How to Reclaim the School Boards
As Education Reporter published last month, parents and citizens interested in changing the course of their public schools can start by finding out how their state and local school board members are selected, and then running for school board themselves or identifying suitable candidates.
An October 15 article in The Daily Citizen, an online publication of Focus on the Family, points out that state legislatures "establish departments of education from their state constitutions and laws," but that "much of that state authority is delegated to local school boards." The article emphasized the importance of school boards as "one of the most important places where parents and concerned citizens can make a difference in children's education."
The article also states that "90 percent of voters don't vote in school board elections," a sobering statistic given the critical role school boards play in curriculum selection, policy, and budgets. As the Citizen observes: "An individual vote has greater weight here than in elections for president, congress or state offices."
So where to begin? The website of the Education Commission of the States includes a list of both the K-12 School Board Governance by State and the K-12 State-Board-of-Education Governance by State. These lists show how school board members are selected in each state and cite the applicable laws governing the board member selection process in each state.
Most states have organizations that provide information and/or assistance with becoming a school board candidate. These organizations, such as the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA), for example, typically take liberal "advocacy positions" but provide helpful information such as candidate filing dates, tutorials, and instructional videos about how to become a candidate in various districts around the state. Conservative candidates can avail themselves of the useful information.
The conservative Leadership Institute (LI) provides online training for persons interested in running for their local school board. LI acknowledges that "many school boards around the country are captured by the left. This includes large urban districts where leftists would be expected to control local politics, as well as more suburban areas where the ‘non-partisan' nature of school board elections lead many conservative voters to cast ballots for leftist candidates." The teachers' unions and other left-wing groups, who are well-trained and experienced in politics, back school board candidates that share their ideology. LI observes that they often win elections "because conservative candidates are ill-prepared or do not run at all."
LI has "42 years of experience in training conservatives to win." Their training program includes how to raise funds for a successful campaign, and provides "briefings and background information." The website is currently offering free enrollment in this training for a limited time.
Also worthy of mention is the Family Research Council's FRC Action arm, which features the organization's School Board Boot Camp and FOIA webinar "to help empower parents to engage in public education." FRC's latest publication, A Concerned Citizens' Guide to Engaging with Public Schools contains valuable information and resources, and is available for download free of charge.
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