In November, voters in Florida will decide whether school board races should be partisan. Republican State Rep. Spencer Roach sponsored the legislation that put Amendment 1 on the ballot.
Roach discussed the measure with Tom Hudson on The Florida Roundup.
He argued school board races should be partisan, which was the case in Florida before voters in 1998 said otherwise.
“So what I'm advocating for is really a return to Florida's historical method of electing these school board members,” Roach said, calling the move to nonpartisan races “an aberration and an anomaly.”
He said the goal of the ballot measure is to increase transparency when it comes to school board candidates. He also believes it will increase voter participation by giving more people a voice in the general election.
“We want maximum participation. We want maximum transparency, and we want these school board members to reflect the values of their communities, and having a partisan label on the ballot helps voters make that assessment,” Roach said.
But listeners who called and sent emails to The Florida Roundup disagreed, saying they’re opposed to partisan school board elections.
Roach said these races are already partisan, even though he believes they should be apolitical.
“… even if you're a Florida voter who really wants education to be apolitical, that means you want to vote for (a No Party Affiliation) candidate, you should support this proposal, because right now you have no way of knowing who the NPA candidates are on the ballot," Roach said. "So even if you wanted to select a candidate that does not have any allegiances to any political party, you don't know who that candidate is.”
Florida is also a closed primary state; that means NPA voters wouldn’t be able to choose school board candidates in the primaries if the amendment passes. Roach argued voters in the general election would have a better chance of vetting candidates if the races were partisan. He also predicted a higher turnout in general elections.
Amendment 1 needs the approval of 60% of voters to pass in November. Roach believes it’s going to be a close race.
This story was compiled off an interview conducted by Tom Hudson for The Florida Roundup.
