As voters make their way to the polls on Nov. 5 to cast their ballots in the U.S. presidential election, many around the country will also be voting on state or local education issues.
"This election cycle features a range of ballot measures across fourteen states, with trends focusing on education funding, school choice, and governance," said Ben Zumbahlen, state relations associate for the Education Commission of the States, a non-partisan nonprofit that tracks education policy issues.
States are proposing measures to allocate funding for education in various ways, such as through bonds or reallocating lottery funds. Constitutional amendments related to school choice are also top ballot issues, as are education leadership changes, he said in an email to K-12 Dive.
Here are three of the education-related issues facing voters on Election Day:
School choice
Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska are among the states with school choice on the ballot. In Colorado, Initiative 138 would "create the right for parents to direct the education of their children" by adding that wording to the state constitution. The initiative defines school choice as including "neighborhood, charter, private, and home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education."
Meanwhile, Amendment 2 in Kentucky would give the General Assemblythe power to fund school choice programs. The issue has been particularly partisan in the state, with Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul divided starkly on either side of school choice. Beshear has resisted the measure, and the state's teachers union is also opposed, saying it would "funnel" dollars to "unaccountable, private schools" and "attack public education."
However, Paul has called school choice a "civil rights issue," and supporters of the measure say parents should have the right to choose their children's education.
In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to keep or kick to the curb a legislature-passed scholarship program totaling $10 million yearly for grants for families to send their children to private elementary and secondary schools.
School finance
K-12's financial landscape has been shifting drastically as of late, with both federal and state dollars fluctuating in response to COVID-19. This election cycle, voters in Missouri will be deciding Amendment 5, which would expand the state's riverboat casinos and use the new revenue generated to fund early childhood literacy programs. If passed, the measure is expected to bring in an annual gaming tax revenue of $14.3 million, according to Missouri Secretary of State John Ashcroft's office.
In Colorado, Proposition KK would levy a 6.5% tax on firearms, with proceeds going to mental health support for at-risk youth and for veterans, as well as school safety and gun violence prevention programs. The Colorado General Assembly estimates this would bring in about $39 million in its first year.
Elsewhere, millions of dollars are up for bonds to fund things like K-12 facility upgrades in California and public school and other libraries in New Mexico.
School leadership
Also in four states — Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota and Washington — voters will elect state education superintendents, according to ECS. In North Dakota, voters will choose whether to back Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, who is the longest-serving chief state school officer in the nation, for another 4-year term. Baesler was first elected to the post over a decade ago in 2012.
State boards of education seats will also be up for grabs in at least nine states, per ECS. That includes within partisan districts in Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, Texas and Utah.
Governors, of course, play a key role in setting education policy across the country, and gubernatorial races are on the ballot in 11 states. The races in these 11 states, ECS said, "could influence education policy at the highest level within the state," according to an ECS tracker published last week.
"Governors are influential not only in setting the political tone of their states but also through their appointment authority," ECS said.
In four of the states — Delaware, Indiana, New Hampshire and Vermont – the governor appoints the chief state school officer, ECS noted. And in 10 of the 11 states, the governor names at least one member of the state board of education.
Of the 11 states, eight — Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, West Virginia, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Washington — are guaranteed to have a new governor.
