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Sara Jane Brace
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Sara Jane Brace is an at-large representative on the Allentown City School District school board in Pennsylvania. She was initially appointed to the position in March 2017. Brace won a new term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. If a candidate cross-files, he or she needs to win in one party's primary election to advance to the general election. A candidate may also appear on both party's ballots in the general election if he or she wins both nominations in the primary.
Brace participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to view her responses.
Biography
Brace's professional experience includes working as the executive director of the Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown. She has also worked in the Pre-K Counts programs and in the Pittsburgh public school system. Brace received her master’s in education from DeSales University and her bachelor's in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.[1][2]
Elections
2017
Four seats on the Allentown City School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Democratic and Republican primary elections were held on May 16, 2017.
Board incumbent Sara Jane Brace and newcomer Robert Walker cross-filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Three candidates filed to run as Democrats: Phoebe Harris, Cheryl Johnson Watts, and Lisa Conover. All five candidates advanced to the general election, where Brace, Harris, Watts, and Conover defeated Walker to win election. Brace won both the Democratic and Republican primaries, while Walker won the Republican primary. Harris, Conover, and Watts won the Democratic primary.[3][4][5]
General results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
24.82% | 8,222 | |
| Democratic | Cheryl Johnson Watts |
21.44% | 7,102 | |
| Democratic | Lisa Conover |
21.38% | 7,081 | |
| Democratic | Phoebe Harris |
19.36% | 6,412 | |
| Republican | Robert Walker | 12.99% | 4,303 | |
| Total Votes | 33,120 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County Pennsylvania, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Democratic primary results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Cheryl Johnson Watts |
22.07% | 3,061 | |
| Democratic | Lisa Conover |
21.71% | 3,011 | |
| Democratic | Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
21.62% | 2,999 | |
| Democratic | Phoebe Harris |
19.06% | 2,643 | |
| Democratic | Robert Walker | 15.54% | 2,156 | |
| Total Votes | 13,870 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Republican primary results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large Primary Republican Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Robert Walker |
53.25% | 1,458 | |
| Republican | Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
46.53% | 1,274 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.22% | 6 | ||
| Total Votes | 2,738 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Funding
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[6] | |
|---|---|
| Date | Deadline |
| May 5, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due |
| June 15, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Primary report due |
| October 27, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due |
| December 7, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Election report due |
School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[7]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[6]
Endorsements
Brace received an official endorsement from Planned Parenthood.[8]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Sara Jane Brace participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[9] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 19, 2017:
| “ | I'd like to make sure we are working as a team with the superintendent to make sure the students are ready for the 21st century and providing an education that makes the career and/or college ready.[10][11] | ” |
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 Pennsylvania. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| “ | Ranking something low doesn't mean it's not important. In all honesty I think the school board needs to focus equally on all of these things except expanding school choice (unless done through a way other than vouchers or charter schools).[11] | ” |
| —Sara Jane Brace (September 19, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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. Charter schools are killing our district. Paying over $40 millions dollars each year to schools providing subpar educations is just unacceptable. |
| 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 be involved in the district routinely. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Some children are not high risk test takers. It's that simple. There needs to be a better way to measure student achievement. |
| 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? |
| Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students. Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Teachers should be compensated for a good year, but it shouldn't be tied to test scores alone. Just like an employee receives a bonus in the corporate world teachers should receive the same. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Voucher programs will take much needed money away from public schools and place it in the hands of private and religious schools who are not accountable to the state on the same level as a public school. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used as a last resort (unless the code of conduct requires immediate expulsion due to weapons). Teachers and students need to receive training to address issues that may be in place that are causing the behavior issues in the first place. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. If parents are actively involved in a child's education they will see that education is important. |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Valley Ledger, "ASD School Board Names Sara Jane Brace to Fill Open Position," March 4, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Sara Jane Brace for Allentown School Board," accessed May 31, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County, "Unofficial List of Candidates," accessed March 8, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County Pennsylvania, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ Planned Parenthood, "2017 Voter's Guide," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Sara Jane Brace's responses," September 19, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Allentown City School District elections in 2017 | |
| Lehigh County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Incumbent, Sara Jane Brace (D)(R) • Robert Walker (R) • Phoebe Harris (D) • Lisa Conover (D) • Cheryl Johnson Watts (D) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
