Strengthening School Board Elections
- BY FGA
Local school board elections can have wide-reaching and lasting implications for taxpayers and students alike.
More than 90,000 school board members govern and oversee America’s public school system, including:
The problem?
A lack of transparency or accountability in school board elections
- School board elections have much lower voter turnout than other elections.
- Most of America’s school board elections are nonpartisan, yet nonpartisan elected officials are often more polarized than ones who declare their party affiliation.*
*Pennsylvania and Louisiana are some North Carolina school board elections are partisan
Thankfully, there are effective solutions for lawmakers to boost turnout and increase engagement in school board elections.
Lawmakers should:
Require school board candidates to declare their party affiliation.
Impose term limits for school board members.
Align school board election cycles with major statewide elections.
Eliminate staggered terms for school board members.
By enacting these reforms, state lawmakers can…
- Restore parents’ confidence in the public school system
- Increase community participation in school board meetings
- Help save taxpayer funds
- Ensure school board members don’t break the law
- Help voters be more informed about candidates running for school board
It’s popular:
Voters support these reforms.
Sources: National School Boards Association, National Center for Education Statistics
