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Marty McLaren
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Marty McLaren is the District 6 representative on the Seattle Board of Directors. McLaren advanced from the primary election on August 4, 2015, to the general election on November 3, 2015.[1] Marty McLaren lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
The 2015 board elections drew increased competition as the district wrestled legislative attempts to reform the district's board and size. Meanwhile, local teacher protests were part of the statewide discourse on education funding.
Biography
McLaren retired from teaching in the Seattle school district. She obtained a B.A. in history from the University of Washington and teaching credentials from Pacific Oaks College, including endorsements in math, science, history and early childhood education.[2]
Elections
2015
- See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)
Four of the seven seats on the Seattle Board of Directors were up for election in 2015. Because more than two candidates filed for the District 3 and 6 seats, a primary election was held on August 4, 2015. The top two vote recipients in those races and the candidates for District 1 and 2 appeared on the general election ballot on November 3, 2015.
District 1 incumbent Sharon Peaslee, District 2 incumbent Sherry Carr, District 3 incumbent Harium Martin-Morris and District 6 incumbent Marty McLaren were up for re-election, but only McLaren filed to run for another term.[1]
The race for District 6 was the most competitive in 2015. Incumbent Marty McLaren faced challengers Leslie Harris and Nick Esparza in the primary. Harris and McLaren advanced to the general election, but the primary election results and campaign finance indicated a difficult general election race for the incumbent. McLaren placed second in the primary, more than 10 points behind Harris. As of campaign finance reports available on October 21, 2015, Harris had raised more than four times McLaren's campaign contributions and outspent her by a factor of almost seven. Harris defeated McLaren in the general election.
District 3 saw four candidates seeking the open seat: Lauren McGuire, David Blomstrom, Stephen Clayton and Jill Geary. Geary and McGuire advanced to the general election, garnering over $100,000 in combined campaign contributions as of October 21, 2015. Geary won the general election.
The District 1 and 2 seats saw just two candidates advance to the ballot each. Michael Christophersen and Scott Pinkham vied for the District 1 seat, while Laura Obara Gramer and Rick Burke ran for the District 2 seat.[1] Pinkham and Burke won election to the board.
Multiple candidates withdrew from their races prior to the deadline. Therefore, they did not appear on the ballot. Arik Korman withdrew from the District 1 race, Julie McCleery and Deborah Leblang withdrew from the District 2 race and Suzanne Sutton withdrew from the District 6 race.[1]
Results
| Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| 76.6% | 117,648 | |
| Marty McLaren Incumbent | 23.0% | 35,357 |
| Write-in votes | 0.38% | 583 |
| Total Votes | 153,588 | |
| Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015 | ||
| Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 6 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| 48.2% | 7,522 | |
| 37.7% | 5,879 | |
| Nick Esparza | 13.6% | 2,119 |
| Write-in votes | 0.56% | 87 |
| Total Votes | 15,607 | |
| Source: King County Elections, "Primary Election Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 6," accessed August 20, 2015 | ||
Funding
McLaren reported $4,883.10 in contributions and $2,427.45 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, which left her campaign with $2,455.65 on hand as of October 21, 2015. She also reported $502 in debt at that time.[3]
Endorsements
McLaren received endorsements from the following groups and officials:[4]
- 46th District Democrats
- ML King Jr. County Labor Council
- Kay Smith-Blum, former Seattle School Board President
- Sherry Carr, Seattle School Board President
- Sharon Peaslee, Seattle School Board Director and former President
- Harium Martin-Morris, Seattle School Board Director
- Former State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, former State Representative, 36th District
- Wendy Kimball, Past President, Seattle Education Association
Campaign themes
2015
General election voters' pamphlet
McLaren provided the following statement for the King County local voters' pamphlet for the election on November 3, 2015:
| “ | I am a parent and professional educator who has served Seattle Schools for 14 years, ten as a teacher and four on the School Board. I’m running for re-election because I know what we need to do to close the opportunity gap and meet the needs of every student in our district. In the past four years I have played a leading role on these important initiatives:
My greatest strength is bringing people together to work constructively in achieving our goals. I spearheaded development of a School Board Code of Conduct, unanimously supported by my colleagues. This collaborative spirit has increased cooperation between the board and district staff, enabling us to make significant progress in improving the culture and quality of Seattle Public Schools. However, much crucial planning is yet to be implemented. In my second term on the board, I will ensure that closing the gap remains our highest priority. I will continue to work diligently for full funding to meet the needs of disadvantaged learners and improve the quality of education in all of our schools. With wise spending and careful planning we’re getting things done for our students and teachers. With full funding we will achieve all our goals. If re-elected, I will leverage my strengths to empower our incoming new Board Directors to form a highly effective team. Together, we can ensure that Seattle students are among the most supported, successful students in the nation.[5] |
” |
| —Marty McLaren (2015)[2] | ||
Primary election voters' pamphlet
McLaren provided the following statement for the King County local voters' pamphlet for the election on August 4, 2015:
| “ | I am a parent and professional educator who has served Seattle Schools for 14 years, ten as a teacher and four on the School Board. I’m running for re-election because I have a clear sense of what we need to do to close the opportunity gap and meet the needs of every student in our district. To make this happen, in the past four years I have led or actively supported adoption of a leading-edge K5 math curriculum, implementation of a district-wide intervention system to identify and support struggling learners before they fall behind, improvements in professional development for teachers, and hiring Dr. Larry Nyland, a distinguished education leader, as our Superintendent.
My greatest strength is bringing people together to work constructively on our most important initiatives. This collaborative spirit has fostered greater cooperation between the board and district staff, enabling us to make significant progress in improving the culture and quality of our Seattle Public Schools. However, much crucial planning is yet to be implemented. In my second term on the board, I will ensure that closing the gap remains our highest priority. I will continue to work diligently to secure full funding of education to meet the needs of disadvantaged learners and improve the quality of education in all of our schools. With wise spending and careful planning we’re getting things done for our students and teachers. With full funding we will achieve all our goals. If re-elected, I will leverage my strengths to empower our incoming new Board Directors to form a highly effective team. Together, we can ensure that Seattle students are among the most supported, successful students in the nation.[5] |
” |
| —Marty McLaren (2015)[6] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Marty McLaren Seattle+Public+Schools School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Seattle Public Schools, Washington
- Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 King County Elections, "2015 Official Candidate Filing," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 King County, Washington, "Local Voters' Pamphlet: November 3, 2015 General And Special Election," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Search the Database," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ Re-Elect Marty McLaren—Seattle School Board, "Endorsements," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ King County Elections, "King County Local Voters' Pamphlet: August 4, 2015 Primary And Special Election School, Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 6," accessed July 21, 2015
| 2015 Seattle Public Schools Elections | |
| King County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary - August 4, 2015
General - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 1 : Michael Christophersen • Scott Pinkham
District 2 : Laura Obara Gramer • Rick Burke
|
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |