Your homework is due April 2. That’s when Missouri holds its next round of elections for public school boards. The candidates are non-partisan, which means that the weight is on you to figure out who best represents what is important to you, your family and your community when it comes to public education.
“We encourage people to vote in school board elections,” says Brent Ghan, deputy executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA), a private, not-for-profit organization that exists to help local school boards succeed. “School board elections are critical in our system of democracy. The decisions made by local school boards often have more of an impact on students, parents and the whole community than decisions made by higher levels of government.
“People run, thinking that there are simple solutions to issues in public education,” he adds. “You can’t wave a magic wand and make things happen. A good candidate has an open mind to consider alternatives and a willingness to work as a team. You need other people to come along with you on a vote in order to achieve anything on a school board. We discourage people from having a single agenda as the reason for their candidacy.”
School boards that reflect the diversity of their communities tend to do the best job of making decisions for the kids in their public schools, says Ghan. Frequently, these boards have a mix of new members with fresh perspectives and experienced members. Board members often relate to Ghan that it takes the first term of service to gain a full understanding of what school board service entails. Another important attribute, he says, is having members who are willing to learn about issues before meetings; school board service is a time commitment that goes well beyond one monthly meeting.
“The school board is the link between the community and the professional educators that they hire so it is really important that they reflect the overall views of the community. School boards are trying to make an effort to make meetings—and summaries of meetings—as easily accessible as possible so their communities can get a sense of how they reach decisions,” says Ghan. “Sometimes, there is media coverage of school board meetings, and you can certainly attend these meetings in person.”
West County includes seven school districts Parkway, Kirkwood, Valley Park, Ladue, Clayton, Rockwood and Webster Groves. All except for Webster Groves will hold school board elections in April; in Webster Groves only two candidates filed for its two open seats. Perhaps most notable, Parkway has five candidates for two open seats, and Parkway and Rockwood are also the first districts in the St. Louis area to have Muslim women running as candidates.
Check out the League of Women Voters www.lwvstl.org for information on school board candidate forums scheduled in Kirkwood and Parkway. Also, individual school district websites and Facebook pages may have information on candidate forums and interviews that have already taken place or are underway this week. In addition, Muslims for a Better America www.mbamo.com is sponsoring a candidate forum for Parkway on Saturday, March 16, 5-7 p.m., at the Islamic Foundation, 517 Weidman Road, Ballwin, MO.
By Florrie Kohn
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