Student-led group makes 11th hour push to keep school board elections non-partisan
WLRN | October 31, 2024
A student-led campaign opposed to the proposed Amendment 1 — that would require partisan school-board elections starting in 2026 — are making a late push to rally students statewide to vote against it.
“The idea of Amendment 1, allowing political parties to inject their agendas into our classrooms, disgusts me,” said Sebastian Martinez, a recent Florida high school graduate, in a statement released by the campaign. “Our students deserve the best education, not to be used as political pawns, which is why I’m voting no on one.”
Organizers of the NO on One Campaign said they are seeking to use television and social media ads to reach 1 million Florida voters and use partnerships on college campuses to urge young voters to reject Amendment One on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The Republican-controlled Legislature put the proposal on the Nov. 5 ballot, in part saying including party labels for candidates would increase transparency about school-board elections, which often are already battlegrounds for Republicans and Democrats.
“This is not about, at least for me, advancing the cause of one political party over another. But for me it’s about transparency, and I simply believe that we have an obligation to give voters as much information about a candidate as possible, and let them make a decision about vetting a candidate,” Rep. Spencer Roach, a North Fort Myers Republican who sponsored the proposal, said last year as a House panel debated the issue.
Critics argue the proposal is an effort to consolidate power by Republicans, who hold voter-registration edges in 57 of the state’s 67 counties.
In a video posted on Facebook, Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said keeping non-partisan school board races would help reduce “political polarization” in communities.
“I do think that Republicans are trying to change this so that it will be much more difficult for more thoughtful, rational individuals to run for school board in more-red counties,” Eskamani said in the post. “This is designed to make it impossible for them to win.”
The proposed amendment comes after controversies have roiled many school boards in recent years about issues such as mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and removing or restricting school library books. Also, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a high-profile role in trying to help elect conservatives to school boards in some parts of the state.
School board races traditionally were partisan, but that changed after 64 percent of voters approved the 1998 constitutional amendment. In addition to requiring nonpartisan school board races, the 1998 amendment included election-related changes such as putting a public campaign financing program in the Constitution.
