Alliance Proves Effective in 1996 School Board Races
The results of the September 10th Des Moines School Board election were happily
received by members of The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. While our organization did not
endorse or provide direct support for any of the school board candidates, the three newly
elected Des Moines School Board members — Margaret Borgen, Nadine Hogate and
Mark Schuling — were considered to best represent the priorities established in our
“Pride in Public Education” statement.
In assessing the factors in the Des Moines election, there is little doubt that best
candidates won. Their election is a testament to their own abilities and campaigns.
However, it is also clear that the efforts of The Interfaith Alliance had a positive influence
on the elections in the Des Moines School District. TIA efforts concentrated on promoting
campaign civility, voter education, and increasing voter turnout. All indications are that
these efforts in the Des Moines district were successful.
The Alliance mailed issue questionnaires to all school board candidates in Polk County.
We conducted candidate forums in Des Moines, Johnston and SE Polk School Districts.
We mailed over 30,000 Pride in Public Education statements to voters and TIA members
in these three districts. In the Des Moines district, more than 25,000 voter information
brochures were sent a few days before the election. There is little doubt that these two
mailings had the effect of increasing voter turnout in ways that benefited the three winning
candidates in the Des Moines school district.
TIA goals in the School Board elections were to: 1) promote civil campaign practices, 2)
identify to the voters those candidates who would pursue a narrow religious/fundamentalist
agenda in the schools, 3) promote a better understanding of the candidates and their
issues, and 4) encourage greater voter participation in the election. The tenor of the
campaign and the results in the Des Moines election indicate that those goals were
successfully met.
Conversely, there were other school districts in Polk County where the candidates who
best represented our Pride in Public Education statement were defeated. It is apparent
that in those areas we did not have the resources or the membership to increase turnout
and have an impact on those elections. These mixed results demonstrate that we will have
a positive impact on an election if we have the resource and membership to support our
efforts.
Now we prepare to promote passage of the 1 cent local option sales tax in Polk County’s
contiguous cities. This tax will provide initial funding for Des Moines’ Vision 2005 Plan, as
well as education, community and public safety improvements in the cities of Polk County.
Our experience in the school board election tells us that our continued efforts, enhanced
with adequate support, will prove effective.
The Light Table of Contents
|
