Will Amendment 1 turn the schoolyard into a political battlefield?

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – Schools have become a political battlefield.

There are efforts to ban books and influence the education of our children.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has played a major role in school board elections, supporting Republican candidates, and continues to make a loud case for eliminating what he calls “woke” ideas from the classroom.

Now, after more than 20 years, there is an effort to assign party affiliations to school board candidates. For more than two decades, school board elections in Florida have been nonpartisan.

However, if Amendment 1 is passed on the November ballot, it would again allow for a partisan election of the district’s school board members.

If 60% of voters support the measure, it will take Florida back to a time when school board candidates ran under party labels.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Spencer Roach of north Fort Myers, said the measure is designed to provide voters with more information about school board candidates. He said it’s about transparency, not about giving one political party an advantage over another.

Opponents of the measure, however, fear that the change, if passed, would further politicize education. They argue that there can be healthy debate and discussion without partisan school board elections.

They argue that implementing Amendment 1 would put pressure on people to vote based on their party affiliation.

Proponents argue quite differently. They say that divisive, politicized conflicts began within school boards during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why? Because parents suddenly had new ways to see what their children were learning in virtual classes.

And, some lawmakers argued, many parents are outraged by what they see as a conflict between the values ​​taught in schools and the values ​​they teach their children at home. They see Amendment 1 as an attempt to elect candidates who are more consistent with their values.

On Path to the Polls, we get to the heart of the matter: Will bipartisanship on school boards provide more balance? What will allow for true representation for families? What will allow for a better focus on education? Will passage of Amendment 1 lead to political wars? And the most important question of all: What is best for our children, the students?

Bruce Hamilton and political analyst Daniel Cronrath, who is also a teacher, look at Amendment 1 and the pros and cons in this week’s streaming episode of Vote 2024: Path to the Polls.

Watch the show live on Tuesday at 10am on News4JAX.com, News4JAX+ and YouTube. Catch our replay presentation on Tuesday at 7pm on News4JAX+. Or watch the show anytime on demand on all of our platforms.