Kyrstin Schuette: The Overlooked Frontline of Democracy
With Texas Republicans redrawing the state’s congressional maps for the sole purpose of cementing Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and California Democrats responding in kind, it’s easy to feel like our democracy is in a tailspin.
But there’s another battle for power happening right in your neighborhood, and it’s one that you have the power to influence.
That battle runs through the nation’s 13,500 school districts and 80,000+ school board seats that make up the largest category of elected officials in America.
Well-funded right-wing groups have gained major ground in this arena, recognizing that in a democracy, power isn’t just about who sits in Washington or state capitals. It’s about who controls local budgets, who builds the pipeline of future political leadership, and who decides what the next generation learns.
Nearly one in five elected officials in America serves on a school board. These aren’t ceremonial positions. School board members control budgets often exceeding $100 million, make policy decisions, and hire superintendents. Many go on to seek higher office.
They have the power to build educational infrastructure that either advances American values or opposes them. They can approve inclusive curricula, or ban books. They can move to affirm and protect LGBTQ students, or target them. They can build trust in public institutions and public servants, or tear them down.
Most importantly, your vote at the school board level is supercharged. Fewer than 10% of eligible voters typically participate in school board elections. This means every vote counts exponentially more than in higher profile contests, every donation goes further, and every volunteer has outsized impact.
Groups like Moms for Liberty and their megadonors have recognized this. With $2.1 million in revenue in 2022—a 500% increase from their first year—they’ve poured resources into installing candidates who claim to represent a majority of parents, but in reality, advance narrow political agendas. They’ve turned school board meetings into ideological battlegrounds, using fear and misinformation to weaken trust in public education.
But here’s the hopeful truth: when voters are given real choices and accurate information, they consistently reject extremism. Recent data shows that progressive school board candidates are winning at high rates across red, blue, and purple communities because the values they champion aren’t partisan. They’re American.
Polling confirms this reality. Despite extremist claims, 76% of parents support the schools their children attend. Large majorities of voters across party lines have favorable opinions of librarians, oppose book bans, and disagree with efforts to restrict what can be taught in schools.
The disconnect isn’t between public opinion and our values—it’s between public opinion and who shows up to vote in school board elections.
School board races depend on neighbors talking to neighbors, volunteers knocking on doors, and citizens making their voices heard in their own communities. They reward authentic connection to local concerns rather than partisan manipulation. These elections cannot be gerrymandered away.
While congressional redistricting may take years to resolve, school board members elected this fall will begin making consequential decisions impacting their communities in a matter of months. School boards are uniquely positioned to shape the present and the future of our communities.
The redistricting battle is important and we shouldn’t minimize it, but it’s equally important that we pursue local pathways to power to protect our families and our neighbors from the extremism sweeping our country. The solution lies in recruiting, training, and electing school board members who will practice good governance, pursue academic freedom and excellence, and foster schools where every student belongs.
Candidate recruitment programs can identify community leaders who reflect our values. Candidate education programs cost as little as $250 per candidate and transform passionate citizens into effective campaigners and governing leaders. We must invest in voter education programs that cut through the noise of national politics to focus on local issues and elections that matter most to families and taxpayers.
Doing so means recognizing that democracy isn’t just defended in Washington—it’s built and strengthened in communities.
The extremist groups targeting our schools are building a pipeline of political power rooted in censorship, discrimination, and division. Every school board they capture is a training ground for future state legislators, governors, and members of Congress.
But the reverse is also true. Every school board member we elect who believes in good governance, academic freedom, and inclusive communities is an investment in democratic leadership for decades to come. They serve with the understanding that the future we choose for our public schools is the future we choose for our country.
School boards have become one of our last lines of defense for our democracy. More than that, they allow us to build grassroots power that no gerrymandered map can erase.
Kyrstin Schuette is a campaign veteran and the founder and executive director of the School Board Integrity Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and electing school board members across the country.
