This bill to make school boards partisan may go up for a full House vote on Monday March 31st at 1:30p EST.  Reach out to your State Representative and tell them why we don’t need partisan school board elections.

Indiana Coalition for Public Education is against the concept of partisan school board elections. Public schools should have local control, not political control. 

Two years ago, our ICPE co- founder and author of Vic’s Statehouse Notes, Dr. Vic Smith, wrote about similar bills:

“Making school boards partisan is a bad idea. It would further divide our state into partisan camps and create partisan controversies and ill-will in the boards running public schools that serve all children. This proposal comes from the same Republican party that in 2017 and again in 2019 passed bills to appoint rather than elect the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, an elective office for 166 years, saying at the time that politics should be taken out of K-12 education. How quickly they forget.” (Vic’s Statehouse Notes #371)

ICPE Lobbyist Joel Hand testified in opposition to partisan school boards on 3/5/25.

One of our newest ICPE board members, Jim May, (who also testified on this bill. This short video clip) captures why this bill should not progress any further this session. It’s worth taking five minutes to hear why senators on both sides of the aisle were adamantly opposed to making school board races partisan via Senate Bill 287. The bill narrowly passed the Indiana Senate (see the vote sheet below).

You need to voice your opposition to this harmful legislation and why it should not be voted out of committee.  Some talking points are below:

• We must leave politics out of public education. Kids should be the focus.
• Many highly qualified school board candidates would run in a nonpartisan election, but would not get involved if they had to run as members of a political party.
• The Hatch Act bans federal workers, like military members and postal workers, from participating in partisan elections.
• School board members should be accountable to their community and not political party bosses.
• The partisan majority on the school board would likely establish a partisan test for selecting a superintendent, who might then do the same in hiring administrators.

By keeping school board races nonpartisan, voters are compelled to make informed decisions based on qualifications, not party allegiance.

How to contact: 

Email or call your local representative.  1-800-382-9841

*As always, please remember the following guidelines when reaching out to legislators:

• Remember to be polite and kind in your language and tone.
• Remind them public education is not a partisan issue.
• Encourage legislators to support legislation that strengthens public schools.
• Personal stories and anecdotes are particularly effective, whether it’s your own personal story or a close friend’s.
• Be disciplined in your messaging: the best way to build support for your position is to keep communication positive, bipartisan, inclusive, and single-issue.
• Avoid getting sidetracked with other issues you care about.
• If you are a constituent, mention that.