School board elections matter more than you think — here's why

Most voters skip school board elections. Turnout is often under 20%. But school boards control multi-billion-dollar budgets, curriculum decisions, teacher contracts, and the day-to-day environment where your kids spend 6 hours a day. Why does it matter? Because school boards decide: What subjects get taught? How much do teachers earn? What's the discipline policy? How much autonomy do principals have? Your kid's educational quality lives or dies in these decisions. The federal government controls 10% of K-12 funding. States control 45%. School boards control 45%. Yet we focus obsessively on presidential elections and ignore the bodies that actually control school spending and policy. What school board decisions affect your kids or your community? What changes would you push for if you were in the room?