New York school board elections, 2015

| New York's 2015 elections

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School boards • Municipal • Judicial • Candidate ballot access |

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* Election trends
* Competitiveness
* Incumbency advantage
* Data table
* Spotlight districts
* Education Transformation Act
* Rochester City School District
* Syracuse City School District
* Common Core testing opt-outs
* Superintendent warns teachers not to encourage testing opt-outs
* Survey resposnes
* Top priorities
* Ranking the issues
* Positions on the issues
* State profile
* Academic performance
* Dropout rate
* See also
* References

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2015 School Board Elections

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Elections Information
Election dates • 2015 elections •
Candidate filing dates • Finance reporting • Poll opening and closing times

A total of 16 New York school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections for 44 seats in 2015. Fourteen districts held elections on May 19, 2015. The other two held elections on November 3, 2015.

Here are several quick facts about New York's school board elections in 2015:

* The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was the Rochester City School District, with 30,145 K-12 students.
* The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was the North Syracuse Central School District, with 9,239 K-12 students.
* Three districts were tied the most seats on the ballot in 2015, with four seats up for election in both.
* The Utica City School District had the fewest seats on the ballot in 2015, with one seat up for election.

The districts listed below served a total of 207,170 K-12 students during the 2012-2013 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).[1] Click on a district name for more information on that district and its school board elections.

2015 New York School Board Elections

District  | Date  | Seats up for election  | Total board seats  | Student enrollment
Brentwood Union Free School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 7 | 17,492
Greece Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 11,602
Half Hollow Hills Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 2 | 7 | 9,427
Middle Country Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 10,398
New Rochelle School District | 5/19/2015 | 2 | 9 | 10,907
Newburgh Enlarged City School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 11,406
North Syracuse Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 4 | 9 | 9,239
Sachem Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 14,231
Schenectady City School District | 5/19/2015 | 2 | 7 | 9,790
Shenendehowa Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 2 | 7 | 9,776
Smithtown Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 2 | 7 | 10,317
Utica City School District | 5/19/2015 | 1 | 7 | 9,714
Wappingers Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 11,865
Williamsville Central School District | 5/19/2015 | 3 | 9 | 10,239
Rochester City School District | 11/3/2015 | 4 | 7 | 30,145
Syracuse City School District | 11/3/2015 | 4 | 7 | 20,622

## Contents

* 1 Trends in New York school board elections
* 1.1 Competitiveness
* 1.2 Incumbency advantage
* 1.3 Data table
* 2 Spotlight districts
* 2.1 Education Transformation Act
* 2.1.1 Rochester City School District
* 2.1.2 Syracuse City School District
* 2.2 Common Core testing opt-outs
* 2.2.1 Superintendent warns teachers not to encourage testing opt-outs
* 3 Survey responses
* 3.1 Top priorities
* 3.2 Ranking the issues
* 3.3 Positions on the issues
* 4 State profile
* 4.1 Presidential voting pattern
* 4.1.1 Pivot Counties (2016)
* 4.1.2 Pivot Counties (2020)
* 5 Academic performance
* 5.1 NAEP scores
* 5.2 Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
* 5.3 Dropout rate
* 6 See also
* 7 Footnotes

## Trends in New York school board elections[edit]

See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief

The 2015 school board elections in New York's largest school districts attracted fewer candidates per seat on the ballot compared to the state's 2014 elections. Both years saw the same number of seats go unopposed. Newcomers fared better in the 2015 elections, with 56.82 percent winning a seat. In 2014, 40.43 percent of newcomers won a school board seat.

The following sections analyze competitiveness and incumbency advantage in New York's school board elections. Two of the 16 districts that held elections in 2015 held primary elections. Those two districts also held partisan elections in which candidates ran with political party designations. The other school districts held nonpartisan, general elections in which winners only had to receive a plurality, or relative majority, of votes to secure a seat.

Details of the data discussed here can be found in the table below.

### Competitiveness[edit]

In 2015, school board elections held in New York's largest school districts had an average of 1.66 candidates run per seat. The was lower than the average 2.02 candidates who ran per seat up for election in 2014. Eleven seats—25.00 percent of those on the ballot—were unopposed in 2015. The 2014 elections also had 11 seats go unopposed, which was 23.40 percent of those on the ballot.

### Incumbency advantage[edit]

See also: School board incumbency analysis: 2015 in brief

A total of 67.86 percent of incumbents whose seats were on the ballot in 2015 ran for re-election. Twenty-eight of the 44 incumbents whose terms were up for re-election ran to retain their seats, and 19 of them won. Seven of those winners ran unopposed; the other 11 kept their seats by defeating challengers.

