Mark Woods: School board races already are political. Do we want to make them partisan?

One thought I haven’t had lately: If only we could find ways to make things even more partisan.

There’s an election Tuesday. It isn’t the one everyone is focusing on. But this is an important election. It includes races for some hyper-local positions, like four of the seven school board seats in Duval County.

On the ballot, none of the candidates in those races will have an “R” or “D” attached to their name.

But depending on what happens in November — specifically with Amendment 1 — that could change in the future.

This comes more than 25 years after Floridians said pretty emphatically they didn't want partisan school board races.

In 1998, amid another tumultuous time for American politics — the potential impeachment of President Bill Clinton dominated headlines that November — Florida voters went to the polls and by a nearly 2-to-1 margin approved Amendment 11, changing school board races from partisan to nonpartisan.

The change went into effect in 2000, which you may recall was another tumultuous year for elections. At the time, amid plenty of partisan disagreements, Floridians agreed they wanted some things to be nonpartisan.

Now, in 2024, if 60 percent of voters approve Amendment 1, it reverses that and makes school board elections partisan again.

'Keep focusing on kids, not parties'

Unlike some of the other amendments on the ballot this November, this one wasn’t created by citizens and petitions. It was created by state legislators.

Sen. Joe Gruters, a Republican representing parts of Manatee and Sarasota counties, sponsored the bill in the state Senate last year, arguing that all elections already are partisan.

“You can say I’m an expert in partisan politics because I was the chairman of the state party and longtime chairman of my local party,” Gruters told his fellow lawmakers . “And, I want to say, all these races are partisan now. What we’re doing is we’re pulling the bag off of people’s heads, allowing people to have full knowledge of where people stand.”

He and other sponsors said that making school boards partisan is about transparency — and that knowing a candidate’s party affiliation will help voters know what they’re getting in a candidate.

Another view: In Florida, we’ve already seen our schools become the frontline of America’s culture wars, with state and national politics playing an increasing role in local battles. Let’s not politicize education even further.

While several states do have partisan school board races (Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana and Pennsylvania) and a few others (including Georgia) have a mix of partisan and nonpartisan races in their state, the vast majority of states still have only nonpartisan school board races.

Darryl Willie, who represents District 4 and is the current chair of the Duval County school board, worries that if we go to partisan school board elections in Florida, it won’t just affect the campaigns.

“I think once you start to drive that wedge and have that division, then that's how the conversations are going to go,” he said. “You almost are forced to think a certain way once you start saying, ‘I am an R or a D,’ instead of thinking, ‘I am representing every single constituent.’ … We need to try to keep focusing on kids, not parties.”

He notes that having partisan school board races could cost more money, because it would involve adding primaries.

It also could mean even fewer people voting in these races.

As things stand, all registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in school board elections in their districts. If the races become partisan, and there are primaries for both parties, the nearly 4 million NPAs in Florida wouldn’t be able to vote.

If there are only candidates from one party, all voters can vote in what becomes the de facto general election. Well, in theory. When voters passed election reform in 1998, this was part of it. But it was followed by a write-in loophole for this scenario: If a write-in candidate simply files paperwork, that limits the race to just the voters of the one party.

So for the last 25 years, Florida has had a parade of sham write-in candidates, closing races on both sides of the aisle and excluding over 8 million voters from voting — but not in nonpartisan school board races.

That’s just one of the reasons the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization that doesn't endorse or oppose candidates but does take stances on issues, has said that it recommends voting “no” on Amendment 1.

A tale of two mailers

As things stand, while party affiliation isn’t on the ballot, candidates don’t have to hide theirs. Some can and do lean into it.

An interesting example of this can be found in the District 3 race between two Republicans, incumbent Cindy Pearson and challenger Becky Nathanson.

The campaign to elect Nathanson has managed to use “Republican” as both a positive and negative label.

Some voters have received mailers from a political action committee supporting “Republican School Board Candidate Becky Nathanson.” (I’ve received these, presumably because years ago, after one of those write-in loopholes closed the state attorney's race, I switched my party affiliation from NPA to Republican for one election.)

Meanwhile, some registered Democrats have received mailers from a PAC supporting Nathanson, targeting (in red letters) “Republican Cindy Pearson.”

Another mailer, from a Tallahassee-based committee, has a long list of the Republican primaries Pearson voted in since 2012 and concludes: “With a voting record like hers, can we really trust Cindy Pearson on Duval County’s School Board?”

Again, this supposedly damning indictment of Pearson — she’s a Republican who has consistently voted in Republican primaries! — is being sent to voters by a political action committee working to elect … another Republican, who has voted in Republican primaries.

Make of that what you will if you’re in District 3.

One thing I make of it goes beyond this campaign: This race that isn’t even partisan, but certainly is quite political and expensive by school board standards, is a glimpse of what the future could look like.

A final word

With all of this in mind, I appreciate and applaud what Jacksonville Public Education Fund did in the weeks leading up to this election.

JPEF and several partner organizations set up community forums for each of the four district races, giving voters an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates.

JPEF worked hard to try to have every candidate participate. So it’s worth noting those who did: Nadine Ebri (District 1), Cindy Pearson (District 3), Nashon Nicks and Hank Rogers (District 5), and Melody Bolduc and Sarah Mannion (District 7).

Rachael Tutwiler Fortune, president of JPEF, said the ultimate goal of the four forums was “activating robust, informed community engagement in public education.” It allowed the candidates to share their visions, dreams and concerns — and for audience members to ask questions. (The forums are still available to view online at http://www.jaxpef.org/vote .)

When it comes to the question of partisan or nonpartisan, Tutwiler brings up a related and quite idealistic word: bipartisan.

"Education policy was once a bastion of bipartisanship,” she said. “Adults who make decisions that impact children should continue to keep the main thing the main thing — our students and what’s best for them and their futures.”

mwoods@jacksonville.com

(904) 359-4212

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Mark Woods: School board races already are political. Do we want to make them partisan?