School board elections new front in culture war

In some cases, not voting might be more consequential than voting. This is probably never truer than in the doldrums of school board and budget voting, where elections are decided by the few citizens who do vote.

This reality might never be more consequential than in this year's regional school board elections, especially in Guilderland.

That's because this year, groups aligned with former President Donald Trump and espousing hard-right policies are promoting and supporting slates of candidates with the purpose of injecting turmoil into our hard-working school boards.

School boards are composed of unpaid local citizens who volunteer their time and expertise to see to it that our children receive solid educations that prepare them to compete in the talent marketplace, which these days is a ferociously competitive global market.

People who are interested in their children being taught STEM, business, actual history, arts, civics and literature with world-class access to libraries, books, sports and clubs — all in an environment that emphasizes empathy and respect

to all students and taught by dedicated and experienced teachers — need to vote for board members who have demonstrated such or who espouse delivering that result.

The consequence of not voting is that we may wake up one morning this spring to find that our school boards have been infiltrated by members promoting pseudoscience, book bans, cruelty to some kids, excessive budget cuts, teachersnitch hotlines and other right-wing culture war issues, all under the guise of their Trojan horse: parental control, freedom and liberty.

And we might find our property values just took a big hit.

William Cooney

Guilderland