A New Study Suggests School Board Politics May Not Be What Many Think

By; John Huber Marylandk12.com

For the past several years, may who follow education news would seem to believe that school board meetings have become ground zero in America’s political culture wars. News coverage has been dominated by shouting matches over curriculum, transgender policies, mask mandates, book choices, diversity initiatives, and increasingly partisan school board elections. The image presented to the public is one of perpetual conflict and dysfunction.

A recent Education Week article examining survey data from school board members across the country paints a different picture. The findings suggest that while political conflict exists and concerns board members, it may not be nearly as widespread or defining as many people think. The survey found that school board members are concerned about partisan politics and growing polarization, but many also report that board members claim their day-to-day work remains focused on traditional education issues such as academics, budgets, staffing, school safety, and student achievement.

For those of us who have written extensively about politics in schools, that finding is interesting.

One of the recurring themes I have explored on MarylandK12.com is that schools increasingly find themselves pulled into political debates that have little to do with their core mission. Whether discussing curriculum controversies, activist groups (including teachers’ unions) influencing policy, political activism by employee organizations, or state and federal mandates that put school systems in difficult positions, the concern has never been that schools are political institutions by design. The concern has been that schools are often asked to function as battlegrounds for issues originating outside the classroom.

The Education Week findings appear to support part of that argument.

According to the survey data, board members reported that their priorities generally align with the priorities of their communities, including academic performance and school safety. Where tensions emerge is often between elected boards and small but highly vocal advocacy groups that may have different priorities than the general public. Board members frequently perceived a gap between the issues that dominate public meetings and media coverage and the issues that most parents care about on a daily basis.  Anyone who has attended school board meetings regularly understands this dynamic.

A handful of highly vocal individuals can create the impression that an issue dominates public opinion when, in reality, most parents are primarily concerned with whether their children are learning, whether classrooms are safe, and whether schools are functioning effectively. The loudest voices are not always the most representative voices.  The opposite occurs too. Many times boards publicly create and champion policy the effects only a handful of students believing they are doing what is best for all students. That does not mean political conflict doesn’t exist.

The survey found that many board members remain concerned about the influence of divisive partisan politics on both elections and governance. Members serving larger districts reported more contentious campaigns, more internal board conflict, and greater community polarization than those serving smaller systems. Some respondents described still lingering effects from the COVID era and related disputes that elevated school boards into national political conversations.

The pandemic altered public perceptions of schools. Decisions that previously received little attention suddenly became subjects of significant public interest. Issues involving public health, parental rights, instructional materials, student identity, and governmental authority moved directly into the spotlight.  Many communities have not fully returned to pre-pandemic norms.

What I find most significant in the survey is that it challenges assumptions coming from both sides of the debate.

Some activists portray school boards as hopelessly politicized institutions captured by one ideology or another. The survey suggests that most board members continue to view their work through a fairly traditional lens focused on governance rather than ideology.

At the same time, it would be naïve to conclude that politics is not affecting schools. It clearly is.

Politics increasingly enters schools through policies, advocacy groups, employee organizations, state directives, federal regulations, and community activism. School boards often find themselves responding to those pressures rather than creating them. In many cases, board members inherit controversies that emerge from societal debates and are then expected to resolve them through local governance structures that were never designed for that purpose.

When I have written about politics in schools, my concern has never been that board members wake up each morning looking for ideological arguments. Rather, schools are being placed in positions where they are expected to address issues that extend well beyond education and over which they have little control.

The Education Week findings suggest many board members feel the same tension.

The most encouraging finding from the survey is that despite the challenges, many board members claim to remain committed to public service and believe they are making a positive difference in their communities. About half indicated plans to seek another term, suggesting that even amid heightened scrutiny and conflict, many still see value in the work.

The headlines focus on conflict, but school governance across most of America still revolves around the daily grind of budgets, personnel, facilities, transportation, academics, and policy implementation. Those topics don’t get national attention, but they consume the overwhelming majority of a board’s time.

The survey suggests that neither politics nor conflict in general may be as widespread as many Americans have been led to believe. Sometimes the loudest meetings make the headlines while the ordinary work of governing schools continues largely unnoticed.