School Board Citizen Candidates Deserve Our Thanks
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It's no secret that elections for national and state positions have become more contentious and outright nasty. Candidates and supporters on both sides have resorted to name calling, fear mongering, and threats to the other side. In 2024, we had an attempted assassination on a Presidential candidate and in response, many on the other side from his party bemoaned the fact that the assassin missed.
This is not the country I grew up in. Even during the upheaval of the 60's and the anti-war demonstrations of the 90's and early 2000's, we did not have wholesale violent threats.
Some blame social media, and for sure, social media takes these vile messages to many more recipients where they can become influential on those who may not know or understand the full consequences of what is said. However, there also seems to be more of an appetite for this behavior in many venues, including entertainment and sports.
Others blame the mainstream media because they have become careless and biased. People get angry when they don't think both sides are being fairly represented and that wrongs on one side are never reported, regardless of which side people are on.
The last to be the affected is the local level.
Local elections used to be fairly tame. So tame in fact that it was difficult to find people to run unopposed much less with an opponent. That has changed, particularly in races for the local school boards.
In the past, school board positions were viewed as necessary but not impactful. The public trusted county and district administrations to do the right thing for students so the school board was there as a last resort when things went off the rails. That's why school boards were appointed positions until just a few years ago. It's also why they are considered "non-partisan." It was generally thought that school board positions weren't about politics at all and shouldn't be.
The pandemic in 2020 changed all that because local school districts refused to listen to concerns of parents regarding virtual instruction, class curriculum, unnecessary masking of children, and suspect vaccine requirements. Suddenly the public needed more than district administrations to hear and answer their questions.
Although school board positions are still listed as non-partisan, it's clear they are not really so. Both parties recruit and support candidates. Appointments to boards by the Governor fall on party lines.
The 2024 election has shown just how partisan, and nasty, school board elections have become.
However, the candidates that are running are not like candidates for other positions. These candidates, particularly non-incumbents, are moms and dads, grandparents, accomplished professionals in their fields, and not typical politicians who are used to public scrutiny. Most of them don't have the monetary support of multi-million-dollar teachers unions that give their favored candidates fraudulent and expensive "teacher supported," advertising campaigns.
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These candidates were asked to run by other citizens who think they may do a good job, who thought they may have different ideas for how schools can get better. They were not pushed forward by calculating nominating committees or big money union operatives.
They are citizens who care about the education of children.
Unfortunately for them, once they enter this arena they are not used to, they are subject to the kind of vitriol, name-calling and hatred that more experienced candidates get. They are called "Nazi's" by social media cowards. They are threatened by unhinged extremists who tell others to "get in their faces" at the grocery store. These extremists post all over social media that these candidates are "horrible, evil" people who should be accosted and vilified at every opportunity. The candidate's words are twisted, and God forbid a candidate make a typo on an election ad or flier. They even get blamed for the political mailings of other groups they have no connection to.
In our area, one Facebook poster has anointed herself as the judge of these citizen candidates and has become obsessed with trolling them at every opportunity with vile insults. This poster has never run for office, nor is she particularly accomplished in any professional field. Her nasty, partisan, extreme posts in a Facebook group are her one claim to fame. She has a specific agenda and a small group of zealots that follow her lead. It's one thing to criticize or question. She has made it her mission to insult and demean.
I give these candidates credit. They don't insult back. They don't take the bait. They keep moving forward with their message and their enthusiasm.
They are truly brave. They didn't anticipate this undeserved animosity, but they have learned to deal with it.
They are not professional candidates and deserve better treatment than this.
After this election is over, whether they win or lose, they have our utmost respect.
If you see them, thank them for running!
