Florida voters to decide whether school board races should become partisan

While marijuana and abortion rights may be getting a lot of attention, there’s another constitutional amendment Florida voters will get to weigh in on this November that could also have some major ramifications.

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Currently, when you vote for school board there’s no R, D or I next to a candidate’s name, but that could soon change if Florida voters give the green light to Amendment 1.

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It was back in 2023 when the Florida Legislature gave the nod to putting the question of making school board races partisan before voters this November.

State Representative Dean Black (R-Yulee) co-sponsored the effort.

He argued voters deserve to know where candidates stand.

“Because it tells you a lot about the values that a candidate has and whether they share your values,” said Black.

Between hotly debated education laws and political figures like Governor Ron DeSantis endorsing school board candidates in recent years, Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar argued politics are already making their way into the classroom.

“I find it interesting that the party that has said we should not have politics in schools is the one proposing having politically charged school board elections,” said Spar.

READ: Opposition campaign headed by DeSantis allies seeks to defeat recreational marijuana amendment

Spar argued partisan school board races would just make the problem worse, and get us further away from a time when parties rarely paid much attention to school board issues.

“And so that’s the biggest concern. If you infuse partisan politics into school board races, now it’s who is the Republican and who is the Democrat on the school board and you have partisan politics leading decisions instead of what’s best for kids,” said Spar.

But Black argued there’s always been a political undertone to school board decisions, and the amendment would simply bring those leanings into the light.

“The left has already made school board races very political and this just acknowledges that fact,” said Black.

The amendment needs 60 percent support to pass.

If it does, voters could expect to see party affiliations next to school board candidates’ names starting in 2026.

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