Why Don’t School Board Races Attract More Voters?

“I’m just not sufficiently familiar with the people who were up for election, so I decided not to cast a vote,” Pohl said. 

Pohl, who has two children in the school system,  did cast votes for other issues on the ballot. So, why don’t school board races garner much interest? Sis Henry, the executive director of the Georgia School Boards Association, says school board races just aren’t as ‘sexy’ as other races.

“Unfortunately, people don’t pay attention to the governance of a school system like they would pay attention to the election of a mayor or a city council member or a county council member or a congressman,” Henry says. 

Often, school board elections are held on off-cycle years, where turnout is naturally lower. That means candidates don’t have to appeal to a broad base, according to Mark Elgart, the president and CEO of AdvancEd, which accredits Georgia school districts.

“One of the things that Georgia could strongly benefit from is requiring school board elections to happen on only the major election cycle, where a majority of us go to the polls, so that we are electing these officials based on a majority of the populace in our districts or in our communities,” Elgart says.

Henry says the low turnout is especially concerning, given the kinds of critical decisions school boards make.

“This is one of the most important elections that a voter can vote in,” she says. “School board members are making decisions that can affect the quality of education in their community for decades to come.”

A school board’s duties include choosing a new superintendent. That decision will be a monumental one for Atlanta, as the district tries to chart a new course and recover from the cheating scandal.