Commentary: Primaries matter for education in Pennsylvania

If you think primary elections don’t matter all that much, I’m living proof that—at least in school board elections in Pennsylvania—you are quite mistaken.

The primary is coming up in May, and many school board races will be won or lost as a result.

Because candidates for board director can cross-file with both major parties in the primary, those who do so are at a significant advantage in the general election, as in November many voters cast their ballots for candidates according to party affiliation. Even though straight-ticket voting is no longer allowed in Pennsylvania, cross-filed candidates are likely to get substantial party-line votes from both Republicans and Democrats, if only because “school board races can be low-information races,” and often newcomers are entirely unknown.

More importantly, because no party may offer more candidates on its slate than there are seats to be filled, each candidate who successfully cross-files effectively reduces the competition in the general election. 

If there are unfilled party slots after the primary, the parties have the right to fill those with candidates of their choice. But during the primary itself, the people speak, and it actually is one of the few chances we all have to make a real political difference in our local communities. Furthermore, write-in candidates have a real uphill battle, especially since stickers are no longer allowed, “because the ballot-scanning machines cannot read them and may become jammed.”

I myself was elected four times in large measure because when I ran, I cross-filed in the primary in May and thus won a slot on the general election ballot the following November representing both parties.  As a practicing Quaker, I’ve never belonged to a political party because of what I perceive as their inherently divisive nature.

I’ve been willing to accept the nomination of both parties, however, and tried to keep that in mind. I did my best to follow the leadings of my conscience as I attempted to serve in the best interest of all the children and all the constituents in my Adams County district. I expect the same of all elected officials, and schools are where the rubber really hits the road for a lot of us politically.

My experience on my board suggests to me that many school districts are trying hard to put the best interests of their students first and to try to be good stewards of local tax dollars. Taxes and education are volatile subjects, however, and there is no pleasing everybody. Hard choices have to be made, and someone will always be unhappy. School directors also are unpaid volunteers by definition in the commonwealth, and by statute only may be reimbursed for a few legitimate expenses.

Many of my colleagues on our board over the years refused even reimbursement. That’s because the folks on most boards serve in order to do right by the kids and the community. I say that even of the ones I don’t particularly like and with whom I may heartily disagree. Nobody with any sense runs for school board to get rich, and those with an ax to grind seldom last very long: It ends up being a whole lot of squeeze for precious little juice. It’s hard work and a thankless task, and the decisions involved often provoke heated emotions.

Please keep that in mind when you rebuke board directors, even if you feel you must. 

When you are first elected to a school board, it often takes a year or two to really get your head around how things work and how schools are funded and build their budgets. Then, you realize that, considering federal and state mandates, the realities of educational funding in Pennsylvania, the needs of children in your community, and the perspectives of taxpayers, boards often have quite a bit less latitude to act than it seems from the outside.

Plus, a majority of the nine-person board has to vote in favor of whatever the decision is, and all decisions are —quite rightly — entirely public, except for parts of certain very limited personnel or student issues. The public aspect is crucial, and I am very much in favor of the Sunshine Act. I simply mention it because it is a reality of the position of school director that one becomes something of a local lightning rod. It can get ugly and personal, and not everyone is suited to the position for those reasons.  It’s also very hard to make positive changes, and one generally has to take the long view and work incrementally. 

That said, it’s relatively easy to mess things up in a hurry.

There has been quite a lot in the news recently about the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, and what the impact of the demise of that entity might mean to Pennsylvania students. The Department of Education is an easy target, because many folks chafe at the fact that it provides a lot of regulation but relatively little funding, although the funding it does distribute to less affluent districts is in fact quite significant and vital.

Just because the agency is being downsized, however, doesn’t mean federal education laws will disappear. We still have obligations to children living in poverty and children with special needs that are not going to magically go away, and they carry the weight of the law. One of the stated reasons for getting rid of oversight at the Federal level is to “shift more power over education to the states” and communities. 

School boards thus will have less guidance, but more responsibility.

So this year, your primary ballot means more than ever. Educate yourself, and then vote to support education in Pennsylvania. Examples abound of communities that ignored school board elections only to find themselves saddled with a board that was out of touch with taxpayers.

Your vote counts. Cast it for the candidates of your choice 

Tuesday, May 20, is the primary. Polls are open on election day from 7 in the morning until 8 in the evening. The last day to register to vote is May 5, and the last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is May 13.

Christopher Fee was a duly-elected member of the Upper Adams School Board for 16 years. He has decades of experience teaching and advising young teachers. Fee is also the Graeff Professor of English at Gettysburg College, where he is a member of the Eisenhower Institute Campus Advisory Council. Fee is a Member and Former Clerk of Menallen Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and currently serves as Co-Clerk of the Northeast Regional Group of the American Friends Service Committee.