Steven Siegel
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Steven Siegel is the Ward 5 representative on the Newton Public Schools school board in Massachusetts. First elected in 2011, Siegel won a new term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Siegel resides in Newton, Massachusetts. Siegel studied at the University of Connecticut before founding his own structural design engineering firm, Siegel Associates, in 1994.[1] He served on the Newton STEM Council and contributed guest opinion columns to the Newton TAB.[2]
Elections
2017
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2017)
Eight seats on the Newton Public Schools School Committee were up for general election on November 7, 2017. All nine seats on the board were up for election. The ninth seat on the board was held by the mayor of Newton, but was not covered by Ballotpedia as the city fell outside of municipal elections coverage.[3][4]
In the race for the open Ward 1 seat, Bridget Ray-Canada defeated Kathleen Marchi. In Ward 2, incumbent Margaret Albright won re-election, defeating former candidate Cyrus Vaghar, whom she had previously defeated in 2015. Anping Shen won the race for the open Ward 3 seat, defeating Eileen Sandberg. Incumbents Diana Fisher Gomberg, Steven Siegel, and Ruth Goldman ran unopposed for the Ward 4, 5, and 6 seats, respectively, and newcomer Kathleen Shields ran unopposed for the open Ward 7 seat. The race for the open Ward 8 seat was won by Matthew Miller. He defeated Gail Spector in the general election.[5][6]
Results
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 5 General Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Steven Siegel Incumbent (unopposed) |
99.38% | 10,313 |
| Write-in votes | 0.62% | 64 |
| Total Votes | 10,377 | |
| Source: City of Newton, "11/07/17 Local Election Official Results," accessed December 8, 2017 | ||
Funding
Siegel reported no contributions or expenditures to the Newton Elections Office in the election, which left his campaign with $245.00 on hand from his previous campaign.[7]
Endorsements
Siegel was endorsed by the following elected officials:[8]
|
Siegel was also endorsed by former officials and community members. Click here for a list of his supporters.
2015
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2015)
The Newton School Committee consists of nine members, eight of whom are elected to two-year terms. The ninth member and chair of the board is the Mayor of Newton. The other eight members of the board are elected at large, although each member represents a different ward in the school district. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. All eight seats were on the ballot in 2015.[9]
All incumbents sought re-election; only two saw challengers on the ballot. Ward 2 incumbent Margaret L. Albright defeated Cyrus Vaghar, while Ward 5 incumbent Steven Siegel won re-election against Susan Huffman.[10]
The following incumbents won re-election unopposed: Ellen P. Gibson in Ward 1, Angela Pitter-Wright in Ward 3, Diana Fisher Gomberg in Ward 4, Ruth E. Goldman in Ward 6, Matt Hills in Ward 7, and Margie Ross Decter in Ward 8.[10]
Results
| Newton School Committee, Ward 5, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Steven Siegel Incumbent |
67.5% | 4,903 |
| Susan Huffman | 32.3% | 2,352 |
| Write-in votes | 0.27% | 20 |
| Total Votes | 7,275 | |
| Source: Newton Election Commission, "November 3, 2015 Official Results," accessed December 17, 2015 | ||
Funding
The Newton Election Commission does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Siegel in the election.
2013
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2013)
Siegel ran unopposed to keep his Ward 5 seat in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 5 General Election, 2-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Steven Siegel Incumbent |
99.3% | 5,797 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.7% | 38 | |
| Total Votes | 5,835 | |||
| Source: Newton, Massachusetts, "Official Results - November 5, 2013," accessed December 18, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Siegel reported no 2013 contributions or expenditures, an existing balance of $20.00 and $3,271.17 in outstanding liabilities to the Newton Election Commission, which left his campaign with $3,251.17 in debt in the election.[11]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Siegel in the election.
2011
- See also: Past elections in Newton Public Schools
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 5 General Election, 2-year term, 2011 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Steven Siegel |
57.1% | 4,618 | |
| Nonpartisan | Susan E. Rosenbaum | 42.7% | 3,452 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 12 | |
| Total Votes | 8,082 | |||
| Source: Newton, Massachusetts, "City of Newton November 8, 2011 Municipal Election Official Results," accessed November 19, 2013 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
Siegel's campaign website listed the following themes for 2015:
| “ | School Buildings We must continue to fix our deteriorated elementary school buildings, making them right-sized for present day teaching and learning standards, while adding capacity for flexibility and enrollment increases. Angier is nearing completion, Zervas construction is about to begin, and Cabot planning is well underway. Our newly acquired Aquinas School offers critical solutions to building conditions and overcrowding issues on the north side of Newton. The Angier project is on time and on budget, modeling the project management we must bring to every subsequent school building project. Newton’s Student Assignment process relieves our overcrowded schools by shifting enrollments to schools with available capacity. This effort must be carried out with sensitivity to student safety, sound traffic management, and neighborhood cohesion. Student Achievement and Student Support We must continue to focus on maintaining excellence in our schools which means attending to both academic and social support needs for all of Newton’s students. Academically, we must finish the alignment of our curriculum with the Common Core, strengthen writing and literacy programming, and continue to make advancements in closing the achievement gap. Socially, we’ve recently introduced Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programming across all grade levels, developed and expanded the highly regarded Signs of Suicide program within high school and middle school, deepened our relationship with Riverside Mental Health Services and Newton Cares, continued to cull and act upon information from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, implemented periodic homework free weekends, and more. These are stressful times. We must do all we can to help our students thrive in this environment. Communications It is critical that we improve two-way communication between the School Committee/NPS and both the parent and non-parent communities, our Aldermen, PTOs, Neighborhood Area Councils, and other important community groups. Tools should include postings to the NPS website, taking stakeholder surveys, using social media, visiting with PTOs and school councils, reaching out to other community groups, and having a presence at community events including village days and local fairs. To communicate with you best, we need frequent opportunities to listen to citizens’ ideas while using effective methods to share NPS practices and initiatives with you. We must approach School Committee communications with the assumption that they can always be improved.[12] |
” |
| —Steven Siegel (2015)[13] | ||
2013
Siegel's campaign website listed the following campaign themes:
| “ |
In this post-NNHS era, we know that we must maintain, renovate and build new spaces with a sound plan, community consensus and a responsible budget. Newton must commit sufficient funding to the maintenance of our existing buildings to preserve their safety, function, and value. Renovation and building replacement should follow a master plan derived from Mayor Warren’s newly commissioned building inventory survey. Information from our 2007 Long Range School Facilities Plan should be folded into this survey and new recommendations should be developed that reflect the present circumstances of need, enrollment projections, and available budget.
