Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

• On the issues: The debate over student free speech  
• In your district: Reader responses to student involvement in school board governance
• School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
• Oklahoma governor approves new education regulations, including one linking district accreditation to student test scores
• Understanding the financial return on educational investments (Part 4):  The fields of study with the highest and lowest earnings
• Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
• Candidate Connection survey
• School board candidates per seat up for election

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On the issues: The debate over student free speech

In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district. Missed an issue? Click here to see the previous education debates we’ve covered.

On June 10, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit Judge David Barron ruled that school administrators may prohibit a student from wearing a shirt that said “There Are Only Two Genders,” holding the shirt wasn’t protected under the First Amendment. Today, we will look at opinions supporting and opposing the ban. 

Jeff Jacoby writes the T-shirt was not harmful or violent and should qualify as protected free speech. Jacoby says even if the school disagreed with the opinion expressed or feared angry reactions from those who disagreed with it, administrators did not have the authority to ban the expression. 

Karl Kuban writes that the First Amendment does not guarantee equal free speech protections when human rights are at issue. Kuban says statements like “Black lives don’t matter” and “I stand for anti-semitism” should not receive the same free speech protections as the opposite statements. He says the T-shirt similarly dehumanized people who didn’t identify as male or female. 

The seventh-grader and the First Amendment | Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe

“Morrison attacked no one, nor implied that anyone should be attacked. His first T-shirt merely conveyed his general view that gender is binary. His second T-shirt didn’t even do that — it noted only that his view on the subject had been censored. … His plea is like that of Mary Beth Tinker in the 1960s: Under the Constitution, even a middle school student may peacefully express an opinion. … School administrators cannot have it both ways, allowing students to express the popular side of a debatable issue but silencing those who disagree because their opinion might provoke an angry reaction. The First Amendment does not bow to the heckler’s veto. The expression of a disfavored opinion “may start an argument or cause a disturbance,” the Supreme Court observed in Tinker, “but our Constitution says we must take this risk.” The bottom line is clear. Liam Morrison’s school doesn’t have to agree with his opinion. But it cannot punish him for expressing it.”

When a T-shirt morphs from free speech to personal attack | Karl Kuban, The Boston Globe

“In considering whether it is acceptable to wear a T-shirt to public school espousing the message that there are only two genders, Jeff Jacoby believes that free speech dictates equal treatment for both sides of political issues and that, consequently, schools ought to allow such a shirt (‘The seventh-grader and the First Amendment,’ Opinion, Feb. 14). The fallacy of Jacoby’s argument arises when a political position overlaps human rights issues, as it does in this case. A shirt inscription such as Black Lives Matter is not equivalent to one that might say ‘Black lives don’t matter,’ a statement that dehumanizes Black people; a shirt with the inscription ‘I stand against antisemitism’ is not equivalent to a shirt that says, ‘I stand for antisemitism,’ a statement that dehumanizes Jews; and a shirt that inscribes support for gender fluidity is not equivalent to the one in the case of a Middleborough middle-school student that says, ‘There are only two genders,’ a statement that dehumanizes those who don’t align with a single sex.”

In your district: Reader responses to student involvement in school board governance

We recently asked readers this question:

What is your opinion on whether schools should encourage more student involvement in school board meetings and decisions?

Thank you to all who responded. Today, we’re sharing a handful of those responses. We’ll return next month with another reader question. If you have ideas for a question you’d like to see us ask, reply to this email to let us know!

A high school student and school board candidate wrote:

Schools should absolutely encourage more student involvement in school board meetings and decisions. When we involve students in these processes, we empower them to have a say in their education, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility. This not only helps in addressing their needs and concerns more effectively but also promotes the development of active, engaged citizens who are better prepared to participate in democratic processes throughout their lives. It also reduces hierarchical structures and ensures that all voices, especially those directly impacted by policies, are heard and considered.

A school board member from Illinois wrote: 

Involvement in meetings would be a great idea. Making decisions should be left up to only the school board itself.

