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Susan Pougher
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Susan Pougher was the Seat C representative of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board. She was first elected to the position in 2007 and successfully sought re-election on October 1, 2013. Pougher lost a re-election bid in the general election on October 4, 2016.
Pougher participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District school board were up for general election on October 4, 2016. Incumbents Susan Pougher and Ray Michaelson ran for Seat C. Michaelson was first elected to the Seat G position on the board in 2013. He defeated Pougher for Seat C. Incumbent Donna Dearman ran unopposed to win Seat F, and newcomer Yvonne Ruth ran unopposed to win Seat G. [1]
Results
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Seat C General Election, 3-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ray Michaelson Incumbent |
50.48% | 1,207 |
| Susan Pougher Incumbent | 47.72% | 1,141 |
| Write-in votes | 1.8% | 43 |
| Total Votes | 2,391 | |
| Source: Matanuska Susitna Borough, Alaska, "Regular Borough Election Unofficial Results," accessed August 5, 2017 | ||
Funding
Pougher reported no contributions or expenditures to the Alaska Public Office Commission in the election.[2]
Endorsements
Pougher did not received any official endorsements for her campaign during the election.
2013
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board Seat C, General Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Susan Pougher |
94.3% | 6,674 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write In | 5.7% | 405 | |
| Total Votes | 7,079 | |||
| Source: Matanuska-Susitna Borough, "Regular Borough Election Official Results, October 1, 2013," accessed September 8, 2016 | ||||
Funding
Pougher did not report any campaign contributions or expenditures during the election.[3]
Endorsements
Susan Pougher did not receive any official endorsements during the election.
2010
Pougher was re-elected to the Seat C position on October 5, 2010. She was unopposed.[4]
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board, Seat C, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Susan Pougher Incumbent |
86.6% | 7,652 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write In | 13.4% | 1,186 | |
| Total Votes | 8,838 | |||
2007
Pougher was elected to the Seat C position on October 2, 2007. She defeated candidate Larry Devilbiss.[5]
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board, Seat C, 2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Susan Pougher |
60.4% | 6,675 | |
| Nonpartisan | Larry Devilbiss | 39.6% | 4,371 | |
| Total Votes | 11,046 | |||
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Susan Pougher 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 September 8, 2016:
| “ | Continued improvement in student achievement, learning, and graduation rate. I will seek innovative ways to continue offering choices in learning to students and families with our very limited budget. I will continue to require an open and transparent budget and processes.[6][7] | ” |
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 Alaska. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | My number 1 priority will always be student achievement. The lower ranked items are there, not because they are not important, but because we already do a good job.[7] | ” |
| —Susan Pougher (September 8, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. Charter Schools should always be approved if 1) they have students to support their proposed budget 2) they have a sound education plan. 3) they meet the requirement of the State Law. |
| 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests measure only a few things that make a student successful in life. There are many pro and cons for testing. As a parent I appreciate standardized tests to identify my students areas of weakness. However we need to be assured that the test is meaningful and gives us this data. Our States test has not been doing this. It is ridiculous to take a test that does not give us any usable measurements just to meet a federal mandate. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The way Common Core/Alaska State Standards were forced on our districts was wrong -- I don't support federal overreach into state and local education. However our state can benefit from higher student learning standards. |
| 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. 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. Currently our district makes use of all the options above depending on the circumstances. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. It would be nice to reward great teachers that go above and beyond. However our current negotiated agreement does not allow it. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Our States constitution does not allow it. If it were allowed, the number of requirements and mandates that come with public dollars would be cumbersome to many private schools. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| We have in school expulsion, and longer expulsion for extreme offences. Students who have a long term expulsion may choose online classes or the PACE Program. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. Parents are a child's first teacher, they are in charge of their child's education. We have wonderful teachers, however students are less likely to succeed if they don't have support at home, or if they don't show up to class. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Susan Pougher Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Alaska
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District elections (2013)
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, "Final Slate of Candidates," September 6, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Public Office Commission, "Campaign Disclosure:Forms," accessed September 29, 2016
- ↑ APOC Online Records, "2013 Statewide Municipal Candidates" accessed August 2, 2013
- ↑ Matanuska-Susitna Borough, "Election results," Acccessed August 6, 2013
- ↑ Matanuska-Susitna Borough, "Election results," Acccessed August 6, 2013
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Susan Pougher's responses," September 8, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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