Under Pressure: Community Involvement in School Board Deliberations and District Decision Making During COVID-19

• In Event: Examining the Politics of Local Governance: A New Wave of Research on School Boards

Abstract

Purpose
This mixed-methods paper analyzes the results of a statewide poll of California voters alongside interviews with school board members. We extend prior research on voter preferences in school board elections to understand the nature and impact of stakeholder dissatisfaction and engagement with democratic processes at the local level. Voter turnout in local school board elections is consistently low (Allen & Plank, 2005; Bartanen et al., 2018) and that lower income and historically marginalized individuals are less likely to participate in district decision-making. We investigate how the events of this past year have affected these dynamics by asking: How and why were voters engaged in local educational decisions and issues? How did board members navigate these competing interests among their constituencies?

Methodology and Framework
Guided by dissatisfaction theory (Lutz & Iannaccone, 1978), deliberative and participatory democratic theory (Gutmann & Thompson, 1996; Pateman, 1970), we employed a triangulation mixed methods study design (Creswell & Clark, 2017) to understand the nature of and motivations for engagement. In doing so, we develop a continuum of engagement behavior on dimensions of who is involved, how that involvement is manifest and why they become engaged. The paper draws on data from two sources: a statewide poll of a representative sample of voters (n=2,000) in California, and semi-structured interviews with school board members in a sample of districts (n=7) intentionally selected for representativeness of conditions related to community engagement. We qualitatively analyzed transcripts and supporting data artifacts (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014), simultaneously using survey data to identify a set of themes regarding voter involvement and engagement with education issues.

Findings
While our findings show that voters supported boards and believed they had an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, the results also raised questions about how boards respond to public pressure. We found patterns of racial, wealth, and partisan political divisions in areas of engagement, and identified two groups—parents and higher income individuals—who became more engaged in educational issues. However, many felt compelled to be more involved because they were unhappy or dissatisfied with educational systems, and many felt their input would not be valued if they became involved. Analysis of board member interviews suggested that boards in turn responded to the loudest voices of individuals and interest groups using dissatisfied rhetoric, and those that were highly involved under traditional dimensions of district engagement measures.

Significance
In the coming year, local school boards will be receiving an unprecedented influx of new federal and state funds and facing critical decisions around health and safety, learning loss and remediation, and racial justice. As leaders grapple with how to spend these funds and address the varied needs of students in the wake of the pandemic, these findings collectively suggest that greater engagement does not necessarily imply greater strength in democratic institutions, or that engagement necessarily entails higher perceptions of trust in boards. Work at the district and community level must ensure capacity building and authentic engagement with an inclusive representation of stakeholders, with processes that allocate time and resources for deliberation and dialogue.

Author

• Jacob Alonso, University of Southern California