Should school board seats be partisan?

Reporter Editorial

Once upon a time in a country called America, school board positions were not coveted, and elections for them were not particularly contentious. In small districts across this state and the nation, there were many instances of board members being appointed because no one ran for the elected position.

It was not a job that paid much. It did not garner anyone much time in front of the media. The work was thankless, but necessary.

These were positions that existed to deal with budgets and finances, student achievement goals, personnel, contract negotiations, and policies like dress codes, field trips, extracurricular programming, and which textbooks to buy.

School boards used to fit the dictionary definition of nonpartisan, which according to Merriam-Webster is “free from party affiliation, bias, or designation.”

Schools are places that should educate students for life, rather than shape their political views based on Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or other political agendas.

In theory, school board elections are nonpartisan.

In practice, school board elections have become exceptionally partisan and contentious in recent years. Candidates may not have a R or D next to their names on the ballot, but many – not all, but many – run for school board because of political views.

As is often the case, the State of Indiana has a policy that does not reflect reality.

Since school board elections are designated by the state as nonpartisan, candidates do not declare a party affiliation or go through a May primary election to determine who is on the November ballot. In the current polarized version of modern America, that can make things difficult for voters.

Arguing that school board candidates should leave their political views at home is both pointless and naïve.

People lose friends over political views now. That is not going away any time soon.

The arguments about gender-neutral bathrooms are not over.

The arguments about which books should be in which part of the library – or on the shelf at all – are not over.

The arguments about who can play sports on the boys team or the girls team are not over.

The arguments about which textbooks paint a more “accurate” picture of American and world history are not over.

So why do reasonable, educated, relatively well-informed people think school boards should be nonpartisan?

They are certainly not apolitical.

Last year there was a bill in the Indiana House of Representatives to allow individual school corporations to add political party identification to school board races through public questions on local ballots. House Bill 1428 died without a vote on the House floor.

That bill would have allowed each individual school corporation to determine whether or not party affiliations should be listed at all, and if so, whether primary election for school board candidates would have been necessary.

Thus, while it could potentially have provided some voter clarity in some school districts, it also would have added layers of complexity because different districts would have ended up with different procedures.

Every owner of this newspaper is a Hoosier. We like things that are simple and easy for everyone to understand.

Since we can’t make people leave politics out of the school board, let’s at least make it clear which ideology candidates endorse.

Let’s make every school board election partisan. Let’s make school board candidates go through a primary election with other members of their own party in May, and through a general election against the other parties in November.

At least then voters could—theoretically—have a good idea where their school board candidates stand.