School the Vote
"Little" school board elections matter big-time.
There’s a crucial, essential election coming up. It will have a huge impact on our future. Billions of dollars are at stake. And ninety-five percent of Americans won’t vote in it.
No, not the Presidential election. It’s one of the “little” ones: the local school board election. Voting on such dull local issues as the school budget, school board candidates, and funding for public libraries. Pretty unexciting stuff.
The National School Boards Association estimates that voter turnout averages between 5 and 10 percent for these elections.
But these “little” elections aren’t so little. Across the nation, almost 100,000 school board members oversee the education of 50 million of our children, allocating some $600 billion in expenditures.
Nothing is more important than the education of the next generation. They’re our hope, our future. I think a lot of people would agree with that statement. Yet across the nation, we don’t bother to get out and vote for it.
(photo credit Mona Chalabi, Carnegie Corporation)
And the voters who do show up tend to be the angry ones. They’re seniors understandably concerned about high taxes, looking to save money at the expense of our schools and libraries—not seeing that excellent schools and libraries are an investment in everyone’s future. And of course, more and more voters are flooding school board elections, looking to enforce their own personal or religious agendas, banning books and monitoring the curriculum for morality.
The timing for these elections varies by state. In some states, they’ve figured out that turnout is better in November when everyone is all geared up for election stuff. But in New York State, the school board elections are always on the third Tuesday in May, hardly a date that most folks have circled in red on their calendars. It always catches us by surprise. Seems like they try to make it as inconvenient as possible. It’s a Tuesday, but not a holiday or a day off. It’s a pain to drag yourself to the polls on a weeknight, when it’s a school night, a work night, in a busy spring when we all have other stuff to do.
During the pandemic, every home in my school district had school budget ballots mailed to them. All you had to do was fill it out and return it by mail, postage paid. Voter participation soared, from single digits to more than 80 percent. That one change, mailing the ballot, made an enormous difference for a minimal expenditure.
And these elections matter. You all know the stakes: Book bans. Library closings. Teacher firings. Mental health support for students. Counselors vs armed guards in schools. The bathroom wars.
Check out this excellent guide to voter participation in school board elections, put together by the Carnegie Corporation, a not-for-profit that supports education. For one thing, they have some thoughtful advice on how to evaluate school board candidates, who are often just a bewildering string of names on the ballot. How can you tell if someone is truly concerned with the welfare of the students, or looking to push a moralistic agenda? They suggest voting for someone with a strong track record of volunteer service, especially with children. Are they a former teacher, aide, coach? Or if they’re a business owner, does their business have a track record of supporting the school? Are they solely focused on curriculum policing and book bans, or do they show an interest in other issues? Are they making provocative statements to rile up emotions?
Once you find out the date of your local school/library election, be the town crier, letting everyone know. Spread the word in every way you can think of, to all your neighbors, that this election is worth showing up for. Don’t wait to read in the papers the next morning that the school budget failed, or your public library is cutting hours, or Moms for Liberty have taken over your neighborhood school board.
Dear Friends,
Are you more than a little worried about the election of 2024 and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.
Every Tuesday I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.
Together, I think, we could really make a difference.
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”
--Noam Chomsky