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Will school boards become partisan?
Florida’s school boards have not been partisan for many decades and now there is a chance that they could come back to having school board officials disclose their party identity.
Will this change, at the heart of Amendment 1 on Florida’s November ballot, reveal how officials are voted on in the school board contests? It is a possibility that it can.
According to ballotpedia.org, “Florida had partisan school board elections until voters approved Amendment 11, which prohibited party labels in school board elections, in 1998.”
Amendment 11 was referred to the ballot by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission.
The state of Florida next month will consider Amendment 1, which is what this topic falls under, and it has had some people question if this will be a good idea moving forward. Some disagree, saying that this amendment could change how the school boards are run and that they should not be partisan.
On the contrary, there are people who support this amendment to the constitution, saying that this could be a good thing.
According to ballotpedia.org, “State Rep. Spencer Roach (R-76), the sponsor of the amendment, said, “This is not about, at least for me, advancing the cause of one political party over another. But for me it’s about transparency, and I simply believe that we have an obligation to give voters as much information about a candidate as possible, and let them make a decision about vetting a candidate.”
Alaijah Brown, a Tallahassee Democrat reporter who specializes in writing about K-12 education and schools, talked about school board elections and how there could be a change if Amendment 1 is approved by 60 percent of the voters on Nov. 5.
“Yes, it will likely change things. Candidates might focus more on political ideologies, and elections could become more like typical political races with more campaign funding and party involvement.,” Brown said.
Amendment 1 could go either way. It can be a good or bad thing, Brown said. She also talked about if stating the party affiliation of the school board member makes a difference in who is elected.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Party labels can influence how people vote, even in school board races. It might push voters to pick candidates based on their political affiliation rather than their qualifications or ideas for education.”
According to hendryelections.org, opponents of the amendment argue that school boards (local government bodies that oversee public school funding and management) should remain as apolitical as possible. For more information, head to hendryelections or ballotpedia, or reach out to a local representative.