State Board of Education Elections May Become Partisan

None by KCPW

Lawmakers Studying Issue

(KCPW News) Expect legislation next year that injects party politics into the State Board of Education. Board members currently are elected in non-partisan elections. Their refusal to implement vouchers in May earned the disfavor of many lawmakers. But Representative Greg Hughes says the voucher issue simply underscored his desire to change the nature of State Board of Education elections:

"One of the few moments I have in the campaign process to really roll up my sleeves and get into issues is through this convention process where you meet with delegates. We think that it would be very healthy for our State School Board members to meet delegates and go through that process as we [legislators] do."

Hughes says party politics will bring education board members into more contact with constituents, requiring them to attend party conventions and defend their positions, more so than in a non-partisan election. But is this just a power grab by Utah's dominant political party? The Republican lawmaker from Draper says that's undemocratic:

"So how do we limit Republican participation in the process if you feel that one party's dominating too much? Well, if you're looking to keep too many Republicans out of the process but we look to these partisan elections to represent us in the legislature, I don't know that that is a democratic process."

A member of the legislature's education committee, Hughes says partisan elections for the State Board of Education will be studied over the summer. To hear more from Hughes on the subject, download a podcast of today's Midday Metro.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW