The 2024 Florida Amendment Series: Amendment 1 - Recommendation
Bottom Line: There will be six proposed constitutional amendments on Florida’s ballots in November’s general election. Four of those proposed amendments were referred by the Florida legislature and two were citizen-led proposals which met all requirements for consideration by voters. The first of the six proposed amendments set to appear on our ballots this year would change the way school board elections are conducted in the state.
The title of the proposed amendment:
PARTISAN ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARDS
The summary of the proposed amendment as it will appear on voter ballots:
Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify that the amendment only applies to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot.
A "yes" vote supports making school board elections partisan beginning in the November 2026 general election and for primary elections nominating party candidates for the 2026 election.
A "no" vote opposes making school board elections partisan, thereby maintaining current procedures where school board members are elected in a nonpartisan election.
This proposed amendment is straightforward. Do we want to turn school board races into partisan races, or do we want then to remain non-partisan? The sponsor of the proposed amendment, State Representative Spencer Roach said this as his reason for advancing the proposal: This is not about, at least for me, advancing the cause of one political party over another. It’s about transparency, and I simply believe that we have an obligation to give voters as much information about a candidate as possible, and let them make a decision about vetting a candidate. I would tell folks, if they truly want to vote for nonpartisan candidates, those candidates in Florida who are NPAs that don’t have a philosophical association with either of the two major parties and they (voters) viewed them as sort of purist NPAs — right now in Florida, the law prevents you from doing that, because you don’t know who that candidate is.
Opposition to the proposal was led by State Representative Angela Nixon who has said: I believe this bill is not about transparency at all. This bill is about making our school-board elections and our school boards more contentious, more like D.C., which they honestly always try to oppose (referring to Republicans).
My recommendation is a “Yes” vote on Amendment 1. In an ideal world education wouldn’t be politicized. In reality, education has been influenced by political interests since at least 1857 when the first teachers’ union, the precursor to the National Education Association, was established. During every election cycle I hear from voters who’re uncertain of who to vote for in nonpartisan school board races. Creating partisan school board races is far from a perfect fix for helping voters decide who they’d rather have represent their interests on local school boards, however it would likely help the greater than 71% of Floridians who identify with one of the two major parties decide whom they may want to vote for. Many school board members are already highly partisan in their approach to running school districts. Passing Amendment 1 will add transparency to the election process.
Proposed amendments require a minimum of 60% voter support to pass.