TAMPA, Fla. — Political party affiliations will stay out of school board races as Amendment 1 failed to gain approval from Florida voters.
The constitutional amendment failed to receive 60% of the vote as required, instead receiving 55%, according to election results.
The amendment would have forced all future school board candidates to declare a political party in order to run.
Because Amendment 1 failed, school board races will remains non-partisan and voters registered as “no party affiliation” will be able to continue participating in the elections.
The vote is a win for opponents of Amendment 1 like the Social Equity Through Education Alliance. The SEE Alliance argued that the amendment was a way for Florida’s government to wrongfully gain power by using public schools.
“[This] is not something anyone's asking for,” SEE Alliance Executive Director Zander Moricz previously said. “So where did it come from? Did it come from citizens? Did it come from parents? Did it come from teachers? No, it came from Florida’s government, which seeks to build power for itself through our public schools."
Supporters of the amendment, however, argued it would have added more transparency to the races.
“It is only fair that the citizens of Florida know exactly what they are voting for,” said Rep. Joel Rudman, MD (R-Navarre) during a debate on the bill. “It is to ensure that elected school board members reflect the social values of their communities.”
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Spencer Roach (R-Ft. Myers), has said voters are increasingly more interested in local school board races and they deserve to know the “values” of candidates through party affiliation.
“I just don't see why anyone should be able to use the cover of the law to hide who they are from voters,” he said during a recent interview.
10 Tampa Bay’s Chris Hurst contributed to this report.