In 2014, incumbents had a higher success rate. A total of 82.35 percent of those who ran to keep their seats won re-election. Thirty-four of the 47 incumbents whose terms were up for re-election ran to retain their seats, and 28 of them won. Eight of those winners ran unopposed, while the other 20 incumbents defeated challengers to win their bids for re-election.

The map below details the success rates for incumbents who ran in the 2015 school board elections that were held in the largest school districts by enrollment in the U.S.

The map above details the success rates of incumbent who ran to retain their school board seats in the largest school districts in each state. States depicted in gray did not hold school board elections.

### Data table[edit]

The table below displays the statistics for school board elections in New York's largest school districts from 2014 to 2015.

New York school board elections, 2014-2015

Year | Total | Incumbents
Seats up | Candidates | Candidates/
seat | Unopposed seats | % unopposed | % seats won by newcomers | Sought re-election | Unopposed | Retained | % retained
2015 | 44 | 73 | 1.66 | 11 | 25.00% | 56.82% | 28 | 7 | 19 | 67.86%
2014 | 47 | 95 | 2.02 | 11 | 23.40% | 40.43% | 34 | 8 | 28 | 82.35%

## Spotlight districts[edit]

### Education Transformation Act[edit]

A July 2015 report from the New York State Education Department listed a total of 178 schools in the state that were considered failing in 2015. The table to the right details how many of those schools lie in each district.[2]

To be considered failing, schools had to have graduation rates or achievement scores below 60 percent for three consecutive years. If they continued to have low scores for 10 consecutive years, schools were considered persistently failing. Under the Education Transformation Act, schools considered to be failing had to create an improvement plan that had to be approved by the state. If failing schools did not improve after one year, they went into "receivership," which gave the district superintendent more power over hiring and firing staff and restructuring the school. If failing schools did not improve after one year under receivership, they were put under the control of outside operators, such as universities or nonprofit organizations.[3]

The Education Transformation Act added $1.3 billion to state education funding, creating a record high of $23.5 billion in state education funds. A total of $75 million of those funds was earmarked to help failing schools. In addition to giving the state the power to take over failing schools, the Education Transformation Act of 2015 made several educational reforms in New York that targeted student performance and teacher evaluation systems.[3]

#### Rochester City School District[edit]

See also: What was at stake in the Rochester City School District election?

A total of 15 schools in the Rochester City School District were considered failing as of the 2015-2016 school year.[4] Four of those schools were in their second and last year of targeted reforms under receivership of the district superintendent. “If those schools were to fail, then the state could take over and implement radical actions that we’ve never seen before,” said Rochester City Superintendent Bolgen Vargas. The other 11 schools were in their first year and had one more to go.[3]

Vargas said the district focused on early literacy, student attendance and third-grade reading levels. He said he believed the results would show in higher graduation rates, but that it would take years to see a significant shift. He said the new system needed to be more flexible to give districts the chance to make improvements.[3]

|  |  New York school districts with failing schools[2]

District  | Number of failing schools
Albany City School District | 3
Amsterdam City School District | 1
Buffalo City School District | 25
Central Islip Union Free School District | 1
Hempstead Union Free School District | 2
Mt. Vernon School District | 1
Newburgh Enlarged City School District | 1
New York City School District | 92
Poughkeepsie City School District | 2
Rochester City School District | 15
Roosevelt Union Free School District | 2
Schenectady City School District | 2
Syracuse City School District | 18
Troy City School District | 1
Utica City School District | 1
Wyandanch Union Free School District | 1
Yonkers City School District | 8

#### Syracuse City School District[edit]

See also: What was at stake in the Syracuse City School District election?

The New York State Education Department listed 17 schools in the Syracuse City School District as "struggling" and one school as "persistently struggling." Grant Middle School was the "persistently struggling" school. Superintendent Sharon Contreras was named its receiver for one year. As receiver she had the power to turn schools into charter schools and to let teachers and administrators go or make them re-apply for their jobs, but Contreras said she did not think that was the right way to proceed. During this probationary period, the school was required to show improvements; otherwise, it would be taken out of the control of the district and handed off to an independent receiver.[5][6]

The schools were making progress, according to Contreras, with increases to graduation rates and decreases to drop out rates. The school day had also been extended through a program called Say Yes to Education. “According to the state, they just want to see that we are making sufficient progress and I think through tweaking some of the plans the schools have developed, we’ll see that progress. It just won’t happen overnight,” said Contreras.[5]

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said almost half of the students in the school district lived in poverty and that makes an impact on learning. "It is no surprise that when you look at our staggering poverty rates, that we don't have the kind of educational attainment that we want," Miner said.[5]

### Common Core testing opt-outs[edit]

School districts in New York held Common Core-aligned state testing in April 2015, but a large movement of parents opted their children out of taking the tests. Statewide, more than 155,000 students opted out of English and language arts (ELA) testing, according to United to Counter, a group that opposes Common Core standards.[7] This was an increase from approximately 49,000 student opt-outs for the same state test in 2014.[8]

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) called the large number of students opting out of state testing assessments a "concern" and said that state lawmakers would have to take a "macro look" at the issue of classroom testing.[9]

Opponents of the test have said that testing takes too much time away from the classroom and does not allow for creative thinking. The New York Department of Education said standardized testing helps ensure the state's most vulnerable students do not get ignored. Leaders of New York State United Teachers spoke out against state testing in the weeks leading up to the exam dates. They said they opposed the exams because they were not valid indicators of student progress and because the results of those exams would be tied to teacher evaluations.[10]

Tying the test results to teacher evaluations was suggested by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in March 2015. He suggested 50 percent of the Annual Professional Performance Reviews for teachers be tied to their students' results.[11] The state teachers union started a robocall campaign a few days before the test began to remind members they could opt out their children.[10]

Some school district officials voiced concern over the opt-outs, as districts could be penalized at both the state and federal levels if less than 95 percent of students participated in testing.[8][12] The Shenendehowa Central School District had 18 percent of its 2014-2015 school year enrollment opt out of ELA testing.[13] The Wappingers Central School District saw 40 percent of students opt out of ELA testing in April 2015.[7]

#### Superintendent warns teachers not to encourage testing opt-outs[edit]

Before state testing began, New Rochelle Superintendent Dr. Brian Osborne sent a letter to district staff warning them that they could not encourage opt-outs.[14]

“In your capacity as a private citizen, you remain entitled to hold and express your opinions about the wisdom of State assessments in any public forum of your choice. However, our communications with parents and students, in our capacities as School District employees, do not constitute speech in a public forum, and there are limits as to the opinions which we may present to them in that context,” Osborne said in the letter.[14]

According to Osborne, both staff members and the district at large were liable to face consequences if staff members did not remain neutral about test refusals while at work.[14]

New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees (FUSE) President Martin Daly said the superintendent's letter seemed to be attempting to suppress union members' free speech rights due to the timing of its release. While Daly agreed with Osborne that state law prohibits staff members from speaking in favor of opting out, he stressed that this did not include their free time or their time off school grounds.[14]

“Do not be coerced into silence,” said Daly.[14]

## Survey responses[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

Three of the 73 candidates running for a school board seat in New York's largest school districts in the 2015 elections responded to Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. The following sections display their answers to questions about top priorities and education issues.

### Top priorities[edit]

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Karen Mauhs Karath, winner of a seat on the Wappingers Central Board of Education, stated:

“  | Follow the law as it relates to the duties i have been elected to do and educate the public as to the importance of doing just that.[15] | ”

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—Karen Mauhs Karath (2015)[16]

Willa Powell

Willa Powell, incumbent on the Rochester City Board of School Commissioners, said her top priorities were:

“  | Given that a dozen schools are under receivership status, with the Superintendent serving as the de facto receiver, this Board of Education must become active around working with the state to develop viable receivership partners, as it did with Est High School last year.[15] | ”

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—Willa Powell (2015)[17]

Raymond Blackwell

The top priorities of Raymond Blackwell, challenger for a seat on the Syracuse City Board of Education Commissioners, were:

“  | If elected to the Board of Education for the Syracuse City School District my top priority would be to address concentrations of poverty through school choice and magnet schools.[15] | ”

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—Raymond Blackwell (2015)[18]

### Ranking the issues[edit]

The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidates' average rankings as well as the highest and lowest rankings for each issue.

Issue importance ranking

Issues  | Average ranking  | Highest ranking  | Lowest ranking
Expanding arts education | 5.33 | 4 | 7
Expanding career-technical education | 4.33 | 3 | 6
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | 2.00 | 1 | 3
Improving college readiness | 4.33 | 2 | 6
Closing the achievement gap | 4.00 | 1 | 6
Improving education for special needs students | 3.00 | 2 | 4
Expanding school choice options | 5.00 | 1 | 7

### Positions on the issues[edit]

The candidates were asked an additional 10 short answer and multiple choice questions regarding significant issues in education. Links to those responses can be found below.

