Do Florida’s Voters Want to Make School Board Races MORE Partisan?

At the end of each legislative session, Florida Politics publishes its list of “Winners and Losers.” No one was surprised to find Florida’s School Board members on the “Loser” list:

“School Board members — Less than a year after their terms were limited to 12 years, the Legislature came back and gave the terms another four-year haircut with the passage of HB 477. Committee-level protests from Democrats soon died in the face of arguments that even the President has an eight-year limit in office. The Florida League of Cities was on the case, and so was GrayRobinson, representing Gainesville, Greenacres, Kissimmee, Maitland, Mount Dora, Marion County, Miami-Dade County, Metroplan Orlando, Rockledge and Vero Beach.”

[On the bright side, “Bloggers” were on the “Definite Winners” list.]

In addition to term limits, bills were passed by the GOP supermajority which could dramatically change the way school board members are elected. Again, after enduring a high politicized school board campaign season in 2022, fueled by the culture wars and political endorsements for candidates sworn to support the Governor’s agenda, no one was surprised.

Currently, in Florida, school board races are nonpartisan and candidates must live in the district they seek to represent at the time they qualify to run. This is about to change.

1. HB411 passed both the House and Senate, with some bipartisan support, changing the residency requirement to the time the elected school board member takes office. By state statute, Florida’s newly elected school board members are sworn into office 2 weeks following the General Election in November, meaning school board candidates no longer need to reside in the school district/county they will represent until AFTER they are elected. Senate sponsor, and former FLGOP Chair (2015 to 2019), Blaise Ingoglia pushed back on any concerns saying the bill simply brought school board races in line with other local offices and  “Living in the community, living in a district doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has less of, or more of, a grasp of what’s going on in the district or the community as a whole.” Right… not necessarily… For what it’s worth, Ingoglia, referred to as “DeSantis’ conservative pit bull in the Senate,” found himself on Florida Politics’ “Winners” list.
2. HJR31 passed both chambers, more or less along party lines, proposing an amendment to the Florida Constitution which would make district school board elections partisan. The proposed amendment will be placed on the November 2024 ballot and require the approval of 60% of the voters to pass. The resolution was championed by Senator Joe Gruters (another former FLGOP Chair, 2019-2022) who insisted party politics already play a role in these elections and making the races partisan would merely make the process more transparent. Gruters, by the way, was. also named to Florida Politics’ “Winners” list, in part for his efforts in placing this partisan school boards proposal on the ballot.

Full disclosure:

I am currently serving my second term as a Monroe County School Board member, having been re-elected in 2022. I ran against an opponent who was endorsed by Governor DeSantis, who did robocalls for her, and heavily supported by our local Republican Party, who flooded our local airways with non-stop radio ads. My opponent publicly disclosed both her party affiliation and mine (neither is allowed in a nonpartisan race). She apparently was encouraged to move to my district (in 2021 from Miami-Dade) so she could run against me. The Culture Wars featured prominently in her campaign.  I was called a “groomer,” accused of wanting “sexual content” taught to kindergarteners and promoting CRT in our schools, and my signs were defaced to say “Woketanski.” “Don’t Vote Woke” signs littered our highways. There was a huge sign by an Early Voting site urging Republicans to vote for my opponent to “Save Our Children.” Teachers who openly supported me (outside of school hours and off school property) had their certifications threatened. I had enough online threats that the local sheriff’s office provided extra patrols during my election night party.

I won 54%-46% in a countywide race, where only 29% of the voters are registered Democrats and where DeSantis won 60% of the vote in November. Why? Because my community knows I am a passionate advocate for public education and my community (even the Republicans) are strong supporters of our public schools. Despite the culture war rhetoric, even during this divisive time, public education remains a place where communities can bond together over our common goals – providing the best education possible to our local children. I believe it is the best investment a community can make.

Was I surprised by the political nature of my re-election race? No. In 2020, I watched former teacher, legislator and current Orange County School Board member, Karen Castor Dentel, targeted by the for-profit charter school industry who labelled her, in her re-election bid, as “Public Enemy #1” and urged voters instead to elect a former meth-addict with a background in porn who supported school choice. Seriously… Orlando Sentinel Opinion Columnist Scott Maxwell described the bizarre and nasty campaign here.

