School board elections have been nonpartisan in Florida since 2000. That’s because voters here approved a constitutional amendment on the issue in 1998.
But now there’s a proposal to make school board races partisan again — a constitutional amendment to reverse the one decided 25 years ago. Floridians will get to vote on Amendment 1 in November.
One reason may be that in the past four years, school board meetings have gotten a lot more polarized. And these county level government agencies are getting a lot more attention from the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
Matthew Peddie, host of "Florida Matters" and the podcast "Our Changing State," spoke to Tampa Bay Times education reporter Jeff Solochek about the proposed amendment.
What will change if Amendment 1 passes:
If Amendment 1 passes in November, allowing school board elections to become partisan, there will be things that change and things that stay the same.
One of the main elements in a school board election that would change if Amendment 1 passes is the primaries.
Currently, in school board elections, any voter who shows up can vote for any candidate. This would change with Amendment 1.
“What happens is the Republicans have their election, the Democrats have their election,” Solochek said. “Then it moves to the general election, and that’s where everybody else can chime in.”
The people running for school board elections might change, too. There have been mixed opinions on Amendment 1.
Some candidates wish they were able to express their political beliefs because it is a part of their identity, while others say they won’t even run if the election becomes partisan, Solochek said, calling it a “mixed bag.”
The amendment would also allow candidates to gain extra campaign funding because of their new party association.
“You would know who’s a Republican and who’s a Democrat very specifically and plainly,” Solochek said. “It might add some extra money into campaigns because right now, the party surreptitiously gives money to people, but they’re not supposed to.”
What will stay the same:
While school board elections will have a different process if Amendment 1 passes, some things will stay the same.
Solochek said that while candidates will be putting a D or an R next to their name if the legislation passes, many already do it now but in different ways.
“So right now, what we’re seeing is a lot of partisan electioneering without using the partisan words,” Solochek said.
Most candidates have a website that states what they stand for. Many publish exactly what they believe in and what they would say if they came and knocked on your door, Solochek said.
Voters can look on these websites and find exactly what the candidate stands for and use that to make their vote.
Another thing that won’t change regardless of if the amendment passes or doesn’t pass is campaign forums held by the Democrat and Republican parties, Solochek said.
“You still have candidates who come to your door and say ‘Hi, I’m a nonpartisan candidate running for school board and let me give you this packet from the people who are in my party and you can see how they’re running in other races and maybe you can vote for all of them,’” Solochek said.
