2024 Election – Mixed Results for School Choice and Educational Excellence

While the corporate media focused on issues like the economy, immigration, crime and abortion in the 2024 election, voters were also deeply concerned about education. An October Gallup poll listed education sixth out of 22 election issues, with 41% of voters saying it was “extremely important.”

In addition, 47% said education was “very important” to them. Together, education then tied for second overall in the list of biggest voter concerns.

Certainly much of this is due to what has been exposed about our nation’s education system in the past few years, such as schools working to circumvent parents’ rights, teaching radical ideologies, sexualizing and confusing children, graduating students who are not proficient in math and reading, and allowing males into women’s sports, restrooms and locker rooms.

Overall, results were mixed for educational freedom and excellence, which was on the ballot via school board elections, state ballot initiatives and legislative seats. Here’s a look at what happened in those arenas on Tuesday, November 5.

School Boards

Local boards have a lot of power over students’ education, as they set budgets and priorities, choose curriculums, establish teacher hiring criteria, set student achievement standards, write bathroom and locker room policies, select books for libraries and classrooms, and more.

With 21,144 school board seats on the ballot, it’s impossible to cover all the 2024 election results, but there are a few important trends to note:

• Recall efforts have increased dramatically in the past four years. Ballotpedia tracked two efforts in 2006 to recall 5 candidates. In 2021, there were 92 efforts to recall 237 candidates, 2022 saw 54 efforts affecting 123 candidates, 2023 saw 48 efforts to recall 97 candidates, and 2024 saw 37 efforts to recall 78 candidates.

• Most recall efforts in recent years have not seen a lot of success. It’s hard to unseat an entrenched board member who has successfully gathered funds and support to get elected, is now a recognized name in the community and, usually, has developed ties to teachers and special interest groups.

• A growing movement of individuals and groups like Moms for Liberty, 1776 Project PAC, Parents Defending Education, Heritage Foundation, Family Policy Alliance, Focus on the Family-allied Family Policy Councils, Corey DeAngelis, and Christopher Rufo are informing parents about harmful activities in schools, training and endorsing candidates and providing election voter guides to voters.

• 1776 Project PAC endorsed candidates in many states, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Wisconsin. The political action committee reports it flipped three Maryland school boards with conservative candidates, backed winning candidates in Wisconsin and helped elect two Alabama State Board of Education members. Their results in Florida and Arizona are forthcoming.

• Moms for Liberty provides resources and training for conservative school board candidates. The organization endorsed school board candidates in at least 11 states. While still waiting for a full report, the organization has announced winning candidates across Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

• In Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, union-backed liberal candidates ahead in school board seat races where they faced candidates more friendly to charter schools and educational freedom, Chalkbeat reported.   

State Ballot Initiatives

State education initiatives were voted on in four states. The results were not good for improving student outcomes and educational freedom. Clearly, more work must be done to inform citizens about the benefits of educational freedom.  

• Colorado voters rejected Amendment 80, a measure which would have amended the state constitution to provide a right to school choice, including “neighborhood, charter, private and home schools, open enrollment options and future innovations in education.” The amendment also stated that “parents have the right to direct the education of their children.” The school choice amendment needed 55% of the vote to pass. It was losing with just 48% voting in favor with 75% of the vote counted.

• Kentucky voters also rejected a school choice measure, Amendment 2, which would have amended the state constitution to enable state funding for students outside government-run schools. The initiative was defeated with 35% voting yes and 65% voting no.

• Chalkbeat reports, “In Nebraska, voters repealed a new law that would have directed $10 million of public money toward private school vouchers. The law established a partnership between the state and the nonprofit Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, directing public money to fund scholarships provided by the organization to low-income students.”

• Voters in Massachusetts approved Question 2, “repealing the requirement that students must achieve a certain competency level on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam to graduate high school.” Instead, students must complete coursework “showing mastery of the skills, competencies, and knowledge contained in the state academic standards and curriculum frameworks in the areas measured by the MCAS high school tests.”

State Legislative Races

Many states saw candidates who support school choice and excellence in education winning legislative races.

• Corey DeAngelis posted on X that in Texas, “21 Republicans voted against school choice last year,” but after being targeted by school choice advocates, “14 of them are gone.” The educational freedom activist noted the significance of this, saying, “Incumbents usually win 95% of the time.” In its next legislative session, Texas looks set to pass a school choice initiative.

• American Federation for Children, an organization advocating for funds to follow the student to schools of their choice, endorsed winning legislative candidates who support educational freedom in many states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas. 

• Moms for Liberty reported that members of local chapters won seats in state legislatures in several states, including Florida, Iowa, and South Carolina.

While educational freedom suffered setbacks with ballot initiatives in four states, it’s clear that the movement is growing and that the rising movement of parents and other concerned citizens are making a difference in school board and state legislative races.

Related articles and resources:

Dad Confronts School Board for Allowing Boys in Girls Restrooms

Education is on the Ballot – Over 20,000 School Board Seats up for Election

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents

Is it ‘Book Banning’ to Keep Sexually Explicit Books out of Schools?

The National Education Association Wants to Indoctrinate Children Across the Country

Students’ Test Scores Tank After School Consults ‘Woke Kindergarten’