Down Ballot Voting - The School Board Matters Hugely

In the United States this year's presidential election is drawing the interest of voters in a way we have not seen for decades. Millions of Americas, Republican and Democrats alike, have already used the opportunity to vote by mail or vote in person early and voter turnout is widely expected to surpass that of 2016 when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump vied for the Oval Office.

Many voters vote what is called the Top of Ballot, meaning the presdential, gubernatorial, senate, congressional elections. Election ballots are organised with the highest level offices ta the top and the lower level offices further down the list. Case in point is the county where I vote, Lee County, Florida. Turnout in 2016 was 78% of eligible voters, far greter than the national average of about 55%. But while nearly 100% of voters cast ballots in the national and state wide races the the county and local levels about 65% of voters cast ballots. In other words, as a general rule, the further down the ballot, the less the race matters to voters. Well actually, the result looks more like a parabola. Statewide issues, being the amendments to the Florida Constitution, which are the very bottom of the ballot, actually were voted on by nearly 90% of those voting. Be that as it may, the fact is that many voters don't bother to vote on races that are literally speaking, closest to home.

In Lee County we hold elections for School Board, County Commissioners, Tax Assessor, Supervisor of Elections, Fire District Board, Hospital System Board and Mosquito Control Board. These races get little attention from the press and the candidates typically have small campaign budgets. Yet the people who put their time and effort into running for these offices and serving their terms are passionate about their dedication to public service, their commitment to the community.

Why Schools Matter

Perhaps equally if not more consequential for the day to day lives of most Americans than who sits in the White House is who controls the schools in the communities in which we live and work. The School Board controls the fundamental choices about how are schools are run and breadth, depth and quality of education our children received.

Our nation's public school systems are literally the gateway to many of the opporunities society can offer and the impact a child's education can have can literally last a lifetime.

School systems are budget constrained. The School Board has to make choices and allocate resources. For example fundamental resource allocation decisions can determine whether average classes are small so students receive more personal attention in the class room or whether average classes are larger, but in exchange students receive a wider range of curriculum and extra-curriculum opportunities. Likeways resource allocation decisions can determine the technology deployed, from student access to computers to the ability of administrators to monitor the progress of students as a whole and students as individuals and accordingly, make operational and programming decisions.

If the choice of School Board member is important during ordinary times, it is far more important during these extra-ordinary times, when communities, states and nations must address a public health crisis the likes of which has not been seen for a century. The education of a whole generation of children has been disrupted by the closing of schools during the COVID pandemic.

It's deceptively easy to assume that remote learning can fill the void. The reality, however, is completely different. Remote education requires computers and computer literacy. Economic and societal disparities magnify the difference between haves and have-nots in this respect. Furthermore, the sharp rise in unemployment creates more have-nots in our society. That's basic economics and should hardly come as a surprise.

Another thing COVID changes is the extra-curricular activities children have access to. Athletics and after-school programs have disappeared. Depending on the community, some groups of children will bear a higher cost of this loss than other children and some groups of children will be better able to cope with the suddent lack of access than other groups of children.

Now, more than ever, we need people on our local school boards who understand the watershed impact of COVID on a generation of students and who will look hard the policy choices that can mitigate the negative consequences.

The Lee County School Board Race

Lee County School Board District 2 is case in point. The incumbant, Melisa Giovanelli, is a smart, sophisticated, woman who grew up in Lee County. She is a product of the school system. Leaving aside her charismatic and at times divisive and disruptive approach to school board issues, her heart is probably in the right place. Like anyone she wants to see more students graduating schools, prepared for whatever choices they make when they make their way into the "real world."

Her challenger is John F "Jeff" McCullers. He grew up in Lee County. He's also smart and sophisticated. But unlike Melisa, Jeff is literally an expert in education and educational policy. He has a doctorate in education, he has decades of experience as a teacher and as and administrator. Simply put, Jeff brings a wealth of professional experience and expertise to the job that Melisa couldn't hope to replicate. Who better to make the hard and difficult and demanding choices that will impact how Lee County schools face the aftermath of COVID than Jeff?

Bottom Line - Your Job is Just Half Done if You Only Vote the Top of the Ballot

And so the circle comes to a close. The COVID pandemic, hopefully will pass sooner rather than later, but its effects will linger for years to come. The education of a whole generation of children has been fundamentally disrupted and now our communities must make smart policy choices that help ensure those who are hardest hit, regardless of the economic and social situation have the help they need in order to recover and perhaps even come back stronger.

In Lee County, as in the rest of America, plenty of voters will make their choices over the next 10 days. Let's hope they remember to spend a bit of extra time and make the down ballot votes count because now more than ever, the vote really matters.

Michael Sonenshine, CFA is CEO of Symfonie Capital Group. He is a graduate of the Willam E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, where he studied public policy and business finance.