Leading school districts, especially in suburbs, has become a bitter political battle for some education leaders, and discord is harmful to schools, a new report concludes.
Political battles over key race theories, LGBTQ rights, and COVID policies disrupt K-12 education, as educators spend responding to public records requests for information on so-called ‘culture wars’ I am increasing my time. The problem, according to a survey of school district leaders released Thursday.
And these tensions may be putting some educators at risk. Nearly one-third of district leaders who responded to last year’s survey said they had received verbal or written threats about controversial issues since the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. said there was someone
Fights seem to occur much more frequently in suburban school districts with a large population of white and wealthy students. School systems in cities where local politics leaned in a different direction than the states were an exception.
“This type of behavior may be more common in more privileged neighborhoods because members of the more privileged community may use their voice to call members of the school board. Because it’s high and it’s powerful,” the report, “Navigating Political Tensions Around Schooling: Findings from the Fall 2022 American School District Panel Survey,” was released Thursday.
“It is associated with higher levels of agency and effectiveness among more resourced community members.”
A nationally representative panel of school district and charter network leaders was voted out last year as national debates on these topics dominated the election cycle, raising public education as a major electoral issue.
There has always been political tension in K-12, but Jochim says the current debate takes on a different flavor, whether it’s the Common Core State Standards or the expansion of charter schools.
“One is that the partisan nature of the debate has changed over time,” Johim said. However, in recent years the conflict has taken on an increasingly partisan or ideological flavor, and in part, as a function , will also involve more state and national stakeholders.”
State-level legislative and interest groups have also increased interest and partisanship, Jochim said.
Classification of Suburban Areas
Overall, 51% of school district leaders participating in the survey believe that critical racial theories, issues related to lesbian, gay, transgender, and queer student rights, and disagreements about COVID affect students’ ability to teach. You agree or strongly agree that you are influencing .
Fifty-six percent of leaders in school systems with majority white students said political tensions over one of these issues disrupted schooling, while the majority of students were of color. 37% of system leaders who were students of the species were not.
Additionally, 45% of district leaders say they have received more open records requests since the start of 2021-22 than they did in the previous year.
And while school districts have removed most of their COVID mitigation strategies nearly three years after the pandemic, they remain a divisive, if less impactful, issue. His 35% of district leaders who participated in the survey said that in the fall of 2021 he was nearly three-quarters, compared to last fall he said the polarization of COVID is impacting education. said that
But as the discord over COVID subsided, concerns about LGBTQ issues and critical racial theories began to rise. By the fall of 2022, 46% of his district leaders say political polarization over LGBTQ issues is affecting education. 41% say concerns about critical racial theories affect schooling.
The report theorized that this timeline coincided with actions in state capitols across the country related to these issues.
Verbal and written threats against educators are higher in suburban districts, with 43% of district leaders saying their educators have been threatened. It’s also more common in wealthier school districts, with 41% of district leaders reporting that educators have been threatened about these divisive topics.
School districts with majority white students were also more likely to be threatened than districts with majority students of color, 35% vs. 17%.
About 25% of district leaders in conservative or red states said they had been threatened on divisive topics. This is less than the more liberal or blue states and the more politically mixed or purple states.
Suburban school districts were also more likely to receive requests to remove books from libraries and curricula and remove students from classes. According to the report, they were more likely to file formal complaints about how they were taught or trained on the controversial subject.
Some district leaders reported they were also making adjustments to ease tensions.
While the majority said they had not changed their educational content in response to the strain, 32% said they had modified, suspended or changed one or more subject areas. The subjects most commonly affected were social-emotional learning, health and sex education, and mental health services. Some changes were minor, such as changes to terminology used by districts.
Social studies, U.S. history, and civics education have been hotly debated nationally, but are unlikely to be changed or revised, according to the report.
dealing with tension
46% of district leaders say they have taken steps that they believe have successfully dealt with tensions. Some have created new procedures for teachers to follow in response to parents who want to opt their children out of class. He said he had 1 meeting.
“Sadly, this is not surprising,” said Susan Enfield, superintendent of Washoe County Schools in Reno, Nevada, and Highline Public Schools in Brien, Washington at the start of the pandemic. said. “Stand up and say, ‘No, this is not okay. It’s not okay.'”
Enfield said it was exhausting for district leaders, but the strain could also affect the quality of children’s education in the long run. is the chairman of the
“It’s really exhausting. The job is hard enough without the extra burden of figuring out what you can and can’t say,” Enfield said. “At some point, I think the question arises, are we moving away from fact-based education, especially when it comes to historical and social issues? Are things diluted to the point that students aren’t really engaging in a matter-of-fact way about the issue?”
Rico Mann, former principal of Aurora Public Schools in Aurora, Colorado, said the report’s findings, while not reflecting his personal experience, were not surprising to him. He resigned as director in December.
But he said he knew colleagues who had been docked, had their homes picketed, or had received threats. Some even had to fight his own school board. Others have quit their jobs, he said.
But Mann also said not all of the strife stems from clear-cut liberal-conservative disagreements. In some cases, it’s a real trust issue.
As superintendent of Aurora, he disagreed with the school board and teachers’ union on how and when to return to in-person schooling. He emphasized that it is not a question of politics, but of people’s own sense of what is safe to do.
“People didn’t feel like they knew who to trust and who to listen to,” he said. I withdrew from various sources, which caused a great deal of fear and division.”
But arguments and divisions “make everything harder.”
“It distracts educators from their primary job of caring for and educating students,” he said.
One way district leaders can combat political tensions is by focusing on building positive relationships with their communities.
“The key is that we need to stay in constant and close contact with the community,” says Mann. These challenges. ”
The report aims, among other things, to understand whether some of the strategies used by school district leaders are effective in isolating educators and other frontline staff from the effects of political tensions. further research, recommends that school board members conduct training to mitigate disruption. This can be caused by school board members focusing on a single issue and training in both readiness programs and professional development to help district leaders address political challenges. I have.
The report, from the Center for Public Education Reform, an American School District panel assembled by RAND Education, and Arizona State University, is based on a survey of 300 school district and charter management organization leaders conducted between October and December last year. I’m here. Also, between January 2021 and November last year, he interviewed seven superintendents with her 22 times.
