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    Pennsylvania school board elections, 2017

    From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 7 min

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    Elections[edit]

    A total of 17 Pennsylvania school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2017 for 73 seats. A primary election was scheduled on May 16, 2017. The general elections were scheduled on November 7, 2017.

    Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. If a candidate cross-files, he or she needs to win in one party's primary election to advance to the general election. A candidate may also appear on both party's ballots in the general election if he or she wins both nominations in the primary.

    Here are several quick facts about Pennsylvania's school board elections in 2017:

    • The largest Pennsylvania school district by enrollment with an election in 2017 was the Pittsburgh School District with 24,657 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
    • The smallest Pennsylvania school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2017 was the Pocono Mountain School District with 9,293 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.

    The districts listed below served 225,431 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 Pennsylvania School Board Elections
    District Primary Election General Election Runoff Election Regular term length Seats up for election Total board seats 2014-15 enrollment
    Allentown City School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 16,483
    Bethlehem Area School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 13,681
    Central Bucks School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 19,145
    Central Dauphin School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 5 9 11,059
    Council Rock School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 5 9 11,078
    Downingtown Area School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 12,070
    Erie City School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 11,815
    Hazleton Area School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 10,871
    Lancaster School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 11,259
    North Penn School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 5 9 12,741
    Pennsbury School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 10,156
    Pittsburgh School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 5 9 24,657
    Pocono Mountain School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 5 9 9,293
    Reading School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 17,303
    Scranton School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 10,009
    Upper Darby School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 12,193
    West Chester Area School District 5/16/17 11/7/2017 N/A 4 4 9 11,618

    Academic performance[edit]

    See also: Public education in Pennsylvania

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    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 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 (Maryland, New York, and Ohio), Pennsylvania had the highest share of eighth grade students who scored at or above proficient in math.[2]

    Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
    Math - Grade 4 Math - Grade 8 Reading - Grade 4 Reading - Grade 8
    Pennsylvania 44% 42% 40% 42%
    Maryland 47% 37% 45% 42%
    New York 40% 32% 37% 35%
    Ohio 48% 40% 37% 39%
    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 Pennsylvania 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]

    Pennsylvania schools reported a graduation rate of 85.5 percent, highest among its neighboring states.

    In Pennsylvania, more students took the SAT than the ACT, earning an average SAT score of 1480.

    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
    Pennsylvania 85.5% Second 22.7 18% 1480 71%
    Maryland 85% Second 22.3 21% 1483 73%
    New York 76.8% Fourth 23.4 26% 1463 76%
    Ohio 82.2% Third 21.8 72% 1635 17%
    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 rates[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 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 Pennsylvania was lower than the national average at 2.2 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.8 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]

    State profile[edit]

    State profile[edit]

    Demographic data for Pennsylvania
     PennsylvaniaU.S.
    Total population:12,791,904316,515,021
    Land area (sq mi):44,7433,531,905
    Race and ethnicity**
    White:81.6%73.6%
    Black/African American:11%12.6%
    Asian:3.1%5.1%
    Native American:0.2%0.8%
    Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
    Two or more:2.1%3%
    Hispanic/Latino:6.4%17.1%
    Education
    High school graduation rate:89.2%86.7%
    College graduation rate:28.6%29.8%
    Income
    Median household income:$53,599$53,889
    Persons below poverty level:15.9%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 Pennsylvania.
    **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 Pennsylvania

    Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

    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, three are located in Pennsylvania, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.[7]

    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. Pennsylvania had one Retained Pivot County and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 0.55 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

    More Pennsylvania coverage on Ballotpedia

    See also[edit]

    Pennsylvania School Boards News and Analysis
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    Footnotes[edit]

    1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 22, 2016
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
    3. ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
    4. ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
    5. ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
    6. ↑ 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
    7. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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