Schools used to be a safe haven. Children throughout the community could find routine there. They could find education, caring adults, meals and friends.
Adults, too, leaned on schools. Schools have long provided educational opportunities for families, connection and support.
While those key characteristics of schools still exist, they have also become tainted by the politics of the day.
School band and choir concerts still exist alongside drama performances, English classes and essays, but the arts must now consider more deeply whether a parent may find any given text offensive or inappropriate despite teachers’ best efforts to expand young people’s ability to think critically.
Football, swimming and other athletic pursuits still dot the week’s events, but now parents, coaches and administrators find themselves discussing things like transgender children and how to best include them in activities.
Children still study social studies, history and current events, but now teachers — even when asked by students — are discouraged from helping young pupils interpret the subjects for fear of accusations of “indoctrination.”
With all that in mind as voters head to the polls in the coming weeks, one must wonder why a political party would insert itself into an election deemed nonpartisan, such as those for local school boards.
According to a quick look at history, nonpartisan elections arose around the Progressive era reforms introduced in the 19th century. Reformers at the time sought to reduce corruption and patronage, increase voter choice, attract more candidates and improve efficiencies by eliminating party influence over the ballot.
The idea, in part, was that by removing party affiliation from some races, voters would be more apt to seek out information on candidates and therefore be better informed when heading to the polls as opposed to voting for a candidate simply because of the party affiliation listed on the ballot.
In addition, some argued, party affiliation should have little to do with some of the duties of the more local offices — such as school boards and city councils — which focus primarily on providing services for area residents.
While pages and hours could be — and have been — spent debating the pros and cons of partisan and nonpartisan races, the merits of each are moot. What becomes relevant, though, are the motives behind political parties inserting themselves into nonpartisan races.
What are the motives? Perhaps it is as simple as the party being asked by its members to guide them. Or, like many other places and traditions once considered “safe havens,” nonpartisan races are a thing of the past and politics of all kinds have infiltrated our lives at all levels.
Motive matters. As you head to the polls, consider endorsements of candidates for nonpartisan races by political parties. Is the endorsement meant to be — at its core — helpful, or does it carry a more specific agenda? Power, perhaps?