A community member from Georgia wrote:

I think it’s very important that the student body is involved in what happens in their community. However, I would encourage a board member(s) to hold or allow the student body to have a session to discuss issues that’s important to them. Then the board member will discuss at the next meeting, allowing one or two members of the student body to be involved. This is to make sure their concerns are being heard. This will keep confusion and dysfunction down and assure the lines of communication remain open. I want to be clear parents, parents, parents should always be involved when it comes to their children participation. 

A school board member from Ohio wrote:

Yes, students need to be involved and see how and why decisions are made. We have a student on our board. It gives us some idea of how they feel about certain areas of school life. They apply to be a student rep and we as a board go over their applications and decide which would be a good fit. We get to know the student and how they represent the student body. I have really enjoyed getting to know each student that has served.

A school board member from Florida wrote:

My thought is that there should be a small council of students from across a district that represents the student voice, and that they could meet with the superintendent/school board members to discuss items. I don’t believe that they should vote as a school board member, but do believe that their voice is important in the decisions that are made. 

A school board member from Maryland wrote: 

It is always a wise decision to encourage more student involvement in school board meetings and decisions. In Anne Arundel County our student member of the Board of education is unique in that he/she has the same voting power as ALL adult members of the Board of Education. Our SMOB is elected by students and we will be swearing in the 51st SMOB in the history of Anne Arundel County soon. 

I taught for 49 years before being elected to the Board of Education. I was the chairperson of our Faculty Council for many years and I always included large numbers of students in our conversations and discussions simply because my experience showed me that students always had appropriate responses and suggestions. Students should always be included!

School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications

In 2023, Ballotpedia covered elections for over 9,000 school board seats in more than 3,000 districts across 34 states. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on the more 13,000 districts with elected school boards. 

Election results from the past week

On June 25, Ballotpedia covered school board primaries in four Utah districts—Nebo, Davis, Alpine, and Jordan. 

Click here to learn more about 2024 Utah school board elections.

Upcoming school board elections

On July 2, voters in California’s Sunol Glen Unified School District will decide whether to recall board members Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley. 

The Sunol Glen Unified School District is located northeast of Fremont, near San Francisco.

The recall effort started after the board voted 2-1 on Sept. 12, 2023, to pass a resolution that said only the U.S. and California flags could be flown on school grounds. Jergensen and Hurley voted in favor, and fellow board member Peter “Ted” Romo voted against.

Community members who disagreed with the resolution said its purpose was to stop the district from flying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag, which had been flown since June 2023. Both Jergensen and Hurley said they were not targeting any group when they voted for the resolution. They said the U.S. and California flags were all-inclusive.

This will be the eighth school board recall to go to a vote this year. Later this month, we will release our mid-year report on all recall elections since January. We’ll have more to say about that report in a future edition. 

Oklahoma governor approves new education regulations, including one linking district accreditation to student test scores   

On June 24, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) approved a package of State Department of Education rules that divided Democratic and Republican lawmakers. 

Among the rules are provisions that:

• Tie test scores to district accreditation status
• Require public schools to develop voluntary prayer policies
• Ban spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs

The State Board of Education, which consists of six members and State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R), voted unanimously to adopt the rules in February. The House Administrative Rules Committee voted 7-3 to pass the regulations on May 14. 

The Oklahoma Administrative Procedure Act authorizes the legislature to approve state agencies’ administrative rules before they take effect. The legislature can approve, reject, or send the rules directly to the governor for approval. After the education rules passed the House Administrative Rules Committee, the Oklahoma House of Representatives sent the rules to the governor for approval instead of voting.

Oklahoma has a Republican trifecta. Republicans control the state House 81-20. 

The rule linking accreditation status to test scores sparked the most disagreement. The rule states: “Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year state assessment data, if a school district has fewer than 50% of all students testing at the basic performance level or above in the state assessments for either English Language Arts or Mathematics for the combined grades of third through eighth, and eleventh, it shall receive an academic deficiency.” 

A district’s accreditation status would decline annually if test scores did not show a 5% improvement over the preceding year. 

The state board conducts an annual review of district accreditation. Districts can receive one of six accreditation designations, ranging from “Accredited With Distinction” to “Nonaccredited.” A nonaccredited district cannot operate.

Walters said: “We should have already been doing this. When we have an accreditation system that doesn’t say anything about how kids are performing, that doesn’t send a message to our districts that that’s what’s important, I think it is essential in making Oklahoma a more outcomes-based system.”

