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April 25, 2006
Voters wantedWith some states and localities holding school board elections next week, BoardBuzz pauses to reflect on why we all need to exercise our right to vote. Sadly, it is not unusual for school board elections to have low turnout at the polls. One of the hangovers of the Progressive Era was the desire to remove politics from education, thus, many school board elections are held at different times than national and state elections. Those districts that do hold their elections on the same day as national or state elections see a higher turnout, as would be expected.
Says Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, in an article in the Battle Creek Enquirer:
"Either people have gotten too busy or too lazy. For most elections, people are not paying attention. We have a great right to vote, and people have lost sight of how important it is. I think, in general, that's true."King believes that's especially true in school elections.
"We've got an opportunity to direct the way things are going both by electing people and trying to advance money issues," he said. "... If only incumbents are running and the community feels the school district is heading in the right direction, people will just say 'The heck with it' and won't vote."
So what to do? Vote!
Posted April 25, 2006 4:03 PM | School Boards
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