I do believe the intense political nature of my school board opposition surprised my community and I doubt they want more of the same in the future. I, also, believe that the non-stop negative rhetoric in intensely partisan campaigns is damaging to public schools, which depend on the support of the communities they serve. (This was the topic of my November 2022 post “The Damage is Already Being Done.”) 

Needless to say, I don’t think school board elections should be more partisan. I believe the business of public education should be student focused and apolitical. I agree with Meredith Mountford, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University, who explained how the Founding Fathers, after significant debate, agreed that, rather than swing with political agendas, school governance should remain apolitical to create stability in schools and a better education experience for children. Read her interview with WUSF here.

Political Talking Points From The Right

In April, just days before the resolution passed on the Senate floor, Spectrum News 13, a 24 hour local news channel in Orlando, broadcast a panel discussion about the proposed partisan school board amendment. Senator Gruters was a panelist. You can watch here.

The broadcast began with an interview with the new Chair of the FLGOP, Christian Ziegler, recorded in late 2021. Ziegler said the “number one’ question they get at Republican headquarters is “which school board candidate is the Republican.” He called the idea that these races are nonpartisan a “fallacy” and said partisan identification on the ballot would provide transparency and make decisions easier when voters head to the polls (assuming the voter only cares about the candidates party registration, that is). Ziegler’s wife, Bridget, is a Sarasota school board member who was re-elected in 2022 following a highly partisan race, where she ran with a slate of conservative candidates, all endorsed by DeSantis and the Republican Party, and flipped the Sarasota School Board to 4-1 Republican. Ms. Ziegler’s “day job” is as staff, faculty and Director of School Board Programs at The Leadership Institute, which believes that “Conservative leadership will restore American education.” She literally is paid to train conservatives to be school board members. No wonder her husband supports partisan races…

The panel discussion included current two school board members, Abby Sanchez (Orange County D3) and Chad Choate III (Manatee County D4), in addition to Gruters. All three admitted to being registered Republicans.

Gruters echoed Ziegler’s talking points, saying these races are are already partisan, already politicized and making them partisan would provide more transparency. Choate sided with Gruters but Sanchez was opposed to partisan school board races, believing they would result in bringing political issues into the classroom. As a former teacher she said the focus should be in provide high quality, safe schools for all children, regardless of party politics.

Gruters insisted “it’s pie in the sky type thinking, you’re living in Lala land if you do not think these races are partisan right now. What we’re doing and what we’re proposing to do is give the power and the knowledge to the voters.” He went on to describe how political parties approach elections:

“What’s happening in everyone of these races is it’s a knock down drag out fight and its to see who can trick the most voters into voting for the candidate that they want to have win. It’s not about transparency, its not about doing what’s best for the State of Florida, or educating the children, it’s about making sure these parties are successful.“

https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/in-focus-shows/2023/04/14/in-focus

How do political parties “trick” voters?” Gruters gave an example: a voter gets a phone call saying “Hey, this is Joe, I’m a Republican state senator supporting my good friend Tom who’s running for the school board.” Now, he explained, Tom might be a Democrat but you would never know that from this message Gruters explained this sort of “game” is played “all the time” and it is unfair to voters because it deceives them.

Time Out: One of the reasons I was successful in my campaign is because I earned endorsements from well known Republicans in my community. There was no trickery involved. My community overwhelmingly supports our public schools and many, from across the political spectrum, endorsed me because they believed I was the best candidate for the job. This is exactly how nonpartisan races are supposed to work. I suspect Ziegler, Ingoglia and Gruters, as party operatives, cannot conceive of honest support of a candidate from a different political party. And this, I believe, is exactly why we should keep school board elections nonpartisan.

How Florida School Board Members Are Elected Now.

