Why We Write for School Board Races

Pro-democracy and Democratic school board candidates are battling Moms For Liberty. The grassroots has their backs.

Contributors: Martha Merson, Elizabeth Reingold, Susan Wagner

Public schools are essential for an informed and discerning citizenry. Winning seats in state and federal elections will be bittersweet victories if groups like Moms for Liberty succeed in taking control of school boards to advance an agenda that undermines democracy. Time is ticking!!  

Photo by Matthew Hatcher in The Keystone

Many of us recall how the pandemic eliminated canvassing and in-person phone banks in 2020. Volunteers reached for postcards, using them as a tool to encourage votes for Senate and House candidates as well as the Biden-Harris ticket. As early as 2017 postcard writers also saw the potential for high impact in down ballot races and special elections.

Imagine the difference a few thousand postcards can make when participation in school board races is low and the campaigns have limited funds for mailers and ads. The story of one school board race in Pennsylvania illustrates the stakes and impact of grassroots involvement.

Object Lesson

One night, Amy Schiff and Ellen Bender, co-founders of Markers for Democracy (a NY-based grassroots organization), sat riveted for three hours by a school board meeting. 

They watched, dismayed, as Pennridge School Board members in Bucks County, PA, held an open meeting and then proceeded to ignore objections of community members and paved the way for new courses, textbooks, and regulations with a hard right agenda. (See Vanity Fair February 2024 for a more complete story.)

But Amy and Ellen refused to be bystanders. They reached out to local pro-democracy school board candidates, and Markers for Democracy launched a postcard campaign, sending thousands of cards to voters in the Pennridge district. After hosting three parents at a regularly scheduled morning Zoom, Markers members were even more committed to helping. Elizabeth Reingold, a Markers for Democracy member, recalls sending the candidates photos of some of the postcards and they each wrote back to say they were teary or crying at the thought that people cared and were helping.

The five pro-democracy candidates (the Pennridge Community Alliance slate) won their races! Pennridge educators, at least for the moment, are safe from interference by Moms for Liberty. But the story isn’t unique to Pennridge, Pennsylvania. 

Wondering where to invest your energy in these last weeks before November 5 — and beyond? Consider postcarding for school board races. Right wing groups will not give up their efforts to control local education. Touting “freedom and liberty,” they will ban books, control curriculum, intimidate black and brown parents, and abridge the rights of gay and transgender children.  

School Board Takeover Strategy

Markers activist Elizabeth Reingold sees dangers beyond the right’s backlash against trans kids and gender-neutral bathrooms. “The hard right is accustoming youth to book bans, to repression of their identity,” Reingold said. “By ‘protecting’ students from books that spark their imagination, they are narrowing their perspective. Without a chance to learn from history, from acts of injustice like slavery, how will our kids do better?”

Reingold remains hopeful because, in school board elections, the potential for impact of volunteer groups is high. There are several reasons: 

• Relatively few voters participate in school board elections — usually 5-10% of eligible voters.

• School board candidate names are often listed without a party affiliation. Hence, helping voters identify candidates with a pro-democracy agenda vs. a hard right, Christian nationalist agenda can make a real difference.

• Most parents want their children to get a solid education, but with extremists on school boards, caregivers will see content bend to ideology. The prospect of adopting narrow, restrictive content will motivate these voters.  

• Residents of school districts have a stake in these outcomes, whether or not they have school-age children. A well-regarded school system keeps property values stable and offers benefits such as performances and public service projects. Grassroots volunteers can remind voters of the stakes.

There is work to do 

Nationwide, more than 82,000 people served on school boards in more than 13,000 public school districts during the 2022-23 academic year. Yet no organization tracks school board elections in all 50 states and D.C. Ballotpedia provides information on elections in 475 of the largest school districts. And Markers for Democracy is compiling a calendar of races. Readers can submit information about district elections to postcards@markersfordemocracy.org.

Up to and beyond November 5, Markers for Democracy will continue to focus on critical school board races, sending 3,000-20,000 cards, depending on the size of the district. To access lists for active races, submit a request here. 

Spotlighting school board races may also become a focus for the Grassroots Collaboration Project in 2025. Markers for Democracy will offer volunteers opportunities to engage, as will other groups. Keep your markers handy. 

Thanks to Karin Chenoweth and Elizabeth Reingold for their contributions to this article.