Small Town School Board Campaigns

I was elected to the WLCSC school board in November 2022 and before that I was one of 15 candidates for the WLCSC school board in 2020. Participating in the 2020 election helped me to better articulate my beliefs about how school board campaigns in a small community like ours ought to run. These are my views:

• School board candidates should not accept donations from contractors that do business with the schools. It’s a conflict of interest. I won’t vote for any candidate who receives campaign contributions from a company that earns income from the schools.

• School board candidates should not accept donations or endorsements from school administrators or the teachers union. This is also a conflict of interest. Teachers union leaders working with school administrators to influence the school board election is textbook regulatory capture.

• No big donations! School board candidates should not have to self-fund their campaign and allowing donations can expand the candidate pool. But, it should not cost thousands of dollars to run for the school board in a small community like ours. Accepting only small donations should be sufficient to buy yard signs, put up a website, and buy fliers. Large donations look like someone trying to buy political favors. When I ran for office, I did not accept any donation over $40.

• No PACs! The RDP-PAC’s heavy involvement in the school board election 2 years ago was atrocious. I hope we never repeat that. I will not vote for any candidate associated with a PAC.

• No slate of candidates running as a group! The school board election should be about each candidate demonstrating to our neighbors that they will do a good job representing the community. It should be about voting for those that most closely share your views about how our schools should run. 

• School board races should not even have the appearance of promises or favors owed to any group or individuals. I do not think that school board candidates should seek or accept endorsements from any organizations or individuals.