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Tom Bennett (Minnesota)
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Tom Bennett is an at-large representative on the Bloomington Public Schools school board in Minnesota. First elected in 2013, Bennett won a new term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Bennett participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Bennett earned a B.S. degree in special education and elementary education and an M.A. degree in special education from the University of New Mexico. In 2017, he obtained an Ed.S. in educational leadership and director of special education from Mankato State University. He began his career as a special education instructor for Albuquerque Public Schools before joining the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District as a special education teacher from 2003 to 2011. He went on to become a special education teacher in Hopkins Public Schools.[1][2]
Elections
2017
Four of the seven seats on the Bloomington Public Schools school board in Minnesota were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. Incumbents Tom Bennett, Jim Sorum, and Dawn Steigauf won re-election to their seats. Newcomer Beth Beebe also won a seat. Challengers John Moravec, Julie Morse, Michael Poke, Paige Rohman, Dan Stirratt, Jane Stoa, and Marcia Sytsma were defeated in the election.[3]
Results
| Bloomington Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Tom Bennett Incumbent |
13.29% | 5,473 |
| Dawn Steigauf Incumbent |
12.03% | 4,955 |
| Beth Beebe |
11.94% | 4,919 |
| Jim Sorum Incumbent |
11.35% | 4,674 |
| John Moravec | 10.87% | 4,478 |
| Dan Stirratt | 8.78% | 3,616 |
| Paige Rohman | 7.42% | 3,055 |
| Marcia Sytsma | 6.55% | 2,697 |
| Michael Poke | 6.42% | 2,646 |
| Jane Stoa | 5.68% | 2,338 |
| Julie Morse | 5.23% | 2,156 |
| Write-in votes | 0.46% | 189 |
| Total Votes | 41,196 | |
| Source: Bloomington Public Schools, "Minutes Of The Regular Meeting Of The School Board Independent School District 271," November 13, 2017 | ||
Funding
Bennett reported $720.00 in contributions and $393.36 in expenditures to the Bloomington Public Schools, which left his campaign with $326.64 on hand in the election.[4]
2013
Tom Bennett and three other challengers defeated Tim Culver, Lyle Abeln, and Arlene Bush to win four at-large seats in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Bloomington Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Ricardo Oliva |
16.8% | 6,602 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jim Sorum |
15.1% | 5,947 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tom Bennett |
15% | 5,902 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dawn Steigauf |
14.6% | 5,763 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tim Culver Incumbent | 13.3% | 5,220 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arlene Bush Incumbent | 12.5% | 4,941 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lyle Abeln Incumbent | 12.4% | 4,895 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 120 | |
| Total Votes | 39,390 | |||
| Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 271 - Bloomington," accessed December 18, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Bennett reported $2,510.00 in contributions and $3,320.24 in expenditures to the school district office, which left his campaign with $810.24 in debt in the election.[5]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Bennett in the election.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Tom Bennett participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[6] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 21, 2017:
| “ | To continue to advocate for children, families, strong schools and good teachers like I've been doing all of my adult life.[7][8] | ” |
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 Minnesota. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| “ | All of these are a priority.[8] | ” |
| —Tom Bennett (September 21, 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 a lot like public funded private schools. They're paid for by public tax dollars, but don't have elected school board members to provide any public oversight on how those tax dollars are spent. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests don’t value diversity. There are a wide range of differences in the people who take standardized tests: different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in English, different learning styles different backgrounds and past experiences,yet the standardized test treats them as if they were all identical to the group that took the test several years ago, and to which the test has been normed. Also standardized tests exist for administrative, political, and financial purposes, not for educational ones. Test companies make billions, politicians get elected by promising better test results and administrators get funding and avoid harsh penalties by boosting test scores. Everyone benefits except the children. For them, standardized testing is worthless. But most importantly, during the time a student is taking a standardized test he/she could be doing something much more valuable, like learning. |
| 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 who can demonstrate excellence should be compensated for it. However, standardized test scores and proficiency should not be determining factors. It should be based on teacher observation and student growth. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Public school is for everyone and therefore should be funded by public tax dollars. Private schools have the luxury to cherry pick their students, have little to no public oversight and are often religious and or for profit which should exclude them from receiving public tax dollars. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Rarely and only when legally obligated to so or when all other interventions have failed. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. Teachers and parent involvement are both at the top and go hand in hand. A parent is a child's first teacher and a teacher can only do do much without the parents help. |
Candidate website
Bennett highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | If Re-Elected I will continue to
|
” |
| —Tom Bennett (2017)[9] | ||
2013
Bennett's campaign website listed the following campaign themes for 2013:
| “ | I believe every child deserves to receive the best education possible regardless of their ability level, socio-economic status, culture, or sexual identity. Education is about looking beyond the child’s intellect, and seeing the whole child. It is about providing students with opportunities to be challenged and still succeed. To me the best learning environment is one that celebrates diversity, with students and staff all coming from different backgrounds to teach and learn from one another. I also believe that education starts at birth. Within weeks of my children being born I had
them registered for ECFE classes at The Family Center here in Bloomington and they continued classes there all the way through preschool. As a special education teacher I know the importance of preschool because I've seen first hand the positive impact it makes in a child's success in school. I also feel that our schools need to keep pace with a technologically advancing 21st century world so that our kids can graduate with the skills necessary to be successful.[8] |
” |
| —Tom Bennett (2013)[1] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tom Bennett Bloomington Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Bloomington Public Schools, Minnesota
- Bloomington Public Schools elections (2017)
- Bloomington Public Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tom Bennett - Bloomington School Board, "About Me," accessed October 21, 2013
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Tom Bennett," September 6, 2017
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings: 2017 Municipal and School District Elections," accessed August 16, 2017
- ↑ Bloomington Public Schools, "2017 Campaign Financial Report," accessed December 11, 2017
- ↑ Information received in an email to Ballotpedia from Jennifer Hazel on March 25, 2014
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Tom Bennett's responses," September 21, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Tom Bennett Bloomington School Board, "Home," accessed October 26, 2017
| Bloomington Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Hennepin County, Minnesota | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Tom Bennett • Incumbent, Jim Sorum • Incumbent, Dawn Steigauf • Beth Beebe • John Moravec • Julie Morse • Michael Poke • Paige Rohman • Dan Stirratt • Jane Stoa • Marcia Sytsma |
| Important information: | What's at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
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