Plato noted that necessity is the mother of invention. How can we turn our budget crisis into a force for positive change within our school system? What actions can Newton take this year in response to our budget crisis? What programs, pilots and other initiatives can help us “make lemonade out of lemons”?
We must attract and retain top-quality teachers while changing the financial model that has become unaffordable. Teacher quality is the most important factor in student achievement, so we must find the right balance of pay, benefits, and working conditions to recruit and keep the best. Financial sustainability is a key – we can no longer offer compensation growth that exceeds the growth rate of city revenues. The alternative to this – teacher layoffs, higher class-sizes, greater stress and compromised educational outcomes for our students – can be avoided if we stay focused on the need to modify our compensation model to adjust with the times. What is best for our children? How do we support those with whom we entrust the education and care of our children?
The breadth of our STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program is well illustrated in our high school course offerings, yet Newton produces a much lower percentage of STEM-career students than MA as a whole, and much lower than federal goals. Newton should focus on increasing interest in and enthusiasm for STEM offerings, beyond simply making quality programs available. This is about supporting our children, as 80% of new job growth in the next decade will be in STEM-related fields. President Obama promotes the strengthening of STEM education as being critical to our global competitiveness and economic strength. In Newton, support of FIRST Robotics, the DIGITS program, The Innovation Lab and the Greengineering Program are each a way to spark STEM enthusiasm and commitment way beyond what is possible in a traditional classroom teaching environment.
Only 20% of our households have children enrolled in Newton Public Schools. How do we successfully argue to the remaining 80% that our schools are a worthwhile investment? Barney Frank said that “government is what we choose to do as a community.” The most important thing that Newton does as a community is to provide education for our children. Our family, friends, and neighbors did, do, or will benefit from the strong public education available to every Newton student. I believe that we have a cross-generational compact to provide the best learning experiences for our children, through strong financial support via our city government. As a side benefit, excellent schools create for Newton property owners very high, stable property values. School buildings should house enriching activities for all of our residents, through community education programs, access to athletic facilities, meeting spaces, and auditoriums. Our buildings must welcome our residents as community resources. Finally, our city leaders must directly reward community support by demonstrating purposeful, responsible use of tax dollars on school expenditures.[12] |
” |
| —Steven Siegel (2013)[13] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Steven Siegel Newton Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Newton Public Schools, Massachusetts
- Newton Public Schools elections (2017)
- Newton Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
- Newton Public Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Newton Public Schools, "Current Members," accessed November 20, 2013
- ↑ Steve Siegel, "About Steve," accessed November 20, 2013
- ↑ City of Newton, "2017 Municipal Election Calendar," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Newton Public Schools, "About School Committee," accessed July 24, 2017
- ↑ City of Newton, "Elections: Local Election - November 7, 2017," accessed July 26, 2017
- ↑ City of Newton, "Unofficial Results November 7, 2017," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Newton Elections Office, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Steven Siegel — Newton School Committee, Ward 5, "Supporters," accessed November 1, 2017
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, "Email correspondence with the Newton Election Commission," March 6, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 City of Newton, "Elections," accessed September 10, 2015
- ↑ Newton, Massachusetts, "Form CPF M 102: Campaign Finance Report," accessed November 19, 2013
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Steve Siegel, "Priorities," accessed November 20, 2013
| Newton Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Middlesex County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Ward 1: • Kathleen Marchi • Bridget Ray-Canada Ward 2: • Incumbent, Margaret Albright • Cyrus Karl Ward 3: • Eileen Sandberg • Anping Shen Ward 4: • Incumbent, Diana Fisher Gomberg Ward 5: • Incumbent, Steven Siegel Ward 6: • Incumbent, Ruth Goldman Ward 7: • Kathleen Shields Ward 8: • Matthew Miller • Gail Spector |
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