PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Tuesday's primary election is set to have a big focus on education. The concern is growing among Pennsylvania education experts on the role politics will play within the state's competitive school board races.
“This is the most consequential for children that we’ve ever seen in Pennsylvania," said Education Voters of Pa. Executive Director Susan Spicka. "In Central Pa., this is something that’s really different.”
This year, Pennsylvania's school board races have received extra attention with a growing number of candidates compared to past primary elections.
“It was even hard to find people to run," said Spicka. "So you would find a single candidate who was just a person who said, ‘I have time and I would really like to dedicate my talents and energy to helping make the school district a better place for our kids and our community.’ That’s not what’s happening this year.”
This comes as districts face growing partisan issues within their schools, such as book bans and transgender bathrooms.
Experts say the increased competition in these races stems from a greater number of candidates who have a political agenda and ones who want to keep politics out of schools.
“Now we’ve got two really different visions of what public education should be, embodied in these different slates of candidates," said Spicka.
They say the amount of money pouring into these local school district races is something unlike primaries before.
“We’ve never seen outside, non-local interests pouring thousands of dollars into candidates to take over our school boards," said Spicka.
With ongoing political debate, experts urge voters to remember the focus should remain on what is best for students.
“What I think people should be hoping for is that we have school boards that are focused on what is best for children and what is best for our community,” Spicka told FOX43.
The Pa. State Education Association issued a statement, saying, “What we like to see are school board candidates with a clear vision of how to support public school educators and their students…Ultimately all of this is going to impact the quality of education students receive and the quality of the work environment for educators and support staff.”
Experts say every vote in these competitive school board races will be a crucial one.
"Every single person who cares about children, needs to take a little time to find out who's going to be on their ballot," said Spicka. And they need to make sure to go to the polls, a few votes make a big difference.”