WENTZVILLE — School board races in Missouri are technically nonpartisan, but Republican moves at the local level have changed the election landscape.
This year, the politically charged battle for school boards in the April 4 election has been concentrated in a few districts in St. Charles County and west ºüÀêÊÓƵ County where conservative-backed candidates gained ground a year ago and are now aiming for outright majorities on several local school boards.
In the Wentzville district, one of the school board candidates was forced to drop out of the race after opponents questioned his job with the federal government.
A Facebook post from the radio show accused John Kaelin, who works for the Department of Defense, of violating the Hatch Act as a candidate for Wentzville School Board. The act prohibits federal employees from running for partisan office.
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After Kaelin requested an investigation, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined that the “presumption that the (Wentzville School Board) election is nonpartisan has been rebutted†because the St. Charles County Republican Central Committee endorsed and donated $500 each to three candidates — Renee Henke, David Lewis and Jen Olson. Olson is a host of Patriot Mama Bears who has said schools are “infiltrated by the Marxist neo-commies†who are “unapologetically indoctrinating our children.â€
The federal agency said Kaelin had to withdraw from the race or quit his job, according to the March 2 letter. Kaelin filed a court order Tuesday withdrawing his candidacy, although his name will remain on Wentzville ballots.
“I am personally saddened and disappointed to have to make this decision, as I still believe I had a lot to give the district in terms of skills and experience,†Kaelin wrote on Facebook. “But the choices presented to me were pretty stark, and providing for my family is my number one priority.â€
The recent conservative focus on school boards started with protests over virtual school and mask mandates at the start of the pandemic and has broadened to culture wars over gender, race and sexuality in the curriculum and school library books. A 2022 poll from the Pew Research Center showed the share of GOP voters who consider education a top priority jumped by 8 percentage points since 2021 from 43% to 51%.
Democrats have countered with their own campaigns portraying Republicans as extremists who want to ban books and rewrite history.
Kaelin was endorsed by the progressive Missouri Equity Education Partnership, along with Wentzville School Board candidates David Biesenthal and Brad Welsh and dozens of others across the region. The St. Charles Republican committee also endorsed candidates in the Fort Zumwalt, Francis Howell and St. Charles city school districts.
“There is a long tradition of really fearsome and fractious fights over schools, affirmative action, school prayer, school segregation and teaching evolution. It’s not new that we are fighting over schools,†said David Houston, an assistant professor of education policy at George Mason University. “What is new is that the fault lines are falling so neatly along party identifications than the fights that happened generations ago.â€
One in five parents say their kids’ schools do not spend enough time on subjects like math, reading, science and social studies, according to the Pew poll. In the same survey, a majority of parents said it was very important for schools to teach kids social and emotional skills, but there was no consensus on how schools should teach gender identity or the modern ramifications of U.S. slavery, two areas Republicans have prioritized.
The outcome may be that a child’s education will look radically different if he or she grew up in a Republican-led state like Missouri, Houston said — effectively influencing a whole new generation of voters.
In the Rockwood School District in west ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, conservative voters are looking to seize an outright majority on the seven-member school board after their preferred candidates won two seats in a hotly contested race last year.
This year, there are six candidates for three open seats. The Rockwood National Education Association, the union representing district teachers, endorsed incumbent Lynne Midyett, Karen “Kary†Bachert and Bob Cadigan.
At least one anonymous flier distributed in the district criticizes Bachert’s support from the union, saying “the NEA promotes liberal race and gender ideology in schools, also known as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.â€
The flier could run afoul of Missouri ethics law requiring a “paid for by†disclosure on campaign materials.
Bachert, though, has tried to remain above the partisan fray in the contest, which is officially nonpartisan. Her campaign slogan is “for the kids†and in a February Facebook post, she said, “When I tell people I put education over politics — I mean it.â€
Her views also weren’t clear to the Missouri Equity Education Partnership, a dark-money political nonprofit formed in 2021 that supports “anti-racist and anti-bias approaches to education.â€
(“Dark money†refers to groups with a 501(c)(4) IRS classification that can endorse or donate to political campaigns but do not have to disclose their donors.)
In fact, the equity partnership didn’t receive survey responses from any of the six candidates, possibly reflecting the tense political atmosphere in the district.
The equity partnership praised Bachert and Midyett for seeming “competent†but said the group lacked information on their equity views. They also didn’t have enough information for Cadigan, but noted his teachers union endorsement.
Candidates Thomas Dunn, Trisha Katzfey and Richard Wierzba also didn’t turn in a survey but earned lower marks from the equity group.
For Dunn, the group said he testified for a Missouri bill to restrict transgender athletes, but that his web presence otherwise didn’t note his stance on equity issues.
The group also said Katzfey didn’t fill out a survey and said a statement she made on “politics†in education could be interpreted multiple ways. Katzfey received a $100 contribution from Rep. Holly Jones, R-Eureka, on Feb. 12, according to the ethics commission.
Wierzba was the only candidate to earn the red “anti-equity†marker from the group, in part for saying “political ideology†was harming education quality. “This is a barely disguised dog whistle for anti-equity voters,†the Missouri Equity Education Partnership said.
Some political battles have cooled
There are signs that the hyperpartisan focus on school board races has slowed considerably in many parts of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region.
A total of 63 candidates for school board seats will appear on ballots across ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, compared to 84 last April. While only four school board races went uncontested in that election, this year 11 districts have the same number of candidates as open seats — Bayless, Brentwood, Clayton, Hancock Place, Hazelwood, Jennings, Kirkwood, Maplewood Richmond Heights, Mehlville, Ritenour and Riverview Gardens.
Last year, a Maryland Heights megachurch “committed to confronting the progressive culture†endorsed two of its members running for school board, Jeff Mintzlaff in Kirkwood and Linda Henning in Ritenour, a violation of campaign laws for tax-exempt organizations. Neither candidate won.
Mintzlaff went on to launch ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Family Association, a dark-money political nonprofit that highlights “lesson materials, books, clubs, teacher training and student surveys that include political ideology, gender identity, and sexual orientation content (that) are being incorporated into public education.†The group did not report school board endorsements, but has hosted candidate forums in Lindbergh, Parkway and Webster Groves.
Grace Church ºüÀêÊÓƵ is hosting a “school board expo†March 25 and 26 and held a meeting about school choice legislation earlier this month but has not posted .
Other conservative groups like No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty have also not made any public endorsements for school board this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: Updated with a definition of “dark money†organizations.