Last fall, the Austin Independent School Board met to determine if a new sex education curriculum should be implemented for third through sixth grades in the Austin schools. In a school district with 81,650 children, only an estimated 100 people showed up to voice their opinions on the proposed expansion of the school’s current sex education program. Already in use in the schools is a curriculum developed by the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. On such an important matter, local voices need to be heard.

The importance of school boards cannot be overemphasized. Historically, they operated as the backbone of the community with a voice into schools, often bringing local reason against adverse outside influence. School boards help to preserve the American tradition of local communities controlling their destinies.

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Don’t miss IFA’s first Election Prayer and Action Training Webinar this Friday, May 15, 2020 at 1215 pm ET. View at IFApray.org/#prayercall.

Today’s school boards suffer from extinction, lack of accountability, corruption, liberal takeovers, and low voter turnout for elections. Prayer can breathe life into local school boards, so the people have a say in their local community’s public schools.  

A shortlist of the responsibilities of a local school board can include the following:

• Determining school policy
• Curriculum selection
• Superintendent hiring/dismissal
• Teacher hiring/dismissal
• Annual school budget
• Overseeing construction projects
• Approving contracts with outside vendors

Currently, we stand in danger of losing our way of life. Why? According to John A. Stormer in his book None Dare Call it Education, school boards are a dying breed. In 1930, there were 150,000 local school districts in America. Then came a push for “cost-effectiveness” to consolidate schools into larger governing units. The reasoning sounded good: combining smaller schools into larger districts would require fewer resources, freeing up money for things like textbooks, teacher pay, school libraries, etc. Today only 12,800 school districts remain.

Consolidation has not worked; as parents lost their voice in the local schools, students began to perform poorly on standardized tests, and drop-out rates soared. The larger the school district, the more liberal the board became, federal control of schools increased, and the taxpayers paid more money for schools, not less.

As school districts become larger, they become more liberal. Fewer conservatives run for office, and public schools continue on their downward spiral.

Larger districts have more federal control over their local public schools. President Trump made his intention clear to pursue school choice for everyone. His move to give options has the potential to diminish the role of the federal government in education. One of the main ways to do this is to keep and monitor local school boards.

School board members can be a local portal into corruption and cronyism as they have more direct control over hiring and firing school personnel, school supply providers, construction contractors, etc. Fewer watchdogs keep up on what is happening in larger districts, especially regarding special interest groups, outside consultants, political friends, and liberal agendas.

Running for office in a large district becomes more difficult for local candidates, as larger campaigns require more generous budgets. Special interest groups can and do contribute to local campaigns in return for future favor with a school board member.

The National Education Association (NEA) considers school board elections of significant importance, so should you. As the most powerful labor union in the United States, the NEA’s major concerns are promoting their liberal agenda and providing pay-raises for their Union members. Running for a school board position may not appeal to Christians, but it is of utmost importance to the NEA.

Take a short visit to the NEA website where you will meet NEA member, Kyrstin Delagardelle Shelly, a schoolteacher from Des Moines, Iowa, who decided to run for a seat on the Des Moines school board. After attending the NEA training program for potential candidates, Krystin said, “After I left the See Educators Run training, we hit the ground running.” The NEA coached, sponsored, and help fund, Kyrstin to her election victory. Kyrstin had never run for office. When asked why she decided to run, she gave a politically correct NEA answer, “She was frustrated by increasing attacks on public education from politicians, she decided to run for the Des Moines School Board.”

 Over the years, voter turnout has diminished for local school board elections. It is of utmost importance that Christians wake-up and participate in the election process. Often held separate from the regular county, state, and local elections, school board elections do well to attract 5% to 10% of registered voters in a district. With a low voter base, the lack of accountability increases as corrupt board members can easily remain in power if they are not voted out.  A good website for information on school district elections, dates, and candidates running is  https://ballotpedia.org/School_board_elections,_2020 .

Lydia Segal, in her book Battling Corruption in America’s Public Schools, investigates the thirty-year school board corruption scandal in NYC. Segal points to a lack of accountability of the board and low voter turnout as the two main reasons that kept corrupt members in office. No one publicly held the corrupt members accountable, and voters, by not showing up to vote, allowed the corruption to spread like cancer across all the NYC schools. Sadly, sometimes as few as 100 votes could determine the election of someone running for a seat on the NYC school board, often those votes were purchased with a bribe.

Intercessors for America’s, Protecting the Vote gives insight into voter fraud and campaign corruption. School board elections, mainly in larger school districts, are susceptible to corruption as they are in the county, state, and national elections. Needed are school board members with a strong moral compass who will serve their communities and their children with strength and dignity. Let’s pray for those candidates to come forward.

Father, we come to you in the Name of Jesus and ask for a revival in America’s local communities. Give Your people a voice in their local schools as they take their place as the leaders You called them to be. Let those who stand for righteousness not back down but grant them larger platforms to declare your freedom for the children in their local public schools.

About the Author: Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. Currently, Nancy serves as the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network (HAPN) Lead Prayer Coordinator for the Mountain of Education. For additional information go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com/author/nancyahuff/