Q&A of the Day – States with Partisan School Board Races
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Brian, thank you for making a recommendation on Amed. 1. It's the proposed amendment I’m having the hardest time making a decision about and I respect your opinion. One question I’ve wondered. Are there any other states that have partisan school board elections, or will this be a first if Florida approves it?
Bottom Line: As mentioned, I began my recommendations on Florida’s 2024 proposed amendments with Amendment 1 – Florida's proposed amendment which would turn school board races into partisan races if passed. As noted in recommending a “yes” vote on Amendment 1: 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.
In addressing today’s question, the answer is yes, there are states that either allow for partisan school board races or call for them via state laws. There are currently five states that allow for partisan school board races: Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. In these states local governments can decide whether to hold partisan or nonpartisan school board elections. There are also four states that mandate partisan school board races: Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. As you might notice there’s a mix of what are considered blue, red and swing states within the mix of states that have either enabled or mandated partisan school board races. The best available research on the impact of partisan school board races was produced by a university within one of those states.
The University of Georgia produced a study entitled: The Effects of partisan Elections on Political and Policy Outcomes: Evidence from North Carolina School Boards. As cited in the study’s abstract: This paper aims to provide new evidence on the political and policy consequences of partisan vs. nonpartisan local elections, in the context of school board elections in North Carolina. The 29-page study broke out what happened as North Carolina, a traditional swing state, enabled communities to hold partisan school board elections. The summary analysis was telling. From the study:
- Overall, Democrat candidates’ winning probability, on average, is reduced by 25.7 percentage points following a switch to partisan elections. Contrarily, Republican candidates’ winning probability increases by 18.9 percentage points, on average, following a switch to partisan elections. The narrative holds when accounting for differential partisan success driven by higher ticket races in a given election cycle and when controlling for the race and gender of the candidate.
That’s a monumental shift! It’s also almost certainly why, for example, Republicans a la Governor DeSantis and the Republican led legislature, that placed the proposed amendment on our ballots this year, are behind it. It’s also likely why, for example, Democrats in the state legislature opposed the proposal, and certain left-wing interest groups a la the League of Women Voters, oppose the initiative. This isn’t to say that support or opposition to the proposal is an inherently a partly-line styled proposition, but generally it is.
The “why” behind the studied results showing Democrats elected at a nearly 26% lower rate with partisan school board races is explainable. Democrats largely dominate the education establishment. 70% of all public-school teachers are members of a union. 99% of all union political donations go to supporting Democrats (For the American Federation of Teachers, the parent union to all Florida teacher unions, it literally stands at 99.22% in the 2024 cycle with $0 going to Republicans). Over 80% of union-backed candidates (members of the union) win. Effectively, the education establishment isn’t at all an accurate reflection of the communities they serve. Only 11% of Americans are in a union. Unions on balance lean left, but are nowhere near 99% supportive of Democrats.
One other stat to add into the mix is that the reelection rate for incumbent school board members has been 82%. The reason school boards have historically been overrepresented by Democrats by greater than 25% has come down to the union-backed education establishment exploiting the situation. Non-partisan school board races often include light turnout. It’s historically been easy for the unions to back candidates of their choosing and organize around those candidates to see to it that they win. That’s what’s brought about the rise of organizations like Moms for Liberty to attempt to act as a counterweight to the union organization.
What’s been evidenced to occur in school districts that have adopted partisan school races is that the local boards have far more closely reflected the ideological bend of the communities they’re serving which is to be expected.