Candidates must live in the district/county they will represent at the time of qualifying at their local Secretary of Elections office in June. All candidates run without party affiliation and may not, themselves, disclose their party registration, though they may receive endorsements and campaign contributions from partisan groups. All candidates run in the August “Primary” election and if any candidate receives 50%+1 votes, they are declared the winner. If no candidate reaches the 50%+1 threshold, the top two candidates move on to a runoff in the November election, where the winner is determined. Successful candidates are sworn into office two weeks following the November election.

If School Board Races Become Partisan.

Making school board races partisan is about more than simply placing a “D” or an “R” by a candidate’s name on the ballot. Here’s what you can expect:

Candidates would identify themselves at qualifying by the political party to which are registered to vote (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, etc). They will be required to have been registered in that party for at least 365 days prior to qualifying. Candidates can also register as No Party Affiliation or NPA. All candidates must qualify in June to see their name placed on the ballot. With the passage of HB411, school board candidates will no longer be required to live in the district they represent, or even the county, to qualify for the ballot.

Florida has closed primaries. In the August Primary, voters will only be able to vote for candidates in the party in which they are registered to vote – Republicans will vote for Republican school board candidates, Democrats will vote for Democratic school board candidates, etc. NPA voters will not be allowed to vote for either. If all candidates for specific race are from the same political party, and there are no NPA candidates, then all voters will be allowed to vote in that “primary” and the winner (who would run unopposed in the General election in November) will be declared in August.

In November, the winner of the Republican school board primary will face the winner of the Democratic school board primary and any additional party-affiliated primary winners (Green, Libertarian, etc), as well as all NPA candidates. All voters, regardless of party affiliation and including NPAs, will vote in this school board election. The winner will be the candidate that achieves a plurality, it is not necessary to achieve the 50%+1 threshold in the November election. The winner must move to the district they represent within 2 weeks of their election, when they take their oath of office and assume the role of school board member.

Potential For Partisan Trickery

Partisan School Board races will not curtail the partisan “trickery” Senator Gruters is concerned about. However, since Florida has a closed primary system, it will allow political parties to target moderates with radicals in the primary, without need to appeal to the entire community. One need only look at recent school board campaigns, where moderate, public school supporting, incumbents were labelled as “RINOs” and challenged by far-right radical candidates. Our Governor already has a “hit list,” targeting school board members up for re-election, many of whom are registered Republicans. If these races were partisan, then only Republicans could be used to oust an otherwise popular incumbent.

If all candidates for a school board seat are in a single political party, that party can keep their primary “closed” by registering a NPA candidate, which would force the runoff in November. This tactic has been used recently in other partisan races in my county, closing the primary and effectively shutting out the participation of NPA and other voters.

In Florida, we have all seen the partisan shenanigans that occurred in the 2020 election, where well funded Ghost candidates targeted Democrat Senate candidates in key districts. In Seminole and Volusia counties, mailboxes were flooded with campaign literature for a little known progressive Independent candidate named Jestine Iannotti. The candidate was fake. The mailers depicted a black woman, but the real Justine Iannotti was a white woman who had no intention of serving as state senator. The mailers were designed by Republican strategists in Tallahassee who favored the Republic candidate, Jason Broduer (who ultimately won the race). This was not an isolated incident. Read here to learn how the architects of Florida’s ghost candidate scheme have used dark money and guided behind-the-scenes campaigns to tilt elections and influence public policy all across the state.

Of note, Sen. Gruters, the sponsor of this ballot proposal, was FLGOP Chair during the ghost candidate scandal. He knows ALL about partisan campaign trickery.

Conclusion: Just Say No To Partisan School Board Elections

Gruters and Ziegler both repeat that partisan school board elections will provide more transparency, more information, to the voter. I call BS. Political parties are ALREADY allowed to endorse and fund their preferred candidate. They can, and do, include school board members on preferred candidate lists. This information is already available to anyone who asks prior to entering the voting booth. Making school board elections partisan will increase the partisan shenanigans.

If we want to keep politics out of the classroom (and I believe we all do), we must keep partisan politics off the school board. School board members need to remain focused on their students and responsive to the local community who elected them. Florida’s voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on this in November 2024. I urge you to vote NO and keep politics away from our schools.