The politics of education at school boards: USC event explores questions of parental involvement in education

With the rise of hyper-partisan environments in school board settings, the USC Center for the Political Future jointly hosted a webinar Tuesday to address whether partisanship in school board elections is helpful or harmful.

The webinar, “The Politics of Education at School Boards,” hosted in partnership with USC’s Rossier School of Education, discussed how partisanship may increase voter participation and enhance accountability, while others argued it creates division.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, questions of mask mandates, lockdowns and other COVID-19 protocols have become political and divided parents and educators throughout the country. Across social media platforms, videos have surfaced of angry parents debating these topics at school board meetings.

Along with pandemic-related topics, parents and teachers across the country also have mixed opinions about topics regarding race, diversity and equity being taught in schools. In recent months, several right-leaning states, such as Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas, have banned the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

The uptick of politicization and parental interest in school issues has experts questioning how much parental involvement is appropriate in the education system.

Panelist Nick Melvoin, vice president of L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education, said he disagreed with the belief that parents don’t have a place in the classroom.

“But is the answer to defer and capitulate completely, and not let educators be the educators? I think the answer is going to be somewhere in the middle,” Melvoin said.

Unlike Melvoin, panelist Alan Arkatov, Katzman/Ernst chair in Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology & Innovation and Center EDGE founding director at the USC Rossier School of Education, called for definite engagement from all parties involved in education.

“I don’t think there’s anything more important than engaging the parents, the teachers [and] the students in ways that resonate with them,” Arkatov said.

Not all the panelists agreed with this strategy. Pedro Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, criticized aggression from parents and argued for focusing on educators, rather than directly involving parents.

“Why aren’t we making sure that the leaders that we bring into our schools are supported rather than attacked by parents who, frankly, should be spending their time making sure that kids do their homework and get enough rest and aren’t watching porn on the internet,” Noguera said.

Though parents have largely contributed to the rising issues in education, they are not the only ones to blame, Noguera said.

“A lot of the controversy we’re seeing about critical race theory and masks are not from parents at all, but from agitators in the public who’ve decided to politicize these issues,” Noguera added.

Noguera also noted another issue being politicized is what version of history is being taught in schools. The rise of book banning, often books by authors of color, is one way this issue is taking form in public education.

“There is no state in the country, including those that are now banning books, where you can’t teach about the history of slavery or of the genocide against Native Americans,” he said. “That’s part of American history. If we deny kids that, we are denying them the right to an education.”

Melvoin added that the politicization of education is a driving factor for the highly-increased funding and attention toward school elections.

“School districts and school boards are where we are now fighting America’s societal battles,” Melvoin said. “Whether that’s masking, vaccinations, critical race theory… these things affect American families, and I think it has been in a national and macro level a tool where certain partisan interests are saying, ‘Well, let’s hoist this on local school districts, because we know it’s a winning issue.’”

Melvoin said he experienced this firsthand when he was elected in 2017 to the LAUSD board. At that time, the race was the most expensive in U.S. history, with spending reaching nearly $15 million from school supporters and unions.

Among all the stress, aggression and polarization the past two years have brought to schools and families, panelist Darline Robles, former superintendent of the L.A. County Office of Education and professor of clinical education at the USC Rossier School of Education, addressed the positive side. Robles explained how this discourse between parents and officials couldn’t have happened without the pandemic, as online meetings and quarantine are what provided the easy access and time to have important conversations.

“We have to look at this as a positive too, turn it around to say, ‘Hey, let’s listen to them and be engaged,’” Robles said. “This is what we’re talking about — being culturally proficient is to engage all your community in meaningful ways around equity and choices that we give our students in schools.”

Noguera also shared a positive outlook towards the future.

“My hope is that eventually saner heads will prevail on both sides of the political divide,” Noguera said, “[and] that we’ll realize it’s in our best interest as a nation to ensure that kids receive a sound education and take the politics out.”