Stephen Blum (Woodland School District school board District 3, Washington, candidate 2025)
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Stephen Blum ran in a special election to the Woodland School District school board District 3 in Washington. He was on the ballot in the special general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
Blum completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Stephen Blum provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 6, 2025:
- Birth date: May 7, 1968
- Birth place: Norwood, Massachusetts
- High school: Westwood High School, Westwood MA
- Bachelor's: University of Massachusetts, 1990
- Bachelor's: Oregon State University, 2001
- Gender: Male
- Religion: None
- Profession: Engineering Manager
- Incumbent officeholder: Yes
- Campaign slogan: Accountability
- Campaign website
Elections
General election
Special general election for Woodland School District school board District 3
Stephen Blum and Marie Wodaege ran in the special general election for Woodland School District school board District 3 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
Stephen Blum (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Marie Wodaege (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Blum received the following endorsements.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Stephen Blum completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Blum's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Hello. I’m Stephen Blum — a Woodland parent, incumbent Director 3, and an engineer who believes in common-sense, data-backed decisions that put students first.
I moved to Woodland for the outdoors and the close-knit community. My kids attend Woodland schools; I watched them — and many classmates — struggle through the pandemic. That’s why I stopped sitting on the sidelines and ran for the school board: to fix problems, measure outcomes, and make sure every child has the tools to thrive.
- Hire the best and hold them accountable. Negotiate fairly with our union partners and hold them accountable for outstanding results for our children. For school board members that means asking why, a lot. "Why do you need to spend tax dollars on this tool or program?" "Why are reading and math results below target and not progressing as fast as expected?" "Why is this demographic of our students struggling and what is being done to bring them up?"
- Less reliance on technology. Passive learning has it’s place but should not replace hands on learning. More pen and paper and books and less screen time. Technology is great as an adjunct or accessory, but real learning isn't passive. Real learning requires students and teachers engaged and doing.
- Universal free breakfast. Hungry kids can’t focus on learning, eliminate the stigma of free meals for kids who qualify. Currently utilization of these programs is very low at the middle and high schools in our town. Kids want to fit in, no one wants to be the "poor" kid eating a free meal. We can fix that, and it won't cost very much, and then every child can focus on their core job at school, learning.
I am passionate about equitable funding of publc education. Education is the foundation of democracy and the American dream. All children deserve the best education possible.
I look up to people that blaze their own path, who get an idea and follow it regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. An example would be Thor Hyerdahl. He believed strongly in his theory of South Pacific human travel, so strongly that he bet his life on a balsa wood raft and prevailing winds. While I don't want to have a life that adventurous I want to be rememberd as a person who chased his dreams and left it all on the field.
Honesty, empathy, transparency.
School board directors core responsiblities:
1. Ensure that tax dollars are spent on things with a positive ROI for students.
2. Hold the administration accoutnable for results.
I would like my legacy to be that I was an honest, hard working person who loved his family, chased his dreams and put his heart into whatever he did.
The first major historical event I remember was Watergate, I beleive I was 6 years old.
As a child I always had a job; splitting wood for our stove, mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow. I was proud to earn my own money. My first formal job was as a kitchen aid at a local, private mental hospital in the town I grew up in.
The Old Man and the Sea. This book distills so many of the challenges we face in life into their raw basic elements. Man against nature, the marlin and the sharks and the weather. Man against man, the competition with the other fishermen, and man against himself, the internal struggle Santiago endured to not give up no matter how much he suffered.
Santiago, the fisherman.
I am a recovering alcoholic and addict, sober since 1/4/92. Getting sober was a big struggle, however being an alcoholic has been one of the greatest gifts I have recieved. It led me to recovery and the greatest group of freinds any man could ask for.
The primary job of school board directors are to base all decisions and actions on what is in the best interest of the students.
All the people of Woodland. People without children in the district still pay taxes that fund district operations, they are owed a positive ROI in terms of a well run district that makes Woodland a more desirable place to live.
Listen. Hear what my constituents are saying are roadblocks to progress and do what is in my power to remove those.
I will build relationships with the community by being available, by listening to their concerns and by being transparent regarding what I can, can't or won't support and why. My target audience is all Woodland residents, we are all in this together.
Good teaching is best measured by student engagement and success. The best measures, in my opinion are continuously improving metrics in reading and mathematics.
I support policies that enhance emotional safety for all in district schools.
IBEW48, UFCW555, SWWACLC, WEAPAC
In my opinion the ideal learning environment is classes that are small enough to allow teachers to tailor their approach to each student.
I believe that discipline should be fair, swift and meaningful, disruption of class cannot be tolerated. I beleive that learning is best done by doing, I want to see more time with pencil and paper and books and less reliance on passive learning through technology.
I believe that discipline should be fair, swift and meaningful, disruption of class cannot be tolerated. I beleive that learning is best done by doing, I want to see more time with pencil and paper and books and less reliance on passive learning through technology.
I will build a relationship with parents by putting myself out there. Attending all civic activities I can and making sure my email address is front and center and that I respond to all who reach out to me. They may not get the reponse they want, but they will be heard and get a response.
I believe district success is the best recruitment tool. After that I believe what my construction foreman father told me; "If you pay peanuts, you hire monkeys." I will always push the district to negotiate fairly and generously during collective bargaining, the best people have options, let's make Woodland Schools their choice.
I would like to see calculus added to the high school math curriculum.
I am not a fan of artificial intelligence. As a quick resource to get a high level overview of a subject it is fine, but beyond that I think AI has little or no place in education.
I built my own boat, Lokomaikai (the Hawaiian word for grace) a 24' ocean capable sport fishing boat. It took me five and a half years, yes I have a very patient wife, to build and because of the twists and turns of life it took me seven years from inspiration to actually starting to make sawdust.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Blum completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Woodland School District school board District 3 |
Footnotes
