ORLANDO, USA – A proposed constitutional amendment that would turn Florida’s school board elections on the November ballot into a partisan contest has stirred controversy among Democrats and educators, some of whom see it as a power play by Republican US Governor Ron DeSantis.
If the ballot question passes in the November general election, school board candidates would be required to list a political party starting in November 2026.
Opponents of the proposal argue that fielding party-backed candidates would inject “dirty” politics and big political money into elections that should be focused on ways to improve education for children.
On the other hand, Republican lawmakers who spearheaded Amendment 1 argue that voters need to know the political affiliations of candidates in order to be properly informed.
“School board elections are one of the few political arenas where elected officials can set aside party affiliation and come together for their students,” Grace Hayes, a Florida public school teacher, said last year when she joined other Tallahassee educators in speaking out against partisan elections.
“Forcing school board candidates to choose partisan positions in an already very hostile and complicated political climate is the worst thing we can do for students, teachers and educators,” she added.
Increased transparency
Republican Florida Rep. Spencer Roach, who introduced the bill to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot, denied that partisan elections would help Republicans control schools.
“This isn’t about promoting a Republican or Democratic cause,” Roach said during the floor debate. “This is simply about transparency. I simply believe that as policymakers, we have an obligation to provide voters with as much information as possible about the candidates.”
Most school board elections across the country are nonpartisan, an effort to keep politics out of instruction and curriculum decisions, but Florida’s conservative policies and ongoing culture wars have recently set an example for other Republican-leaning states to follow.
Florida is the third-most populous state in the United States, and DeSantis has attracted national attention for his presidential ambitions and his tight political control over the establishment in the state capital, Tallahassee.
Other politicians and education leaders across the country will certainly be paying close attention to how Amendment 1 fare in the Nov. 5 general election, but it may be unlikely to succeed, as it would require a 60 percent majority vote to pass.
Amendment 1 appears on the ballot mixed with Florida’s other ballot issues on the presidential race, marijuana legalization and abortion rights, issues that could easily be overshadowed by partisan school election issues.
Florida school boards have recently engaged in sometimes heated debates over politically loaded issues, including book bans, bathroom rules for transgender students, “don’t say gay” bills and so-called “critical race theory,” an academic concept about the impact of the history of racism in the U.S. COVID-19 mask rules and school reopenings have also been heated topics during the pandemic.
Political party support
DeSantis and the Florida Democratic Party have already entered nonpartisan school elections, endorsing multiple candidates statewide in recent primaries.
It’s absurd to say school board elections aren’t already partisan, said Florida Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican who serves in the House of Representatives and is one of the leaders of the state’s conservative cultural movement.
“The idea that school board elections today are not partisan is a lie, so I think people might be living in a world of sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and pixie dust,” Fine said during a legislative debate last year. “I hope people will vote for it.”
Fine argued that a person’s registered party affiliation is often already public information and can be easily found on the internet.
“Think about how crazy it is that there’s a law that says you can’t say anything about yourself that someone can look up. It’s crazy,” Fine said.
Opponents of Amendment 1 argue that if it passes, voters may investigate less and instead follow party loyalty.
Critics say the school board changes would also disenfranchise voters. Currently, Democrats, Republicans and independents all vote in nonpartisan school board elections.
The amendments could discourage candidates.
The amendment would prevent independent voters from voting in primaries and could bar people who want to run for school board elections without a party affiliation from voting.
Education officials in the conservative-leaning county said it’s hard to get Democrats to run for local office, meaning school board races could be decided in Republican primaries if Democrats can’t field candidates.
Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, said historically, the majority of Floridians have already expressed a preference for nonpartisan school board elections.
In 1998, Florida voters approved a ballot measure to make school board elections nonpartisan. Twenty-six years later, the state Legislature is asking voters if they really mean it, Jewett said.
Unlike presidential or gubernatorial races, voters don’t get as much information about local school board candidates, Jewett said.
“You could argue, as supporters argue, that party labels are information that helps voters make decisions,” Jewett said, “but many voters seem to want to downplay partisanship, to not bring it to the forefront and to add fuel to the partisan fires that we see so often in Tallahassee and Washington.”
Education Priorities
Education policy scholar Jonathan Collins said the Progressive Reforms in the United States in the early 20th century created nonpartisan elections to thwart corruption and reduce the influence of party systems.
Collins warned that history should not be forgotten and said Florida should tread carefully before returning to partisan school board elections.
“Are we removing the barriers that diverse students face in the classroom? Are we thinking about how to improve their academic achievement?” asked Collins, an assistant professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.
“These are questions we should be asking, and it seems like a more partisan approach has led to these questions being more about the culture of the school than the actual academics.”