* Karen Mauhs Karath survey responses
* Willa Powell survey responses
* Raymond Blackwell survey responses

## State profile[edit]

Demographic data for New York

| New York| U.S.
Total population:| 19,747,183| 316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):| 47,126| 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:| 64.6%| 73.6%
Black/African American:| 15.6%| 12.6%
Asian:| 8%| 5.1%
Native American:| 0.4%| 0.8%
Pacific Islander:| 0%| 0.2%
Two or more:| 2.9%| 3%
Hispanic/Latino:| 18.4%| 17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:| 85.6%| 86.7%
College graduation rate:| 34.2%| 29.8%
Income
Median household income:| $59,269| $53,889
Persons below poverty level:| 18.5%| 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 New York.

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**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[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in New York

New York voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

#### Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 18 are located in New York, accounting for 8.74 percent of the total pivot counties.[19]

#### Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. New York had 14 Retained Pivot Counties and four Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 7.73 and 16.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More New York coverage on Ballotpedia

* Elections in New York
* United States congressional delegations from New York
* Public policy in New York
* Endorsers in New York
* New York fact checks
* More...

## Academic performance[edit]

Education terms

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For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

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School board elections portal
Glossary of education terms
School choice on the ballot
Education on the ballot

See also: Public education in New York

### NAEP scores[edit]

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 chart below presents the percentage of fourth- and eighth-grade students who scored at or above proficient in reading and math during the 2012-2013 school year. Compared to three neighboring states (Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania), New York had the lowest percentage of students score at or above proficient in every category.[20]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013

| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8
New York | 40% | 32% | 37% | 35%
Massachusetts | 58% | 55% | 47% | 48%
New Jersey | 49% | 49% | 42% | 46%
Pennsylvania | 44% | 42% | 40% | 42%
United States | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables"

### Graduation, ACT and SAT scores[edit]

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for New York and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[20][21][22]

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged 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 1,498 out of a possible 2,400 for the SAT.[23]

New York schools reported a graduation rate of 76.8 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, which was the lowest rate among its neighboring states.

In New York, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning an average SAT score of 1,463.

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
New York | 76.8% | Fourth | 23.4 | 26% | 1,463 | 76%
Massachusetts | 85% | Second | 24.1 | 22% | 1,553 | 83%
New Jersey | 87.5% | First | 23 | 23% | 1,521 | 78%
Pennsylvania | 85.5% | Second | 22.7 | 18% | 1,480 | 71%
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"
The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

### Dropout rate[edit]

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 failed to attend 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 New York was higher than the national average, at 3.6 percent in the 2010-2011 school year and 3.8 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[24]

## See also[edit]

New York | School Boards | News and Analysis

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* Public education in New York
* List of school districts in New York

* School board elections, 2015
* List of school board elections in 2015
* Candidate filing deadlines, 2015
* Campaign finance deadlines, 2015

* Embroiled incumbents see differing outcomes in May 19 school board elections across five states (May 21, 2015)

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed April 20, 2015
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo, "The State of New York's Failing Schools 2015 Report," accessed October 13, 2015
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Rochester Business Journal, "Sweeping reforms address failing schools," July 10, 2015
4. ↑ News 10, "New York State Exposed Education: Is putting more money towards failing schools an effective strategy?" September 24, 2015
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 WRVO, "18 Syracuse schools must improve or face state intervention," September 9, 2015
6. ↑ Syracuse.com, "'Struggling' Syracuse schools consider switch to yearlong schedule," September 4, 2015
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Poughkeepsie Journal, "Dutchess test refusals soar; NY says data will still be used," April 16, 2015
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Syracuse.com, "NYS opt-out movement grows; tens of thousands - maybe more - expected to skip tests," April 14, 2015
9. ↑ Time Warner Cable News, "Assembly Speaker Calls Common Core Opt-Outs a Huge Concern," April 27, 2015
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 New York Daily News, "State teacher’s union chief calls for Common Core testing boycott," March 31, 2015
11. ↑ Lohud, "Coming up: Panel examines opting out of tests," March 23, 2015
12. ↑ Business Insider, "Over 50% of students in some New York school districts are boycotting Common Core tests," April 15, 2015
13. ↑ The Times Union, "Students opt out of Common Core tests," April 16, 2015
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 New Rochelle Talk, "New Rochelle Superintendent Warns of Consequences for School Employees Encouraging Common Core Test Refusal," April 10, 2015
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
16. ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Karen Mauhs Karath responses," May 9, 2015
17. ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Willa Powell responses," September 1, 2015
18. ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Raymond Blackwell responses," August 19, 2015
19. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
21. ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
22. ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
23. ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
24. ↑ 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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