The Politicization of Local School Board Races

Advocacy forces and big money from outside the community wield influence but not always with the expected results

Historically, local school board elections have tended to be low spending, low turnout and often parochial events. Studies of school board campaigns suggest that candidates typically spend under $1,000. Candidates in large districts often spend more, but 90 percent report spending less than $25,000. In November 2015, more than half of the 1,528 open school board seats in New Jersey had one or no candidates on the ballot, and 130 had zero candidates.

With limited funding and attention, outcomes typically hinge on personalities, name recognition or bursts of anti-incumbency following a localized scandal.

But today, after two decades in which the action in education seemed to be migrating to state capitals and Washington, D.C., the political landscape of education policymaking is changing once again. Education politics has become nationalized, but with a local twist. Reformers now see school district leaders and elected school boards as important vehicles for national agenda-setting and political engagement over educational issues. And they are acting on that belief.