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Local School Board Elections are Important
Hi friend,
Last week was a busy one at CAP. In addition to The Power of One Vote, we also released a new report co-authored with CAP’s K-12 Education team: 5 Reasons to Pay Attention to Local School Board Elections.
In case you missed it, this report lays out five reasons why every voter should participate in their local school board elections:
- Every vote is incredibly powerful in local elections like school board elections.
- School boards make important decisions about public schools.
- Representation matters, but school boards don’t look like the communities they serve.
- School board elections are testing grounds for major social issues.
- High-quality inclusive schools strengthen communities.
School board members make up the largest group of elected officials in the country, yet voter turnout for local school board elections is extremely low, often only five to ten percent. In fact, across 2023 local school board elections in Virginia, over one-third were decided by fewer than 500 votes and over 80 percent were decided by fewer than 2,000 votes.
It is time to do better.
This month as parents and students alike prepare for the start of a new school year with last minute trips to the store to stock up on pencils, pens, and binders, voters should also prepare by equipping themselves with the best tool in helping ensure students have access to a high-quality inclusive education – information about their local school board and its elections.
Best,
Rebecca Mears
Director, Democracy Policy
Center for American Progress
