Amendment 1 Deserves a "No" Vote
LTE Palm Beach Post by Alex Ayala on Oct 20, 2024.
On November’s ballot, the first constitutional amendment voters will be asked to weigh in on is 'Establishing School Board Elections as Partisan.' As a sitting Palm Beach County school board member, I urge you to vote 'no.'
During my term, I’ve repeatedly seen firsthand the damage and negative impact of injecting partisan politics into our educational systems. Because a reform of this magnitude cannot be legislatively addressed, the Florida Legislature has placed this on the ballot under the guise of transparency, hoping voters give in to the hyper-partisan 'culture wars' style of politics that entertain but do not solve the biggest crises facing our communities.
Political parties and partisan leadership have no place in the leadership qualities needed to form policy that creates successful public school systems. Additionally, school districts oversee and allocate massive publicly funded budgets. This change would encourage voting simply down party lines, not qualifications, and will lead to further strain on overworked and underpaid administrators, teachers and staff. Public schools need selfless leaders qualified to lead, not partisan politicians looking for a platform at the expense of children’s futures.
Alexandria Ayala represents District 2 on the Palm Beach County School Board. She is not running for re-election in November.