The School Director Candidate Spotlight series is back

Two years ago, Broad + Liberty introduced the School Director Candidate Spotlight series to help educate voters and generally raise awareness on the importance of school board races. The nonpartisan series was open to any candidate on the ballot, and we received 50 responses, all of which were published.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania holds elections for school board directors each odd year, and all 500 school districts with the exception of Philadelphia elect either four or five new members in that cycle. This year, thousands of candidates are running for school board positions. While turnout in these off-cycle elections is often low, these races are at least as important as statewide elections.

Whether you have school-age children or not, school directors and their decisions impact all taxpayers. Elected board members in Pennsylvania hold a great deal of authority granted by the state constitution. Most importantly, they have the ability to raise your local taxes, something many citizens are unaware of. This particular authority is rather unique to Pennsylvania, as most states do not grant tax-raising ability to school directors. 

School directors have many other responsibilities. One of the most crucial roles is to hire and supervise the superintendent. Each superintendent serves as the CEO for the district, implementing the plan and vision set by the board. The superintendent hires and supervises the principals and district administrative staff and sets the expectations for the entire school community.

Board members provide both support and supervision to the superintendent, and they consider differing viewpoints to ensure they are representing all their constituents. School directors have a variety of additional roles and responsibilities, including approval of the school calendar and the annual budget, and negotiating the contract with the teachers’ union.

These are all very important duties, especially when considering a school director is a volunteer position. Each board member has to run for election every four years and spends countless hours every month attending meetings, reviewing reports and information, and ultimately casting votes on a wide range of issues.

Some candidates run to help launch a political career, hoping to advance to higher office. Recently, more parents have jumped into school director races to address learning loss and other issues as result of Covid school closures. Every candidate has a different reason for running for this position.

Oftentimes, it is difficult to find information about school director candidates because they don’t typically have a team to manage their campaign. This series is intended to give candidates, regardless of political affiliation, an opportunity to share their reasons for running and what they hope to focus on if elected. Any school director candidate on the ballot in the Commonwealth is eligible to apply.

Each candidate will answer eight questions, which will be printed in their entirety with some minor editing as needed. 

1. Candidate name, school district, region (if applicable), political party, and profession.

2. Why are you running for school board? 

3. What are the most important issues facing your district?

4. What is your professional background/experience? What skills would you bring to the board?

5. Have you run for political office previously? Have you been politically active?

6. Are you running with other candidates?

7. What is the most important role of the school board in your opinion?

8. Please list any campaign websites and social media sites.

Candidates may submit by either filling out this form or emailing responses to barosica@broadandliberty.com.

Broad + Liberty will start running submissions over the summer and continue through the Fall based on the number of responses received.

For questions, please contact Beth Ann Rosica at barosica@broadandliberty.com.