School Board Elections, Redux

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Yesterday's NJ had a remarkable article from Matthew Albright that purports to take a look at the usually out-of-sight school board elections and the possibility of influence by outside interests on the eventual winners. It is remarkable, because it singles out teacher's unions as the outside interests being served by the inattention of voters to these elections. There isn't even a fig leaf of a "both sides do it" argument -- in large part because this article lets Jea Street pontificate about how teacher's unions are running the board for school board elections:

Money Isn’t Working In School Board Elections

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When it comes to school board elections something is different. Just ask Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch and Michelle Rhee. They lost big in Los Angeles.
Despite Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and Rupert Murdoch's big contributions, LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer was re-elected to the board, defeating their hope that Los Angeles would become the next big pathway to privatized education.
It seems that money, which is a must in other elections, doesn't count for much in school board elections. And we don't need to look at Los Angeles for proof. We experienced this phenomenon in Delaware. Last year I wrote several posts on the upcoming school board elections. I hadn't been paying much attention at the time, but as the election drew near, my attention was snagged. Something different was happening:
I haven’t really commented on the upcoming School Board elections, mainly because I can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. With all the attention on these races – phone polls, money, PACs – I keep feeling I’m missing something – Big. What is going on? What’s on the line? And why the hell is so much money being dumped into an election that, I predict, will still have a dismal turn-out. Basically, what’s the agenda? For the life of me I don’t see it. Yeah, I get the split is between Charter and Choice (Ed reformers) supporters vs Traditional Public School supporters, but that’s hardly new. What’s new are the aggressive tactics being employed and the money being spent. All of this keeps me wondering… Am I missing something about these races; something that makes them vitally important? Is something major about to change depending on who wins these elections? If so, what?
So that's where I started. The amount of money being dumped into our local school board races caught my attention. What held my attention was the emergence of Voices 4 Delaware, a nebulous PAC, that, in essence, became the school board candidate. You couldn't turn around without being hit with one of their mailers or receiving another one of their phone calls. As I write this today, I can't even remember the names of most of the candidates they supported, but I remember them. And just like what happened in Los Angeles, big money lost in Delaware last year.

Help Wanted – School Board Elections

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Given Jason's recent post it appears School Board races may heat up against this year. If this is true then we need to get moving! Every year I send out a list of questions to Red Clay school board candidates and post their answers. Here's my problem: Every school district has different concerns and I while I'm familiar with the challenges facing Red Clay, I have no idea what the Appo, Capital, Christina, Seaford, etc. District residents are looking for in a school board candidate. So... I need a few volunteers to contact candidates in their district and report back. I'm also trying to figure out the best way to do this. Actually, I'd really like to find a way where I'm not sending out tons of emails - because a quick look at the number of candidates running is quite daunting, and, contrary to popular belief, I don't get paid for this! ;-)

School Board Election Today – VOTE

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Here's my assignment for you... Call a friend or neighbor and get them to vote today. You can find my thoughts/posts on the School Board elections here, here, here and here. For information on who can vote and where to vote click here. I still haven't figured out exactly why School Board elections have become such a hot ticket item - I just know that this year they are. Our votes will matter. No excuses. Go Vote!

Koch-style Big Money Now in School Board Races

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I always like to check in on politics in Denver and Colorado, since that is where I cut my teeth in the political world. I'm still good friends with a number of elected officials out there and some of the Democratic Party officials. So I was surprised to read this today. My brother, who is a Denver Democratic Party officer sent it to me. It seems as though Koch-style big money has trickled down to the school board races.