Massachusetts school board elections, 2017
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Elections
A total of nine Massachusetts school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2017 for 54 seats. Primary elections were scheduled on various dates, and general elections were scheduled on November 7, 2017.
Here are several quick facts about Massachusetts' school board elections in 2017:
- The largest Massachusetts school district by enrollment with an election in 2017 was Springfield Public Schools with 25,645 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
- The smallest Massachusetts school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2017 was Fall River Public Schools with 10,246 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
The districts listed below served 146,405 K-12 students during the 2014-2015 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district names for more information on each one and its school board elections.
| 2017 Massachusetts School Board Elections | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Primary Election | General Election | Runoff Election | Regular term length | Seats up for election | Total board seats | 2014-15 enrollment |
| Brockton Public Schools | 9/19/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 7 | 7 | 17,186 |
| Fall River Public Schools | 9/12/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 6 | 7 | 10,246 |
| Lawrence Public Schools | 9/26/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 6 | 7 | 13,889 |
| Lowell Public Schools | 9/26/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 6 | 7 | 14,075 |
| Lynn Public Schools | 9/12/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 6 | 7 | 14,871 |
| New Bedford Public Schools | 10/3/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12,565 |
| Newton Public Schools | 9/12/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 2 | 8 | 9 | 12,674 |
| Springfield Public Schools | 9/19/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 4 | 6 | 7 | 25,645 |
| Worcester Public Schools | 9/12/2017 | 11/7/2017 | N/A | 4 | 6 | 7 | 25,254 |
November 7 election results
Incumbents see 97% success rate in Massachusetts school board elections
All but one of the school board incumbents who filed to retain their seats in nine of Massachusetts’ largest school districts on November 7, 2017, won re-election, a success rate of 97.14 percent. In 2015—the last time the same nine districts held elections— incumbents had an 85.71 percent success rate.
Newcomers won 37.04 percent of the seats in 2017, which was higher than the 33.33 percent of seats they won in the same districts in 2015. The higher percentage of newcomer wins was due in part to a lower percentage of incumbents running for re-election. A total of 64.81 percent of incumbents whose seats were on the ballot in 2017 ran for another term on the board, while 68.63 percent ran in 2015.
Academic performance
- See also: Public education in Massachusetts
The sections below do not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The table below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York), Massachusetts had the highest share of students who scored at or above proficient in reading.[2]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| Massachusetts | 58% | 55% | 47% | 48% |
| Connecticut | 45% | 37% | 43% | 45% |
| New Hampshire | 59% | 47% | 45% | 44% |
| New York | 40% | 32% | 37% | 35% |
| United States | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Massachusetts and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[2][3][4]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[5]
Massachusetts schools reported a graduation rate of 85 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, second-lowest among its neighboring states
In Massachusetts, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning an average SAT score of 1553.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| Massachusetts | 85% | Second | 24.1 | 22% | 1553 | 83% | |
| Connecticut | 85.5% | Second | 24 | 27% | 1532 | 85% | |
| New Hampshire | 87.3% | First | 23.8 | 19% | 1567 | 70% | |
| New York | 76.8% | Fourth | 23.4 | 26% | 1463 | 76% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 28, 2015 The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Massachusetts was lower than the national average at 2.7 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]
State profile
State profile
| Demographic data for Massachusetts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 6,784,240 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 7,800 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 79.6% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 7.1% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.9% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 10.6% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 89.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 40.5% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $68,563 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 13.1% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Massachusetts. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
Massachusetts voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
More Massachusetts coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Massachusetts
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- Public policy in Massachusetts
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See also
| Massachusetts | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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