Should School Board Elections Be Partisan Kappan Online

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 10:42 AM

should school board elections be partisan kappan online

By Jonathan E. Collins | Dec 2, 2024 | Policy Solutions Kendrick Lamar released the album “To Pimp a Butterfly” in 2015. It was the project that I never knew I had always been waiting for. The album cover was a surrealist provocation of unapologetic Black joy parading in front of the White House. Jazz and funk sounds formed around messages meant to make us question the sanctity of American politics.

“Ain’t nothin’ new but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-icans/ Red state versus a blue state — which one you governin’?” laments Lamar on the song “Hood Politics.” Comparing the two major parties... The concern that partisan politics has a propensity to cover over bi-partisan neglect should be part of our conversation on the politics of school boards. Currently, four states require that school board members be elected through a partisan primary process. Another five allow districts the choice to opt in. This slight deviation from the nonpartisan norm hasn’t meant much. However, recent growth in the influence of partisan politics in school board elections has turned an outlier into a coal miner’s canary.

So, I raise the question: Are partisan elections good for school boards? It’s worth mentioning that, while education hasn’t been completely immune to partisan politics, party labels haven’t dominated. Some of the main education policy debates — testing accountability, school choice, curriculum standards — don’t fit neatly across partisan divides (Shapiro et al., 2021). We see, for example, the Democratic Party being home to both teachers unions and their sometimes-foes, the progressive reformers. Republicans oscillate between focusing on more efficient fiscal management of school districts and seeking more pathways for families to opt out of the school system for private options. Public education has been impressively immune to hyper-partisan politics.

So, why disrupt this with partisan elections? Voters will be asked in the upcoming general election to weigh in on whether school board member elections should be switched from nonpartisan to partisan. Official ballot language: Amendment #1: Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify... However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot. Since 1998, school board member elections in Florida have been non-partisan, like most states in the U.S. Whether an election is non-partisan or partisan will not only determine the information a voter receives about a candidate; it also will determine who may vote in the primary elections.

In a non-partisan election, all voters of any political party can participate in the primaries to elect school board members. In a partisan primary election, generally, only voters who are members of a particular political party may vote for candidates of that party. Many school board elections are resolved in a primary election, as was the Collier County school board election in August of 2024. When the 1998 amendment was adopted and elections switched from partisan to non-partisan, advertising a candidate’s political party was prohibited. After a challenge in 2022, it was ruled that such a restriction was unconstitutional, and thereafter, advertising could promote a candidate’s party, but the ballot would still not indicate a party affiliation. Members of the Florida Legislature, led by State Representative Spencer Roach (R76) voted to place this amendment on the ballot, to take effect in 2026.

Roach and supporters argue that the race has already become partisan, since the local parties now openly promote their candidates. Said Jen Mitchell, former Collier County School Board chairman, “The horse has left the barn and since COVID, the atmosphere has been very political.” If voters choose YES, party affiliation would be marked on... Others also say that with a partisan race, school boards will better align with the other local partisan races like county commissioners. Supporters of this amendment include a majority of Florida state legislators and the Florida Republican Party. PHOENIX -- Does the political affiliation of a school board candidate matter? Legislative Republicans think so.

And now they want to make sure that voters know in which party those who want to get elected are registered. A measure awaiting House debate would mandate that beginning next year all ballots include each candidate's partisan designation. And that would be defined as how that person was registered 150 days before the election. The move came over concerns by some foes who said it needlessly injects politics into issues of education. But Rep. Matt Gress, a Republican who previously served on the board of the Madison Elementary School District in Phoenix, said it's too late to keep that from happening.

As the presidential election heats up heading into the fall, experts say local school board races are becoming more politicized and partisan, eliciting various responses from states and districts. Julie Marsh, a professor of education at the University of Southern California and faculty director at Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), said that in recent years, school board elections have seen higher spending... Within the 2024 Presidential Election, something very important happened under the radar. Voters in Florida rejected a constitutional amendment change that would have converted their school board elections from non-partisan to partisan contests. They would've joined a short list of other states that allow this (AL, CT, LA, PA, RI, TN, NC, SC, and GA). With partisan school board elections quietly becoming a wider practice, I used my latest Phi Delta Kappan (PDK International) column to dive into the implications.

Should school board elections be partisan? I break it down here (and take the liberty to talk about my favorite Kendrick Lamar album): https://lnkd.in/eEbWDYHE Posted By: The Reporter October 14, 2024 Once upon a time in a country called America, school board positions were not coveted, and elections for them were not particularly contentious. In small districts across this state and the nation, there were many instances of board members being appointed because no one ran for the elected position. It was not a job that paid much.

It did not garner anyone much time in front of the media. The work was thankless, but necessary. These were positions that existed to deal with budgets and finances, student achievement goals, personnel, contract negotiations, and policies like dress codes, field trips, extracurricular programming, and which textbooks to buy. School boards used to fit the dictionary definition of nonpartisan, which according to Merriam-Webster is “free from party affiliation, bias, or designation.” Professor of Educational Leadership, Miami University Kathleen Knight Abowitz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic...

Miami University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. In more than 90% of U.S. public school districts, school board elections are nonpartisan and have been for centuries. But that long tradition may well be changing – and putting at risk the quality of the country’s education system by introducing divisive national political issues into the process by which a local community... At present, nine states have passed legislation that enables school board races to be partisan. Four states provide for board elections that have partisan affiliations listed on the ballot; another five states permit districts to choose nonpartisan or partisan races.

Bills introduced in six states in 2023 would require or permit school board candidates to declare party affiliations on the ballot. School board politics could benefit from being a more vibrant space, but we should be careful with empowering political parties.

Should School Board Elections Be Partisan Kappan Online

People Also Search

By Jonathan E. Collins | Dec 2, 2024 | Policy

“Ain’t Nothin’ New But A Flu Of New Demo-Crips And

So, I Raise The Question: Are Partisan Elections Good For

So, Why Disrupt This With Partisan Elections? Voters Will Be

In A Non-partisan Election, All Voters Of Any Political Party