Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #179

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 teacher strikes
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • Albuquerque school board race draws dueling endorsements from business groups, teachers union
  • Ohio school board election splits candidates amid member ouster, facilities tax vote
  • Extracurricular: education news from around the web
  • Candidate Connection survey

Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!

On the issues: The debate over teacher strikes

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.

The first teachers unions formed in Chicago in the late 19th century. Since then, they have become a prominent part of the conversation around K-12 public education. Proponents say unions provide teachers with higher pay and better working conditions, allowing them to focus on educating students. Critics say unions too often advance the interests of their members over the interests of students.

Teachers unions engage in collective bargaining with districts over compensation, working conditions, and other factors. When districts and union representatives cannot agree on a contract, teachers will sometimes strike to strengthen their bargaining position. 

Leo Casey, executive director emeritus of the Albert Shanker Institute, situates the labor strike within a broader American labor tradition that draws on the civic republicanism of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Casey says striking is a right, and that teachers who strike are showing a willingness to make personal sacrifices on behalf of themselves and their students. Casey says successful strikes depend on teachers forging strong relationships with their communities. 

Former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett and Conservative Leaders for Education President Karen Nussle say that teachers put themselves before their students when they engage in strikes. They say strikes harm teachers’ professional reputations and turn families against public schools. 

The Teacher Strike: Conditions for Success | Leo Casey, Dissent

“At the heart of republican citizenship and civic virtue is the willingness to make personal sacrifices: citizens in a republic exercise civic virtue through a myriad of sacrifices, great and small, from putting their lives at risk to defend their nation from attack to paying taxes that support government goods and services that do not personally benefit them. Going on strike and practicing solidarity entails sacrifices ranging from the loss of one’s income to the loss of one’s job. When strikes are prohibited by law, rank-and-file unionists can incur fines and union leaders can go to jail. Yet American teachers have demonstrated again and again that they are prepared to make such sacrifices if going on strike means that they can secure a better future not only for themselves and their families, but also for the students they teach and nurture, the schools in which they work, and the communities they serve. By their very choice of vocation, entering an occupation with modest pay and benefits in order to make differences in the lives of young people, teachers have demonstrated that they are prepared to make sacrifices for a greater good.”

No, Teacher Strikes Do Not Help Students | William J. Bennett and Karen Nussle, Education Week

“First, abrupt school closure interrupts and damages the progress of students. We either believe that school and teaching time matters, or we do not. Teaching time does matter, and we should be very reluctant to interrupt it. Strikes (and walkouts) do exactly that. When coal miners strike they lay down their equipment. When teachers strike, they lay down their students’ minds.

“Second, teachers want us to treat them as professionals. To be treated as such, they must act as such. Certainly, individuals and groups have every right to seek changes to their compensation or pensions. But to do so in a manner that damages both students and the critical role public schools play is the antithesis of professionalism. No other professionals have a summer in which they can pursue their financial goals or other endeavors.”

School board update: battleground election previews, filing deadlines, 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.    

A preview of upcoming school board battleground elections

Today, we’re continuing our series previewing Nov. 4 battleground elections. We kicked our series off in September with a deep dive into the statewide ballot measures that could affect K-12 and higher education. Last week, we explored the general election for South-Western City Schools, the fourth-largest district in Ohio, in which partisan control hangs in the balance. Bookmark Ballotpedia’s Nov. 4 results and analysis hubs for everything you need to know about races up and down the ballot on Election Day. 

Albuquerque school board race draws dueling endorsements from business groups, teachers union

Four seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools school board in New Mexico are up for election next Tuesday. The results could affect the balance of power on the seven-member board. 

Albuquerque Journal‘s Noah Alcala Bach wrote, “Historically, the local teachers union, the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, and the metro’s business community power players, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and the local chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate organization, have been key organizations in the battle for power on the APS board.”

Currently, three members are affiliated with the business community, and three are affiliated with the teachers union. One is not affiliated with either.    

Eight candidates are running in the four districts: 

The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce (GACC) endorsed Gonzales, Martinez, Ams, and Jackson. The Albuquerque Teachers Federation (ATF) endorsed Betzen, Bowman, and Wood-Hegner. 

To read more about each candidate, click here.

The candidates disagree about the performance of the district’s superintendent, Gabriella Blakely, who was appointed in 2024. Gonzales, Jackson, Ams, and Martinez all expressed varying degrees of support for Blakely. Betzen, Bowman, and Wood-Hegner were more critical of her tenure. Laurent said it was too early to judge her performance, but that the board’s decision to extend Blakely’s contract in 2025 was made too quickly.

In 2021, three candidates aligned with the business community and one candidate backed by the teachers union won. 

The Albuquerque Public Schools district covers Bernalillo County and Sandoval County. In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris (D) won both counties with 59% and 52% of the vote, respectively.

Ohio school board election splits candidates amid member ouster, facilities tax vote

Six candidates are running in the nonpartisan general election for three at-large seats on the five-member Lakota Local Schools Board of Education in Butler County, Ohio, on Nov. 4. The three candidates who receive the most votes will join the board for four-year terms. 

Incumbent Kelley Casper is running for re-election. Casper was first elected to the board in 2017 and serves as the board’s vice president. The following candidates are running for their first terms on the board: Alex Argo, Elyse Jenkins, ​​Melissa Meyer, Tommy Montoya, and Benjamin Nguyen. Argo and Jenkins are both business owners. Meyer is a substitute school clinic nurse. Montoya works in human resources. Nguyen is a full-time student at Miami University.

The Butler County Democratic Party endorsed Casper, Argo, and Jenkins. Nguyen said he is a Republican. Montoya said he is “an independent-minded candidate.” Meyer’s affiliation is unknown.

According to Journal News’ Michael D. Clark, “The stakes in this year’s Lakota board race are historically high, with a majority of open seats on the governing body that oversees Ohio’s ninth largest district and is also the largest suburban school system in Southwest Ohio.” Lakota Local Schools operates 22 schools. During the 2023-2024 school year, 17,887 students attended a school in the district.

The election is taking place against the backdrop of the board’s 2024 removal of incumbent Darbi Boddy and a school tax bond issue that voters will also decide on Nov. 4. Although the board is officially nonpartisan, its current members are ideologically divided.

Incumbents Isaac Adi and Christina French, who was appointed to the board in April 2024 following Boddy’s removal, are not running for re-election.

The vote to remove Boddy in March 2024 was split along ideological lines. Three of the board’s four members—Julie Shaffer, Kelley Casper, and Douglas Horton—voted to remove Boddy. Isaac Adi abstained from the vote. The Butler County Democratic Party endorsed Shaffer, Casper, and Horton in previous elections. Media outlets described Adi and Boddy as conservatives.

According to 91.7 WVXU’s Zack Carreon, Boddy “had disputes with just about every member of the board. But her feud with Adi escalated in 2023 when he claimed she had stalked and harassed him.” In response, Adi sought and was granted a civil protection order, which required her to maintain a distance of 200 feet from him at all times. The order meant that Boddy could not attend board meetings in which Adi was present.

FOX19 NOW’s Jennifer Edwards Baker and Mike Schell wrote that under state law, the board was able to vote to remove Boddy “because she has missed 90 consecutive days of meetings and those absences have been marked unexcused.”

Boddy said, “This has always been a First Amendment issue. This corrupt process has quashed not just my voice but the voice of those who voted for me, and for that reason, I do not think it will wear well.”

When voters go to the polls on Nov. 4, they will also decide Issue 10, a two-part school tax bond that has divided the candidates. According to Dayton Daily News’ Josh Sweigart, Issue 10 is “a new 4.99-mill bond issue that would collect $506.4 million and a 0.95-mill permanent improvement levy that would raise $4.98 million to fund [the district’s] Master Facilities Plan. Both are 37-year tax issues and would cost $175 and $33 per $100,000 of home value, respectively. The net increase to taxpayers — an existing bond is scheduled to roll off in 2029 — would be roughly $93 a year per $100,000.”

Spectrum News 1’s Travis Hicks wrote that the district’s “Master Facilities Plan includes a reduction in the number of school buildings and would include the construction of four new elementary schools.” Casper, Argo, Jenkins, and Montoya said they support the measure, while Meyer and Nguyen said they oppose it.

Elyse Jenkins and Tommy Montoya completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. To read those survey responses, click here.

Click here to learn more about this election. 

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 the two candidates in the Nov. 4 general election for Issaquah School District school board District 2, in Washington. 

Natalie Anderson and Chinmay Nagarkar are running. 

Anderson’s professional experience includes office management and administration, customer service, and aerospace quality. Anderson’s campaign slogan is, “Rooted in Community. Focused on Our Children’s Future.”

Nagarkar’s professional experience includes working as a software engineer. His campaign slogan is “No Talent Left Behind.” 

Issaquah School District is the 12th largest in the state, with roughly 18,600 students. It is located southeast of Seattle. 

Here’s how Anderson answered the question, “What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?”

“I bring a strong work ethic, a collaborative spirit, and a deep commitment to service. With over 20 years in the aerospace industry, including leadership roles in administration and quality. I’ve developed skills in problem-solving, accountability, and clear communication. I’m also an active volunteer who values community engagement. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to connect with people, listen with empathy, and build trust across diverse groups. I approach challenges with practicality and compassion, and I’m committed to being a responsive, inclusive, and effective school board member.”

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

Here’s how Nagarkar answered the question, “What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?”

“Like the Founders, I believe in the power of principle over popularity.

I share Jefferson’s curiosity—I ask hard questions and enjoy seeking uncomfortable truths.

I share Adams’ love of civic learning—I believe good government starts with informed citizens.

And like Madison, I value structure and limits on power—because all human systems must be kept in check.

I’m not here to impress. I’m here to serve with clarity, humility, and moral steadiness.”

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

If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take 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, your answers will display on your Ballotpedia profile. Your responses will also appear in our sample ballot.