Opportunity Nashville Creates Comprehensive Voter Guide for 2022 School Board Elections
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 20, 2022) — With 14 candidates vying for four school board seats this year — and a first-ever primary race that kicks off voting much earlier than usual — Opportunity Nashville has created a comprehensive guide to help voters navigate both the election process and their choices to lead Nashville’s public education system.
The guide is available from the homepage of Opportunity Nashville’s website: www.opportunitynashville.org.
“Informed and engaged voters are essential for selecting an effective school board that will prioritize equity across the district,” Vercher said. “This is the only guide specific to school board races. We didn’t give candidates a word limit on their responses, and all but one candidate responded to Opportunity Nashville’s candidate survey. This guide offers the most comprehensive look at the decisions voters have to make this year about our school board.”
Nashville’s school board oversees a budget of more than $1 billion, representing over one-third of the city’s entire operating budget. Their decisions impact more than 85,000 students and 11,000 public employees.
For the first time in Nashville’s history, the school board races are partisan. Candidates face a primary election on May 3 and a general election on August 4. Informed by data from the most recent U.S. Census, school board district boundaries were also redrawn this past year to reflect changes to the city’s population. The result of these changes is that voters must get informed earlier than ever, including making sure they know which district they live in.
In order to help voters engage in the school board elections, Opportunity Nashville facilitated a series of public listening sessions last month. By partnering with other established community organizations, Opportunity Nashville hosted a meeting in each of the four even-numbered school board districts, all of which will be on the ballot in August. The listening sessions were designed to gather input from parents and voters about what the school board needs to do to ensure there’s a great school in every neighborhood. The resulting voter guide is a compilation of the ideas and concerns raised in those meetings, set alongside school board candidates’ priorities, in their own words.
“There was so much thoughtful discussion during our listening sessions, and we are excited to share what we heard with our entire community,” Vercher said. “It can be difficult, particularly for busy families, to stay informed on candidates’ platforms for local elections. We hope this guide helps.”
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