Policy is like the weather. Very often, what happens in one state creeps over to the next. A couple of years ago, we started seeing bills aimed at making school board elections partisan, and this year, even more have emerged including right here in Indiana.

Predictably, this has sparked outrage. Many people hate partisanship and don’t want to see it seep into schools. While that sentiment makes sense, unfortunately, it’s far too late for that. These elections have been partisan for years.

Whatever non-biased civic pedestal you’ve placed school board elections on, take them off. School boards have long been training grounds for partisan up and comers and testing pools for political messaging. And that was BEFORE the culture wars. Since 2019, school board races have only become more toxic and more partisan. Some of the dollar figures pouring into suburban school board races wouldn’t look out of place in a swing state congressional election.

School board results matter to people far beyond the confines of a single district. Both sides have prioritized these races to the point that sitting presidents have endorsed candidates. School board meetings have become so contentious that parents and interest groups have done everything but show up with literal pitchforks. Threats, fights, and even arrests have occurred at school board meetings in recent years.

All of this is to say that a candidate putting an “R” or “D” next to their name wouldn’t necessarily make things worse than they already are. It’s hard to see how it would make things better, but people need to understand that the days of school board meetings being solely gatherings of individual parents with a little time on their hands are long gone.

School board races are not just casualties of a more toxic political environment. They have become the front lines of it.