Florida school board campaigns have recently become overtly political and, in some cases, downright nasty. Do Floridians want local school board races to become even MORE partisan and divisive?
That is what Florida’s lawmakers proposed when they placed Amendment 1: Partisan School Board Elections, on the November ballot. They claim the change will simply provide more transparency, but opponents are concerned about the impact of increasing partisan politics on local school board decision-making in this already politically divided time. Opponents also worry about disenfranchising nearly 4 million Florida voters, who are registered as NPA (No Party Affiliation). Passage of this amendment means they would be unable to participate in closed partisan primaries to determine school board candidates.
The ability to close school board primaries may be Amendment 1’s greatest impact on school board elections. Currently, local school board races are nonpartisan, meaning all eligible voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in the nonpartisan primaries. If Amendment 1 passes with 60% of the vote, partisan politics and partisan primaries WILL change the way Floridians elect their local school boards. Partisan school board elections would become part of Florida’s closed primary system, where only voters registered with a political party can vote for candidates in their primary, excluding the 30% of Florida’s voters registered as NPAs or with minor parties. If only one political party has candidates, a “Universal Primary” would be open to all voters but political parties have frequently used “loopholes,” such as ghost candidates and write-in candidates, to close such primaries, leaving elections decided by only those members of the party holding the primary and disenfranchising the rest.
Lee County Representative Spencer Roach, who sponsored Amendment 1, claimed he was simply advocating for a return to Florida’s “historical method of electing these school board members,” and called the move to nonpartisan races in 1998 “an aberration and an anomaly.” Nonpartisan school board races are NOT an anomaly. They are the norm.
Nationwide, the vast majority of school districts — estimated at around 90% — hold nonpartisan elections, in which candidates run without a party affiliation affixed to their name on the ballot. If Amendment 1 passed, Florida would become just the fifth state to require partisan school board elections.
Prior to 1998, following a law passed in 1976, local communities could decide whether their school board elections were partisan or not, and seven Florida counties were holding nonpartisan school-board elections. In 1989, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that school board election rules must be consistent statewide. This decision ultimately led to the 1998 Constitution Revision Commission’s proposal for a nonpartisan school board election amendment. The amendment was part of a larger election reform package that also established the Universal Primary system. The amendment passed with overwhelming support.
Unfortunately, political parties quickly figured out loopholes to avoid Universal Primaries and from 1998-2022 over 8 million voters have been excluded from voting in primaries closed by such shenanigans. Amendment 1 would allow similar shenanigans to impact school boards races.
Public schools serve ALL children. Shouldn’t ALL voters be able to vote for their school board representatives? A NO vote on Amendment 1 will allow all voters to continue participating in local school board races and encourage the election of school board members based on their qualifications and not just their political affiliation.
To prevent political party shenanigans from disrupting your local school board elections, vote NO on Amendment 1.
Sue Woltanski is a public education advocate and chair of the Monroe County school board. Her views here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Monroe County school board.
