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A bill to give Indiana school board candidates the option to run as Republicans or Democrats has passed a key vote in the House and could soon head to the governor’s desk.
But the changes that House lawmakers made to Senate Bill 287 may first require a stop in a conference committee, where legislators from both chambers would hash out a final version.
The bill passed by the House on Monday gives school board candidates the option to state a party affiliation, identify as independent, or remain nonpartisan in general elections. It creates mechanisms for county parties to challenge an affiliation, and provides that a straight ticket vote does not apply to school board offices. It also provides raises to school board members.
The bill passed by the House doesn’t require a primary election for school board candidates. However, in the version passed by the Senate, the bill would have required school board candidates to go through the same primary process as other political candidates.
The bill’s sponsor in the House, GOP Rep. J.D. Prescott, said that disclosing party affiliation would drive up voter turnout in school board elections and help voters choose a candidate that aligns with their values.
“Politics are already in our schools, whether we like it or not, influencing everything from how schools handled COVID-19 to budgets, tax rates, debt, curriculum choices and more,” he said. “Just because our elections are nonpartisan, certainly doesn’t mean the candidates and board members are.”
A version of this proposal has been repeatedly brought forward by Indiana legislators since school boards became a hotbed of conflict during the pandemic over issues like masking and school closings. It previously stalled due to concerns over the effect it could have on school boards. Board members’ primary responsibilities are approving a school budget and hiring a superintendent.
Most public testimony on the proposal this year and in years past has been in opposition.
Democratic lawmakers, too, have rejected the idea. Among several arguments they made on Monday, Democrats said the bill actually disincentivizes voters from learning more about their school board candidates, and possibly creates an opportunity for candidates to disingenuously state a party affiliation for political advantage.
“[Voters] don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican, they just want to make sure our kids’ needs are being served,” said Rep. Cherrish Pryor, a Democrat who spoke in opposition to the bill.
Rep. Tonya Pfaff, a Democrat, also raised concerns about conflicts with the Hatch Act, which bars certain government employees from partisan political activities.
And Democratic Rep. Chuck Moseley, a former member of the Portage Township School Board, rejected the argument that politics on school boards is a fact of life.
“We kept politics out of that for one specific reason, because we were representing not just the taxpayers of that school corporation, we were also representing the kids that were in that school,” he said. “We had a responsibility to the parents of those kids that we wouldn’t interject our political thoughts and ideology into school board decisions.”
But some GOP lawmakers explicitly supported the possibility that the bill could help conservative candidates.
Rep. Hunter Smith said the educational landscape has been “growing increasingly and covertly more political for decades,” to the point that district curriculum directors could not find curriculum “void of slanted cultural endorsements and ideologies.”
“I believe this measure will promote leadership more in line with the values of Indiana’s over 2 million parents who entrust their children to our schools every week,” Smith said.
Under the bill, in order to state a party affiliation, a school board candidate must have voted in that party’s two most recent primary elections, or obtain written certification from the county party chairman that they are a member of the party. A candidate’s affiliation could be challenged if they don’t take one of these steps.
The bill also raises pay for school board members from $2,000 as in current law, to an amount not more than 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher in that school district.
It would take effect this July; however, there are no school board elections in Indiana in 2025.
The bill passed the House 54-40, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The Senate will vote on accepting or rejecting the changes made in the House.
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
