Kathy Montgomery
Kathy Montgomery was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education in Michigan. Montgomery was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Elections
2016
- See also: Detroit Public Schools elections (2016)
Seven seats on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary. A total of 63 candidates filed for the election including 10 of the 11 incumbent board members. The top two vote recipients will serve six-year terms, the next three winners will serve four-year terms, and the remaining two winners will serve two-year terms.[1][2] The winning candidates were Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry, LaMar Lemmons, Georgia Lemmons, Sonya Mays, Misha Stallworth, Deborah Hunter-Harvill, and Iris Taylor.
A June 2016 state reorganization bill split Detroit Public Schools into two entities. The existing district will collect taxes to pay down debts, while a new district overseen by the school board was created to oversee school operations. This bill reduced the school board's membership from 11 to seven after the November 2016 election. The state-appointed Detroit Financial Review Commission will oversee the new district's financial dealings.[1]
Results
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $164,533.68 and spent a total of $100,234.02 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Wayne County Clerk.[5] Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry led the field with $57,980.00 in contributions and $40,364.82 in expenditures for the reporting period. Her biggest donor through October 28, 2016, was the United Auto Workers Michigan V-PAC, which contributed $27,500.00 to her candidate committee. Sixteen of the 63 candidates filed campaign finance statements by October 30, 2016. The remaining candidates had not filed their reports or qualified for exemption from reporting.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tawanna Simpson | $1,200.00 | $996.38 | $203.62 |
| Ida Carol Short | $1,409.15 | $975.00 | $434.15 |
| Herman Davis | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry | $57,980.00 | $40,346.82 | $17,633.18 |
| Kevin Turman | $5,038.99 | $3,555.84 | $1,483.15 |
| Deborah Hunter-Harvill | $3,950.00 | $4,387.83 | -$577.83 |
| John Telford | $19,000.00 | $5,341.52 | $13,658.51 |
| Markita Meeks | $100.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |
| Mary Kovari | $14,383.54 | $16,883.54 | $4,315.86 |
| Ben Washburn | $500.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 |
| Iris Taylor | $10,725.00 | $6,311.16 | $4,413.84 |
| Sonya Mays | $20,935.00 | $15,450.49 | $0.00 |
| Charmaine Johnson | $0.00 | $1,939.68 | $0.00 |
| Phillip Caldwell II | $2,915.00 | $2,713.37 | $201.67 |
| Leslie Andrews | $16,114.00 | $0.00 | $6,500.00 |
| Penny Bailer | $10,283.00 | $1,307.39 | $8,975.61 |
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Kathy Montgomery 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 October 9, 2016:
| “ | If elected, I would insure transparency with the community. Fiscal responsibility and cooperation with teachers, the DFT, the Superintendent, other support staff, parents and the community are necessary for the success of DPSCD. I would promote a strong academic program, designed for each student, according to his/her needs and abilities. Classroom size must be reasonable and comparable to other school districts in the State. DPSCD should only hire certified teachers, as other districts must. Other goals I hope to achieve include: increasing student population. Graduation rates, career preparation classes, and improving school relationships with parents and the community.[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 Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I believe that DPSCD has enough School Choice options. I want to strengthen the neighborhood schools.[7] | ” |
| —Kathy Montgomery (October 9, 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.) |
|---|
| No. In Detroit, we already have too many charter schools. Most are educating at the same success rate or at a lower rate than Detroit Public Schools. Also, charter schools are unwilling to submit to oversight, so that parents can determine if the charter is a good quality educational choice. |
| 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. It has been shown that students, who come from educationally or economically deprived backgrounds, are more likely to perform poorly on standardized tests. Special support services, like tutoring or Special Education services, may be required to assist these students. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I believe that all students must be taught the basics in English, Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I do not believe that it is necessary for all teachers in the State to use the same textbooks for these subjects. |
| 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? |
| Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Oftentimes, new and inexperienced teachers need additional supports, in order to be successful in teaching our children. As long as they are certified teachers and truly committed to our children, these supports should be provided to them. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Teachers, who have remained committed to the students in DPSCD and who have demonstrated success in assisting students in learning whatever subject they are teaching, should be rewarded with merit pay. This will help us retain good teachers. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Taxpayer money should not be used to support private schools. Students, who attend private schools, are eligible to receive Special Education services through their local public school district. If parents make the choice to send their children to private schools, they need to be able to pay the tuition or they can seek scholarships through private sources. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| In my opinion, there should be progressive disciplinary action in our schools, just as in the workplace. Expulsion should only be a last resort (eg. if the child is repeatedly violent or destructive of property or if the child commits a crime in the school). If expelled, alternative education programs need to be offered, perhaps in a facility for juvenile delinquents. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio. Student-teacher ratio, in my opinion, should be between 25:1 to 30:1, ideally. in the regular classrooms. In Special Education classrooms, the ratio should be 20:1 or less. Teachers cannot adequately teach elementary and secondary students, offering some individual attention, if their class size is overwhelming. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kathy Montgomery Detroit Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wayne County, Michigan, "Elections Division-Election Information," accessed August 30, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "list" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The Detroit Free Press, "72 people seek seven Detroit school board seats," July 26, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Wayne County Clerk, "Wayne County Campaign Finance Information System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Kathy Montgomery's responses," October 9, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
