A bill before the state Legislature would require school board candidates to state their party affiliation in elections. Commentator Keith Kindred is a high school teacher in South Lyon. He thinks that's a bad idea.
I’ve been watching Ken Burns' latest history documentary about the American Revolution and it reminded even this history geek how divided the colonists were over whether to declare independence from Britain.
As we tiptoe through our own polarized times, it’s worth remembering that at the birth of our nation, the Patriots and the Loyalists were quite literally killing each other over their political differences.
I’ve been even more struck by how the colonists were not just fighting a war; they were also laying the foundations for a new form of government. Part of that process was establishing the values of civic virtue, yes, but also the norms and mores of democracy.
As a history teacher, I already know all that. But intellectual knowledge is a funny thing.
It has a certain remoteness, an abstraction that doesn’t quite strike a chord. It lacks the tangible relevance to our own lives that makes it real to us.
And this is where, of all people, Republican Representative Jason Wolford of Howell enters the picture. His proposed bill, HB 4588, would require school board candidates to declare a party affiliation.
So what, you say? How does such a small thing threaten democracy? Shouldn’t we be more worried about, oh I don’t know, maybe sending American troops into American cities or detaining people, even American citizens, because of the color of their skin?
Of course, and yet democracies can die by a thousand cuts, not one dramatic puncture. And HB 4588 is yet another slice to the concept of the public good, something the Patriots were fighting to establish.
Clean air and water are public goods. A national defense is a public good. Our communication airwaves are a public good.
And so, as the term would imply, is public education.
That we should all have access to these things whether we are affiliated with a political party or not is self-evident. What is not as obvious is that we need to make special efforts to ensure this is the case.
We need to take care not to politicize public goods or someone, maybe someone in power, will.
Representative Wolford is firmly in the MAGAsphere, but today's hyperpartisan times cannot be solely blamed on one party. I do think he would be happy to label someone with the “lib” moniker. But to be fair, I can see a number of Democrats who would be happy to label someone a "Trumper.”
And that’s exactly why we need to continue to leave it out of our public school districts.
He’s not wrong about that little R or D next to a candidate’s name. These are what political scientists call signifiers and, especially for people who are not well informed, can at least indicate something about their ideology.
We can argue whether or not that's a good thing for most elected positions, but it's likely a bad thing for school board candidates.
I’ve taught AP United States Government for 20 years and work assiduously to create a culture where we put our personal political opinions aside in order to practice political science in a considered, thoughtful way that seeks understanding, not advocacy.
There is a place to express our personal political views, but AP Government is not the proper forum for that kind of thing. We have a different focus, one geared toward understanding who governs and to what ends.
This isn’t more important than our personal views, but we all have to put those aside for the greater, dare I say, public good of learning how to be citizens in a democracy.
There is a time and place to advocate your views, to shout your party affiliation and the values those parties stand for in your eyes to all who will listen.
School board elections are not one of them.
Editor’s note: Keith Kindred is a social studies teacher at South Lyon East High School. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.
