Washington, D.C. — The makeup of a school board profoundly impacts the quality of public education in any regional community, but voter turnout in these local elections remains very low across the nation. A new analysis from the Center for American Progress illustrates the importance of school board elections and provides policy recommendations to boost voter turnout.
There are more than 82,000 school board members in the United States, but voter turnout in these elections trends as low as 5 to 10 percent. To increase voter turnout, the authors recommend syncing local elections with presidential elections, the passage of federal- and state-level voting rights legislation, and the use of more representative election systems.
Key takeaways from the brief include:
- In Virginia’s 2023 local school board elections, more than one-third of elections statewide were decided by fewer than 500 votes—and more than 80 percent were decided by fewer than 2,000 votes.
- Seventy-eight percent of all U.S. school board members are white; 68 percent do not have a child in public school; 52 percent are male; and 49 percent have a household income greater than $100,000.
- Even though 90 percent of school board members are elected in nonpartisan elections, these elections have become a testing ground for some of the most contentious political and social issues in the country—including LGBTQI+ rights, racial equity and justice, public health precautions, and school boundaries.
- Since school board members are disproportionately elected by older, white, and affluent voters, they are likely to overweight this group’s policy preferences, both because they often share these voters’ identity and because these voters are an important constituency for their reelection.
- School board elections in districts with higher voter turnout experience better academic performance compared with districts with lower voter turnout.
“Voter turnout for school board elections remains alarmingly low, and it’s time to do better,” said Rebecca Mears, director of Democracy Policy at CAP and co-author of the brief. “Thankfully, there are a number of ways to effectively improve voter turnout in school board elections and reduce existing voter participation disparities.”
“The decisions that school boards make affect the entire community,” said Paige Shoemaker DeMio, senior analyst for K-12 Education Policy at CAP and co-author of the brief. “Individuals who do not cast an informed ballot in their local school board elections are relinquishing important decision-making power to people who may not be qualified or have their community’s best interests in mind.”
Read the brief: “5 Reasons To Pay Attention to Local School Board Elections” by Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Rebecca Mears, and Lisette Partelow
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].