Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #148

By

Ballotpedia staff

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

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

  • On the issues: The debate over microschools 
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • A Washington school board asks Trump administration to clarify conflict between state and federal directives
  • Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
  • Candidate Connection survey

Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!

On the issues: The debate over microschools

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.

Should microschools be eligible for state funding or school choice programs?

Here’s the background

Microschools are small, independent learning pods that typically have a limited number of students. They often emphasize personalized instruction, alternative teaching methods, and close-knit communities of like-minded families.

Here are the arguments

Dorene Ross and Elizabeth Bondy write that microschools should not be eligible for public funds. They say microschools mostly benefit wealthy students and create political divisions as students only learn one perspective aligned with the views of the pod’s parents. 

R. Craig Wood and Keith Birkett write that microschools should be eligible for public funds. They say pods reduce the influence of politically biased school boards, help students learn, and efficiently spend taxpayer money. 

Read on

Micro schools are a questionable option for public education | Dorene Ross and Elizabeth Bondy, The Gainesville Sun

“First, public education is a government service designed to improve society and contribute to the common good. It is important to ask how the microschools model accomplishes these aims. How does this model contribute to equity, unity and civility in the broader community? In fact, the model has the potential to greatly exacerbate existing divisions as children become educated in pods of like-minded families. If public funds are given to individual families to educate their children, what is the meaning of ‘public’ in public education? Second, significant inequities in access to high-quality education have been repeatedly documented in Gainesville and across the U.S. Although, theoretically, micro school charter applications and grants would be available to all parents, in fact, the resources needed to develop successful applications are not equitably distributed in the community.”

Micro schools: The coming educational revolution | R. Craig Wood and Keith Birkett, The Gainesville Sun

“When one objectively examines the concept, it is one of the few educational reforms with much potential for success and little downside. … To date, parents are in complete control, the students show very strong achievement scores, the state-mandated curricular standards are fully accomplished and individual needs of students are met. In fact, research shows that very small learning groups make significant gains on nationalized test scores. … National teacher unions are terrified of such arrangements as the micro school teachers are not covered by binding union contracts. School districts are removed from this arrangement, only to the extent that state statutes require school district involvement with charter schools. School board members who have very specific agendas are removed as the actual parents are making the decisions as to what is best for their children.”

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

In 2025, Ballotpedia will cover elections for more than 30,000 school board seats. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on covering the country’s more than 80,000 school board seats.    

Upcoming school board elections

  • April 1—Alaska, Illinois, Oklahoma, (general elections), Wisconsin (general elections)
  • April 8—Missouri and Nebraska
  • May 3—Texas
  • May 6—Montana
  • May 13—Arkansas and Delaware

Click here for more information on upcoming elections in your state.

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction April 1 general election

A version of this story ran recently in our daily politics newsletter, The Daily Brew. Click here to subscribe.

We took a deep dive into the candidates and issues in the Feb. 18 nonpartisan primary for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction in Hall Pass earlier this year. Three candidates ran in the primary. Let’s take a look at what happened in that primary and how the race has evolved since then.

Primary recap: Incumbent Jill Underly, Brittany Kinser, and Adrianne Melby ran in the primary. Although the superintendent position is officially nonpartisan, the state’s Democratic Party has endorsed Underly, and the Republican Party has endorsed Kinser. 

  • Underly and Kinser received 38% and 35% of the vote, respectively. Wright received 27%.
  • Underly was first elected in 2021, defeating Deborah Kerr 57.6% to 42.3%. She previously worked as an elementary school principal, a middle and high school teacher, a school district superintendent, and an assistant director at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Kinser is an education consultant, a former special education teacher, and a nonprofit executive.
  • Turnout was roughly 10%. It was 7% in 2021, the last time the office was up for election. 

Here’s what is at stake in the general election: PBS Wisconsin’s Steven Potter wrote, “Among the top issues that have emerged in the race are how the candidates would work to secure school funding from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature, which is unlikely to support increases, as well as racial achievement gaps between students, and determining the best measurements to rate student progress.”

  • In 2024, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) revised how the state measured student performance with its Forward Exam, including lowering the threshold for students to receive a positive evaluation.
  • Underly has defended the changes, saying the changes were made to “more accurately reflect where students perform academically and to align the standards to what’s tested on our Wisconsin assessment.” 
  • The changes faced criticism, including from Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R). Kinser has advocated for returning to the old standards.
  • The state legislature approved a bill on March 18 that would restore the previous standards. Evers indicated he would likely veto the bill to preserve DPI’s independence. 

School choice has also emerged as a flashpoint in the race. Underly says she opposes the use of taxpayer funding for private schools, arguing the state should use that funding to strengthen the public school system. Kinser says she supports giving parents options outside of traditional neighborhood schools, including through vouchers.   

What the candidates are saying:

  • Underly is campaigning on requesting more funding for schools from the Wisconsin Legislature and said she supports “additional funding to look at programs like teacher apprenticeship, look at things like grow your own programs, which are taking adults who may be already working [in] your school but aren’t licensed as teachers and investing in them.”
  • Kinser has campaigned on changing the state’s curriculum, saying, “we must prioritize reading, writing, math and science to provide the foundation for meaningful careers and a bright future.” She said she wants more transparency about how districts are spending money: “If [schools] are spending a ton of money on the district level or bureaucracy, you’ve got to find a way to get that back into the classroom.”

Context: The position of superintendent exists in all 50 states — it is elected in 12 and appointed in the remaining 38. State superintendents oversee and coordinate elementary and secondary schools in their states.

According to some analysts, the state’s supreme court election, which is happening on the same day, could affect the superintendent race. The Downballot’s David Nir and Jeff Singer wrote that this year would be “the first time since 2013 that the state will hold simultaneous contested elections for both posts… It’s likely, then, that if [Susan] Crawford prevails, Underly will have a strong shot at a second term while a victory for [Brad] Schimel would boost Kinser.”

To read more about the general election, click here.

A Washington school board asks Trump administration to clarify conflict between state and federal directives

On March 11, the Mead School District Board of Directors sent letters to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for guidance on resolving a conflict between Washington state law and President Donald Trump’s (R) executive orders over parents’ rights and transgender student policies. The board wrote the district “has become cannon fodder in an ongoing culture war,” and said it faced a potential choice between losing state or federal funding. 

Washington’s state Superintendent of Education Chris Reykdahl said the district must adhere to the state’s civil rights protections because executive orders don’t have the force of law. 

Here’s what to know. 

Background: The Mead School District is located north of Spokane and has roughly 10,300 students. 

On Feb. 21, as part of a statewide review of district civil rights compliance, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) said that Mead School District’s policies on transgender students violated state laws protecting students from discrimination on the basis of their gender identity. Washington Policy 3211 requires districts to use students’ preferred names and pronouns and ensure students can access bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic activities that conform to their gender identity.

  • The Mead School District’s current policies on transgender students mirror the state’s guidance in all but a few areas. The district, for example, allows “students to participate in sports, physical education courses, field trips, and overnight trips in accordance with their gender identity.” However, the district removed a line from the state’s model policy that states “schools may not require a student to use an alternative restroom because of their transgender or gender-expansive status.”
  • The letter to McMahon states that the board tried to find a “middle ground between the

state mandate and the fundamental role of parents. We did so with slight modifications to the state-mandated policy that shouldn’t offend a reasonable person.”

Go deeper: The school board expressed concern over losing funding from either the state or federal government, arguing that they can’t implement both policies and that the district stands to lose funding regardless of which policy they adopt.

The board members asked the federal government to guarantee the district’s federal education funding and clarify either that school districts have local authority over transgender policies or that Trump’s executive orders preempt state laws. The board members also requested that federal officials investigate whether Washington’s education policies regarding transgender students violate federal anti-discrimination laws. 

The board referenced three of Trump’s recent executive orders that touch on K-12 education funding and transgender student policies: (1) Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling; (2) Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government; and (3) Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.

At a March 24 meeting, the board released the first draft of a revised transgender student policy. The language states: “The Mead School District is obligated to comply with both state and federal law. When conflict exists, it acknowledges clear precedent for federal guidance to preempt state directives.”

Click here to see Ballotpedia’s full coverage of Trump’s executive orders. As of this writing, Trump had issued 103 executive orders, seven of which touch on education.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, who was re-elected in 2024, said, “The non-discrimination law in our state ultimately gives OSPI the authority to withhold funds if a school district is willfully, intentionally violating the law and civil rights. So it’s a tool we have; it’s one I don’t expect to use.” 

OSPI has given the board until May 23 to bring the district’s policies into compliance with state law.

Political context: The Mead School District board gained a 4-1 conservative majority in 2023. Incumbent Michael Cannon, who won re-election that year, said, “I think the voters made it clear tonight that they want a strong school board that represents parents in the community.” 

  • The board wrote in its letter to McMahon and Bondi that constituents had expressed opposition to how OSPI’s directives exclude “parents from critical decisions regarding their children.”
  • The Spokesman-Review’s Nina Culver quoted community member Erin Carden, who said her son is transgender student, at a recent board meeting: “They hear the way you talk about them. They hear the way the teachers talk about them. I hope you reach out and listen to them.”
  • Washington has a Democratic trifecta, meaning that Democrats control the governor’s office and both chambers of the legislature.  

Extracurricular: education news 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! 

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at survey responses from two candidates running in an April 1 school board election in Illinois. 

Andrea Rediger and Brent Kulavic are two of eight candidates running for four at-large seats on the Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5, and they’re the only ones who’ve completed the survey as of this writing. Ball Chatham, located south of Springfield, is the 71st largest district in Illinois, with roughly 4,700 students. 

Here’s how Rediger answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

“I am particularly passionate about closing the achievement gap for low income students and students with IEPs and in the study of belonging as it relates to student success. Interventions to boost belonging can increase engagement in learning, improve attendance, improve grades and test scores, increase progress towards graduation and college enrollment, as well as fostering psychological health, community involvement, and career success.”

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

Here’s how Kulavic answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

  • “Ensure small class sizes, Support educators with competitive pay
  • Improve IEP learning opportunities and increase math & reading resources
  • We need to insure that our district is providing our kids with every learning resource available. Areas that I am passionate about is individualized educational programs (IEP) and early interventions in both mathematics and reading.
  • Our resources are greatly under allocated. As a district with a growing tax base, we need to maximize our allocation of financials resources, hire more educators, support our current educators with competitive pay, and limit class sizes. Our need in the district for these services continue to rise year after year.
  • Invest in school facilities”

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

Everyone deserves to know their candidates. However, we know it can be hard for voters to find information about their candidates, especially for local offices such as school boards. That’s why we created Candidate Connection — a survey designed to help candidates tell voters about their campaigns, their issues, and so much more. 

In the 2024 election cycle, 6,539 candidates completed the survey, including more than 500 school board candidates. 
If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey.