There is no such thing as an “off-year.” I’ve said and heard this a lot. What does it mean?
First, there are more open seats on the ballot in 2025 than in 2024 – because there are elections taking place every month in the US. That’s our daily democracy – low key, few (if any) headlines, down-ballot but closer to home, as local as it gets, and what most of us come in contact with in a routine day compared to the mid-terms and big federal elections.
Second, and eye opening – especially in light of President Trump’s executive order last week laying the groundwork to eventually shutter the Department of Education: A huge chunk of the open seats in 2025 are school board seats. We’re talking over 22,000 seats across 37 states that will affect over 100 million Americans. If you have ever considered running for school board, this is the year.
According to the Center for American Progress:
School board elections typically have very low voter turnout, often only 5-10%. In 2023, not a single school board election in Delaware saw over 10% turnout.
School board elections are often extremely close. One-third of school board seats in Virginia in 2023 were determined by a margin of less than 500 votes.
School board elections with higher voter turnout are associated with higher academic performance for students in the district compared to those with lower voter turnout.
Nearly 80% of school board members are white, despite a majority of public school students being nonwhite.
BallotReady also found that 60% of school board seats on the ballot went uncontested in 2024.
Even if you consider the Department of Education’s role in local schools limited to only academic outcomes and civil rights – in other words, access for special needs students – all the more reason to consider a run for school board, right? And probably why school boards, when competitive, are some of the most contested elections. Every year tens of thousands of candidates throw their hat into the ring to help make their local schools a better place for our children.
But the road to getting there isn’t always easy. School board elections are unique races, races where the rules of other elections just don’t apply. If you want to run for school board, here are seven tips to help you win your election and make the most of your campaign.
Leave the Partisan Vitriol at the Door
Being a candidate for the legislature or Congress is frequently about embracing the fight. You’re trying to get your people out to the polls to vote against the other side, to remind them that the stakes of the election are high.
School board elections, on the other hand, require a much more gentle touch. President John F. Kennedy once said that “children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.” When voters come to the polls they’re deciding who they trust with that precious resource.
It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day politics of the school board. What they’re doing, what they’re failing at. It’s even easier to get taken by the political moment, of partisan vitriol and big fights. Our advice: Don’t fall into this trap. Most voters just want to elect someone who will put their children first. They want a school board that will care, listen, and ensure their children are safe and given every advantage available, especially post-Covid.
Find Your Passion, Focus On It
Our schools are the center of so much of what’s important for our community it can be overwhelming. Our schools teach math, sciences, arts, sexual education, work skills, civic engagement, technology, and that’s just the classes. They also help keep kids out of trouble, provide sports, theatre and music, hobbies, and improve intergenerational poverty. It’s where people meet their lifelong friends, spouses, and where children become adults.
It’s easy to get bogged down in everything a school could do. But winning school board candidates find what drives them and makes that the focus of their campaign.
For instance NDTC learners, Heather Reynolds and Rick Haring of Central Bucks School District just north of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, weren’t just fed up of the status quo and turned off by the book bans, they were tired of the chaos. So were many people, but they actually ran. In doing so they made the difference to flip a board to majority Democrat, and to more focus to the business at hand of educating kids.
When you find your passion, an issue that connects to who you are as a person, it shows through, and people are drawn to it. It helps your authenticity as a candidate committed to our students, not politics.
Understand Teachers
There are 3.8 million teachers in the United States, and they’re watching their school board elections carefully. When their friends ask who they should support, what will these teachers say? Which candidate is speaking to the problems they face in the classroom every day?
You need to understand and engage with teachers for your run for school board. If you are a teacher, congratulations! You’re ahead of the curve! Even still, sit down with a friend who’s a teacher and listen, really listen to the struggles they face and what they want the school board to do to help alleviate those struggles. Every bit of understanding you gain about teachers will help you empathize with them, and that empathy shows through. These are the people community members turn to understand who they should vote for, and you need them on your side.
Knock on Doors
Depending on the size of your race, knocking on doors may or may not be the key to getting the votes you need. However, knocking on doors gives you something priceless: feedback.
In a local race polling is rarely an option, but you need a way to get feedback from regular people on what matters to them to ensure you’re on the right track.
This is called relational canvassing, meaning your goal isn’t just to get a vote, it’s to collect feedback and understand your electorate in a deep way to help guide your election. Do this right and take the feedback you’re getting to heart.
Know the Issues
As with all down-ballot races, voters will take cues from friends who are engaged in the process.
These education thought leaders know how complicated running a school board can be: All the priorities you have to balance, all the staff you have to make decisions on behalf of, the options and logistics of overseeing a multi-million dollar enterprise.
These leaders want to see your passion, but they also want to see you do your homework. Take the time to learn about the history of your school district and the issues they’re grappling with. Talk with the local leaders who dedicate their time to these issues. Listen, inquire, and read up on what these are. As a bonus, you might turn a few of these leaders into supporters and endorsers.
Intimately Know Your Schools
School board races are uniquely localized. Most parents are unaware of the issues of their school district, but they’re deeply engaged in the issues of their children’s school. Some schools face long commutes for students who take the bus. Others are facing outdated, crumbling classrooms. Yet others have an arts program the parents rave about, but are always worried it will be on the chopping block in the next budget. Know your local schools so you can speak with authority and empathy about the issues they face, with a commitment to address those issues.
Know Your Message, and Keep it Simple
Knowing the issues is the easy part, now you need to simplify. Voters are far too busy with their lives to keep up with the federal, state, and city issues in-depth, much less their school board. Which means that whatever you want to convey needs to be a simple message that connects emotionally to your voters.
The research on decision making is clear: emotions are the main drivers of decisions, not careful analysis. Find simple messages that cause your audience to react positively. It’s not about what you have to say, it’s about what they hear and how your message lands with them.
NDTC has several courses you can check out for messaging. We recommend The Fundamentals of Campaign Messaging.
We also offer virtual live trainings! Check out our upcoming training schedule!
As always, everything NDTC offers is free, and we work with any Democrat who wants to run for office.
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