Public school education advocacy organizations, including the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Oklahoma Parent Legislative Advocacy Coalition, urged lawmakers to reject the rules, saying schools with a greater proportion of low-income students would be hardest hit. 

Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Director of Research and Strategic Impact David Blatt said, “Over 60 districts would be hit with deficiencies under the new rule based on the most recent test scores — a mix of large urban and small rural districts. It’s no surprise and no coincidence that all have a majority of students who are from economically disadvantaged households. The rule penalizes poverty more than performance.”

Lawmakers even disagreed on whether the State Department of Education has the authority to issue the rules. Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd (D) said, “They are unenforceable, and any action taken by the State Department of Education regarding these rules will also be void and unenforceable.”

House Administrative Rules Chairman Gerrid Kendrix (R), however, said, “I believe they have to have specific authority and direction, and I believe they did on the vast majority of those rules and so that’s why we passed it.”

You can read more stories like this on our page focused on trends in K-12 curricula development. Click here to read those stories. 

Understanding the financial return on educational investments (Part 4): The fields of study with the highest and lowest earnings

On June 12, we looked in detail at the origins of MyFloridaFuture, an online dashboard from the State University System of Florida for comparing salaries, student loans, and employment rates for different programs and career paths. The State University System of Florida developed the dashboard in response to a 2021 law. In a six-part series, we’re exploring MyFloridaFuture’s data and looking at other states with similar laws. In our fourth snippet, we’ll analyze the degrees with the highest and lowest average earnings.

According to data from MyFloridaFuture, the median of the average earnings across all fields of study and degree levels was $44,244 one year after graduation. 

There were 320 degrees with average earnings one year after graduation that were lower than the median of $44,244. Of those:

• 74 (23%) were secondary vocational degrees
• 79 (25%) were postsecondary vocational
• 122 (38%) were Bachelor’s
• 43 (13%) were Master’s degrees
• 2 (1%) were Doctorates.

Of the top 15 degrees with the highest average earnings one year after graduation, nine were doctorate degrees, four were master’s degrees, one was a bachelor’s degree, and one was a postsecondary vocational degree.

Click here to explore our analysis of MyFloridaFuture’s data. We’ll return next week to look at which fields of study provide significant earnings increases as students move up the degree ladder.

Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web

This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us! 

• Oklahoma Supreme Court blocks nation’s 1st religious public charter school | K-12 Dive
• School Board Members Weigh In on Teacher Union’s Palestine Advocacy | Willamette Week
• California school board president who led conservative culture war loses recall vote | The Guardian
• Pro-charter PAC pours nearly $1 million into single Colorado State Board of Education primary | The Denver Post
• Chicago to change how it flags disruptive behaviors for its youngest students | Chalkbeat Chicago 

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at surveys from two candidates running in the Aug. 1 general elections for seats on the Memphis-Shelby County Schools school board, in Tennessee. Memphis-Shelby County Schools is the largest district in Tennessee, with around 114,000 students. Five seats are up for election.   

Ozell Pace Jr. is running to represent District 3. He is running against incumbent Stephanie Love, Jesse Kirk Jeff, and Angela Rogers. 

Sable Otey is running to represent District 5. She is running against incumbent Mauricio Calvo, Audrey Elion, and Porsha Goodman. 

Here’s how Pace answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?”

• “Accountability
• Transparency
• Effective & Balanced Budget”

Click here to read the rest of Pace’s responses. 

Here’s how Otey answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?”

• “Enhancing Life Skills Through Comprehensive Education – General and Financial Literacy
• Investing in Holistic Student Development and Extracurricular Activities
• Prioritizing Educator Well-Being”

Click here to read the rest of Otey’s responses. 

If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey. If you’re not running for school board, but there is an election in your community this year, share the link with the candidates and urge them to take the survey!

In the 2022 election cycle, 6,087 candidates completed the survey. 
The survey contains more than 30 questions, and you can choose the ones you feel will best represent your views to voters. If you complete the survey, a box with your answers will display on your Ballotpedia profile. Your responses will also appear in our sample ballot.