May 2015 Special Election Results," June 3, 2015, and Clackamas County, Oregon, "Specail District Election May 19, 2015, Official Results for Election," accessed June 9, 2015 | ||||
Zone 3
| Portland Public Schools, Zone 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm |
44.2% | 23,412 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bobbie Regan Incumbent | 40.7% | 21,526 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gretchen Hollands | 9.9% | 5,232 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wes Soderback | 4.8% | 2,524 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.5% | 240 | |
| Total Votes | 52,934 | |||
| Source: Washington County Elections Divsion, "Official Summary Report: Special District Election May 19, 2015," June 4, 2015, Multnomah County, Oregon, "May 2015 Special Election Results," June 3, 2015, and Clackamas County, Oregon, "Specail District Election May 19, 2015, Official Results for Election," accessed June 9, 2015 | ||||
Zone 7
| Portland Public Schools, Zone 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Rosen |
97.6% | 39,283 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 2.4% | 981 | |
| Total Votes | 40,264 | |||
| Source: Washington County Elections Divsion, "Official Summary Report: Special District Election May 19, 2015," June 4, 2015, Multnomah County, Oregon, "May 2015 Special Election Results," June 3, 2015, and Clackamas County, Oregon, "Specail District Election May 19, 2015, Official Results for Election," accessed June 9, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
The Oregonian endorsed Julie Esparza Brown, Paul Anthony, Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm and Mike Rosen for Zones 1, 2, 3 and 7, respectively.[4] The Portland Association of Teachers shared the paper's endorsements for all races except Zone 3. The teacher's union endorsed Bobbie Regan for that seat, instead.[5]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $411,806.09 and spent a total of $407,272.45 in this election, according to the Oregon Secretary of State. These totals include in-kind contributions and expenditures. The "cash on hand" column in the table below additioanlly includes prior campaign account balances that were rolled into candidates' 2015 campaigns and outstanding loans, personal expenditures and accounts payable.[6]
| Candidate | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand |
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| Zone 1 | |||
| Julie Esparza Brown | $8,856.07 | $8,561.26 | $294.81 |
| Andrew Davidson | $6,485.00 | $4,033.00 | $2,802.00 |
| Zone 2 | |||
| Paul Anthony | $35,224.27 | $33,767.01 | -$9,674.71 |
| José González | $36,075.03 | $32,040.90 | $4,023.73 |
| Emma Russac Williams | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| John Sweeney | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Zone 3 | |||
| Bobbie Regan | $180,037.74 | $184,209.93 | -$42,073.07 |
| Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm | $129,595.48 | $127,930.17 | $1,505.49 |
| Gretchen Hollands | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Wes Soderback | $0.00 | $216.50 | -$2,476.89 |
| Zone 7 | |||
| Mike Rosen | $15,532.50 | $16,730.18 | $911.77 |
Candidates whose committees expected to receive or spend more than $3,500 in a calendar year were required to file campaign finance reports according to the following rules:[7]
- Transactions occurring before March 7, 2015, were required to be filed by the 30th day after the date of the transaction.
- Transactions between March 8, 2015, and April 6, 2015, were required to be filed on April 14, 2015.
- Transactions between April 7, 2015, and May 19, 2015, were required to be filed by the seventh day after the date of the transaction.
Committees who did not expect to surpass the expenditure or contribution threshold were allowed to file a "Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures". If they later surpassed the limit, they were then required to file all transactions from the calendar year.[7]
Past elections
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2013Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
2011Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Zone 7
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the election
The 2015 election for the Portland Public Schools Board of Education was the most competitive out of the district's most recent elections. In 2011, the district's elections averaged 2.5 candidates per seat up for election. That number dropped to just 1.67 in the 2013 election. By contrast, an average of 2.75 candidates filed for each seat up for election in the district on the 2015 ballot.
Just one incumbent sought re-election in 2015, which was down from two in both 2011 and 2013. Of the four incumbents who sought re-election in those two years, three retained their seats for a retention rate of 75 percent.
The 2015 election was on par with other recent elections for the number of unopposed races. In 2011, 2013 and 2015, one seat up for election saw only one official candidate file for it. This made for an average unopposed race percentage of 27.27 percent over the three elections.
Issues in the district
Common Core debate: opt-outs and opposition from teacher's union
Conflict over Common Core standards, heatedly debated nationwide, came to the surface in Portland Public Schools as the first year of testing to the new standards took effect. Opposition from teachers and parents led to higher opt-out rates in Portland than in its neighboring districts.[8]
As of April 10, 2015, approximately 5 percent of students at Portland Public Schools had opted out of Common Core testing. This was higher than other local school districts, such as Hillsboro, Beaverton and North Clackamas. Oregon only allowed children to be opted out from testing due to disabilities or religious beliefs.[8]
The opt-outs also came on the heels of the Portland Association of Teachers publicly decrying the "Smarter Balanced" tests, which are based on the Common Core standards, in February 2015. According to the Oregon Department of Education, the district's overall rating could be affected if less than 95 percent of students in particular categories, such as English language learners, do not participate in the testing.[8]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Oregon school board elections:[9][7]
| Deadline | Event |
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| February 7, 2015- March 19, 2015 |
Candidate filing period |
| March 19, 2015 | Deadline for candidates to withdraw |
| March 23, 2015 | Candidate statements for voters' pamphlet deadline |
| April 7, 2015- May 19, 2015 |
Seven day campaign finance reporting period |
| April 14, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| April 28, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| May 5, 2015 | Last day to mail ballots |
| May 19, 2015 | Election Day |
| June 8, 2015 | Certified election results deadline |
| June 23, 2015 | Last day to file recount demand |
| July 1, 2015 | New school board terms begin |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Oregon elections, 2015
Positions on the Multnomah Education Service District, Mount Hood Community College, water district and rural fire protection district were up for election on May 19, 2015, as well.[10]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Portland Public Schools Oregon. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Portland Public Schools | Oregon | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "State & County QuickFacts: Multnomah County, Oregon," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed August 5, 2014
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Election History," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ The Oregonian, "Four picks for Portland School Board: Editorial endorsement," April 26, 2015
- ↑ Portland Association of Teachers, "Home," accessed May 11, 2015
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Committee/Filer Search by Name," accessed June 17, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Manual," January 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Oregonian, "5 percent of Portland Public Schools students opt out of Common Core tests," April 11, 2015
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "2015 ELECTIONS CALENDAR," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Multnomah County Election Division, "Board Positions Scheduled for May 2015 Election," accessed March 18, 2015
| 2015 Portland Public Schools Elections | |
| Multnomah County, Oregon | |
| Election date: | May 19, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Zone 1: Julie Esparza Brown • Andrew Davidson Zone 2: Paul Anthony • José González • Emma Russac Williams • John Sweeney |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
