As the Oklahoma State Legislature debates a bill that would move school board elections to the November general election ballot, opponents made an unusual argument.
They argue that while local voters may be entitled to vote for the president of the United States, they are not entitled to choose their community's school board.
In an email sent to members of Congress on February 10th, House Elections and Ethics Committee, Parent Legislative Action Committee (PLAC)declares, “Many general election voters are not focused on the needs of school districts and may not research candidates to learn where they stand on issues that affect children.” did.
of Oklahoma School Boards Association He opposed a bill filed in 2023 that would move school board elections to November, arguing that the change could result in “a lack of information for voters about school board candidates.”
(https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?u=a654b89867fe89b24cb1c924f&id=af20ee5788)
During recent debate over a separate bill that would move school board elections to popular vote, state Rep. dick lowe,R-amberdeclared that a high turnout general election would attract “many ignorant voters.”
(https://ocpathink.org/post/independent-journalism/oklahoma-republicans-join-democrats-to-reduce-parent-role-in-school-board-races)
When a similar bill was considered in 2021, then-state Sen. JJ Dossett,D-Owassoalso expressed a similar view.
(https://ocpathink.org/post/independent-journalism/oklahoma-republicans-join-democrats-to-reduce-parent-role-in-school-board-races)
“As always, when something like this happens, I go to trusted school community leaders, including current school board members,” Dossett said.
“They're worried that less informed voters (groups) will be making decisions. And, frankly, they're worried that more informed voters will turn out. I think they want it to go down.”
The number of voters who have been rejected as too ignorant to choose school board members but fully qualified to choose the president of the United States is staggering. In many cases, opponents of moving school board elections argue that, in effect, only one in every 100 presidential voters is eligible to elect school board members.
For example, in the recent parliamentary elections on April 2nd, broken bow Only 36 votes were cast on the school board.
matt giles won J.W. Brantley By a 22-14 margin.
A shift of just four votes would result in a tie, while a shift of five votes would reverse the outcome.
(https://results.okelections.us/OKER/?elecDate=20240402)
The 36 votes cast in the Broken Bow school board election are in stark contrast to the 3,309 votes cast in the same district during the November 2020 general election.
School board elections held at unusual times have not only resulted in anemic turnout in rural areas, which is only a fraction of the number of voters in regularly scheduled general elections. .
in the suburbs union district of tulsa countyOnly 146 votes were received in the April 2 school board election. The same constituency cast at least 5,546 votes in the November 2020 general election.
inside tulsa One district's school board election received just 649 votes last week. These same precincts cast at least 4,307 votes in November 2020.
Senate Bill 244, by State Sen. Aly Seyfried,R-claremoreand state legislators. toni hasenbeck,R-elgin, the school board election will be included on the November general election ballot. The bill also reduces the term of office for education commissioners on five-person school boards from five years to four years.
(http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb%20244&Session=2300)
The bill passed the Senate last year and remains eligible for a vote in a House committee this year.
Supporters of the change argue it will increase community input into local school management because more voters will be involved.
Research supports that claim, showing that Oklahoma's current system effectively leaves parents out of the loop.
Research published by Annenberg Institute in brown university Data from the following four states was investigated in January 2020. oklahoma. Specifically, the researchers found that “a majority of voters in a typical school board election in each of the four states we studied were 'unlikely' to have children.”
(https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai20-196.pdf )
The report states that “regularly holding school board elections to coincide with national elections with high turnout significantly increases the political representation of households with children and increases the racial diversity of the electorate.” It is likely to increase.”
Opponents of moving school board elections to general election voting implicitly acknowledge that the move would increase public awareness of elections by requiring school board candidates to actively reach out to voters. There is.
Opponents not only argue that general election voters are ill-informed, but also that postponing the election would require school board candidates to communicate their positions on school issues to more voters. They also complain that they need to be better informed.
OSSBA said school board elections “will become more expensive” if SB 244 becomes law because of the need to communicate with voters during general elections. The OSSBA argues that it's too much to ask of the people who run local schools and approve millions of dollars in spending each year, and that those seeking election to school boards have “greater time and financial resources.” He said there would be an “incurring financial burden.”
But state legislators. chris banning, bixby Republicans who introduced a bill this year to move school board elections to November recently announced that the 2,366 school board members serving across the state will receive a total of $12.3 billion in funding from all sources: state, local and federal. He pointed out that he oversees dollar school funding.
“This is an important election,” Banning said.
Note: This article was first published online. here it is:
https://ocpathink.org/post/independent-journalism/local-voters-can-choose-president-but-not-school-board
Reprinted here with permission.