Dive Brief:

• Wealthy donors are increasingly targeting school board races in far-flung districts to achieve school reform goals, often by electing candidates who oppose local teachers unions, according to new research from Michigan State and Columbia University researchers.
• MSU professors Sarah Reckhow and Rebecca Jacobsen write for Phys.org that donors like Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and Texas hedge fund manager John Arnold are among the outsiders contributing to candidates in Los Angeles, Denver and New Orleans, creating local battlegrounds for national education reform issues.
• Even in relatively small Bridgeport, CT, 66% of all campaign contributions came from national donors, and study authors say this national influence could create more polarized debates at the local level that lead to gridlock over compromise.

Dive Insight:

School board elections have historically had low voter turnout, which makes them easy to co-opt by small, organized groups. Teacher unions have long taken advantage of this to mobilize supporters. In Chicago, one of the few school districts nationwide that has an appointed school board, efforts to establish an elected board have been met with resistance for this very reason. And Los Angeles has served as a striking example of just how much money can be poured into a local election. When much of that money can come from the national stage, local democracy is threatened.

While school board elections have often flown under the radar, district and school administrators might benefit from an early investment in time to monitor candidates and the source of their support. Sometimes information truly does lead to power.

Recommended Reading

Phys.org: National education reformers target local school boards