Margie Ross Decter
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Margie Ross Decter was the Ward 8 member of the Newton School Committee. She was first elected to the chamber in 2009, and she served until January 2018 as she did not file to run for another term in the general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Decter earned a bachelor's degree in biology and French from Lehigh University and a master's degree in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University. She served in the Clinton White House as a policy advisor on national health reform, and she spent time as an executive in the healthcare industry before founding her own business, Enzyme. Decter went on to serve as president of Enzyme.[1]
Elections
2015
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2015)
The Newton School Committee consists of nine members, eight of whom are elected to two-year terms. The ninth member and chair of the board is the Mayor of Newton. The other eight members of the board are elected at large, although each member represents a different ward in the school district. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. All eight seats were on the ballot in 2015.[2]
All incumbents sought re-election; only two saw challengers on the ballot. Ward 2 incumbent Margaret L. Albright defeated Cyrus Vaghar, while Ward 5 incumbent Steven Siegel won re-election against Susan Huffman.[3]
The following incumbents won re-election unopposed: Ellen P. Gibson in Ward 1, Angela Pitter-Wright in Ward 3, Diana Fisher Gomberg in Ward 4, Ruth E. Goldman in Ward 6, Matt Hills in Ward 7, and Margie Ross Decter in Ward 8.[3]
Results
| Newton School Committee, Ward 8, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Margie Ross Decter Incumbent |
99.4% | 4,683 |
| Write-in votes | 0.64% | 30 |
| Total Votes | 4,713 | |
| Source: Newton Election Commission, "November 3, 2015 Official Results," accessed December 17, 2015 | ||
Funding
The Newton Election Commission does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at elections@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Decter in the election.
2013
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2013)
Decter ran unopposed to keep her Ward 8 seat in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 8 General Election, 2-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Margie Ross Decter Incumbent |
99.4% | 5,658 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 37 | |
| Total Votes | 5,695 | |||
| Source: Newton, Massachusetts, "Official Results - November 5, 2013," accessed December 18, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Decter reported $349.95 along with an existing balance of $1,710.06 and $59.94 in expenditures to the Newton Election Commission, which left her campaign with $2,000.07 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Decter in the election.
2011
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 8 General Election, 2-year term, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Margie Ross Decter Incumbent |
99.7% | 4,762 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 16 | |
| Total Votes | 4,778 | |||
| Source: Newton, Massachusetts, "City of Newton November 8, 2011 Municipal Election Official Results," accessed November 19, 2013 | ||||
Campaign themes
2011
Candidate website
Decter's campaign website listed the following themes for 2011:
| “ |
With federal and state funding eroding, Newton needs to be even more creative with its revenue and budget development. We should:
I believe that our biggest issue Newton is facing is our city’s short term financial focus. Developing a sustainable long term plan for the city and our schools with multi-year measurable goals will enable better strategic and financial planning—this includes investments that may require short term capital but yield savings in the long run. One example is investing in educational technology that could accelerate adoption of better teaching and efficiencies across the system, improve differentiated instruction for kids, share lesson plans, and in-source teacher training. If we are “penny wise but pound foolish,” we will miss opportunities to invest in a better and more efficient system that will pay off down the road. In my next term, I will focus on four objectives: 1. champion innovation, performance improvement (teaching and learning), and financial sustainability; |
” |
| —Margie Ross Decter (2015)[6] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Margie + Decter + Newton + Public + School"
See also
- Newton Public Schools, Massachusetts
- Newton Public Schools Elections (2013)
- Newton 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
- ↑ Margie Ross Decter, "Experience," accessed November 20, 2013
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, "Email correspondence with the Newton Election Commission," March 6, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Newton, "Elections," accessed September 10, 2015
- ↑ Newton, Massachusetts, "Form CPF M 102: Campaign Finance Report," accessed November 19, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Margie Ross Decter for School Committee, "My Ideas," accessed October 26, 2015
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