Recently, the Governor signed Bill S3148 which "Establishes procedures for districts, municipalities, or voters to opt to move the annual school election to November and eliminates vote on school budgets for such districts, except for separate proposals to spend above cap." For the first time, School Board elections that are held in April each year can be held at the same time as the November General Election.
Some statistics from the Clerk's office shows the staggering differences in voter turnout between April (Board of Ed Elections) and November (General Elections) over the past few years:
2011--April: 9.68%....November: 29.39%
2010--April: 8.01%.... November: 39.69%
2009--April: 1.21%..... November: 47%
On the surface, that is a very compelling reason alone to move the election to November and ultimately where I wound up. However, it is worth noting that there are multiple dimensions to this issue that need to be carefully considered:
- Agreeing to move the election to November, allows the Board of Education to create and pass a budget WITHOUT approval of the Board of School Estimate (or the public), as long as it is within CAP. There are currently enough exemptions, such as healthcare, debt service and loopholes, such as CAP banking that conceivably could result in tax increases far greater than the 2% CAP. (Currently, the Board of School Estimate is responsible for approving ALL budgets and bonding of the BOE, and acts as a natural "check and balance".)
- On the flip side, holding elections in November will likely engage more voters, particularly ones who are concerned about fiscal issues (not JUST education issues), so the election could act as the same "check and balance".
- Moving the election to November will inevitably result in more costly campaigns. Currently, candidates can easily target voters who have previously voted in BOE elections with limited mailings etc. The pool of voters in November is much larger and will require larger mailings and more money.
- A campaign for the April 2012 election is already underway and to shift the date at this late date would be unfair.
- While Maplewood already passed a resolution supporting the move to November, the Board of Education declined to do so. Ultimately, the timing of the Board of Education election SHOULD be the responsibility of the Board of Education.
In the end, myself and the majority of the BOT agreed that Board of Education elections should be moved to November, but not until 2013. South Orange will be communicating our desire to have the election moved to November starting next year and would like the Board of Ed to take the initiative to do so.
Next up for discussion is the consideration of a similar move of MUNICIPAL elections from May to November. While I think there are different "risks" to be considered, such as the potential influence of partisan politics in a non-partisan election, ultimately, I think the increased engagement and turnout of voters has to trump that. (and may be less of a risk if ALL elections, including Board of Ed, are held on the same day)
As always, I'd love to hear what you think.
