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“Should school board elections in Indiana be partisan?”
A decade before I entered state-level politics, I ran for a seat on the North Harrison Community School Board. I wanted to serve my community and ensure our school district stewarded taxpayer dollars well enough to offer a top-notch education to the students in our district. Like many others, I quickly discovered that elected officials often have different worldviews underpinning how they seek to do that.
In the General Assembly, those differences are acknowledged, and compromise is often reached through debate and discourse. It’s common for those with similar worldviews or economic interests to partner together to reach a common set of goals.
In school boards across the state, it works in much the same way. School boards make decisions over millions of dollars in property taxes and spending, craft policy on controversial issues, and receive significant campaign contributions from political groups like the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education.
However, there is one crucial difference between them: Legislators run with party affiliations; school board members do not. That is one reason there is record-low participation in school board elections. For example, in my home county, Harrison County, 16% to 41% of people who cast a ballot didn’t vote for any candidate for their school board elections.
Chances are that most people have a quaint, romantic view of school board elections. A mom or dad with kids in the school decides to run for office. They get the signatures and file their forms. They spend a couple of hundred bucks on a few signs, a few shirts and some pens or chip clips to give out. They make a Facebook page, go to community events, eat at church dinners, knock on doors and, ultimately, they get elected.
However, that’s not always what happens. Instead, parents find themselves up against candidates aligned with and given thousands of dollars from the teachers’ union or other outside interest groups. The parent can’t match those resources, and the average voter doesn’t know how candidates feel about relevant issues like money management.
That’s why I authored Senate Bill 287 this legislative session. It simply requires candidates for school board offices to be nominated in the same manner as candidates for all other elected offices.
School boards are one of the most important elected offices in our state. They frequently oversee budgets larger than that of many cities and counties. For that reason, both candidates and voters deserve transparency and to be on a level playing field. Knowing which political party a candidate identifies with will help Hoosiers know what kind of principles that person would apply to their position on a school board.
School board elections are already partisan, and it is more vital than ever that we recognize that.•
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Byrne represents Senate District 47, which includes Harrison and Washington counties, and most of Floyd County. Send comments to [email protected].
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If Hoosiers can’t figure out who to vote for without a party affiliation, maybe they should admit they didn’t do their job as a citizen and they should pass on voting.
We need less political affiliations in elections, not more. And open primaries. Let school boards be decided in November, not May.
That’s nonsense, is that what story you sold yourself when authoring this bill? Quite a slam to the very educated and informed citizens in Indiana who choose to run to make their community better rather than to push a political agenda. Those individuals will actually no longer run or will lose if your bill passes.
Voter turnout in Indiana is generally pathetic so that’s a red herring. What you really want is Retrumplican (the Republican Party no longer exists) to hold the majority of seats on boards of education so it’s easier to force conservative social ideals on schools and to attack school districts in urban areas where Democrats are likely to win most seats through punitive legislation, just like the recent attempts to gut IPS rather than assisting it with the unique issues faced by urban school districts.
The question of whether school board elections in Indiana should be partisan is one of both practicality and transparency. Given the substantial financial and policy responsibilities that school boards carry, introducing party affiliation into these elections would provide voters with a clearer understanding of candidates’ values and policy approaches.
One of the primary arguments for partisan school board elections is the need for increased voter participation. Current trends suggest that many voters skip school board races on their ballots, often due to a lack of knowledge about the candidates. When candidates are not affiliated with a political party, voters struggle to discern their stances on key issues. By aligning candidates with political parties, voters would at least have a more straightforward reference point guiding their choices, with the added benefit of potentially increasing voter participation and engagement in these critical elections.
School board decisions are already inherently political. Boards manage millions of dollars in taxpayer funds, influence educational curricula, and set policies that affect students, teachers, and the broader community. Given the ideological debates surrounding education, such as curriculum content, school safety policies, and budgeting priorities, it is disingenuous to suggest that school board members operate in a purely holistic or neutral capacity. Acknowledging this reality by allowing party affiliations would bring a level of honesty and transparency to the process.
The only thing missing is party affiliation. Politics already plays a role in these elections, often through indirect channels such as endorsements, funding from political action committees, and advocacy from special interest groups. Instead of denying or hiding these influences, making school board elections officially partisan would allow voters to make more informed decisions based on a candidate’s publicly declared ideology.
Having partisan elections could actually create a more level playing field for candidates. Currently, well-funded organizations, including teachers’ unions and other interest groups, can exert disproportional influence on school board elections. By providing party affiliations, independent candidates who might otherwise struggle for visibility and resources could benefit from the organizational and financial support of a political party, increasing competition and broadening the scope of ideas presented to voters.
Don B. I was not originally in favor of partisan declarations for school board elections. However, you make some very valid points and observations. Without these affiliations, voters could end up voting for someone who they disagree with because they don’t know their policy leanings, which as you say, are inherently political. Thank you for your persuasive observations.