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Should School Board Races In Florida Be Partisan? Proposed Legislation Would Let Voters Decide

Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran is a former Speaker of the Florida House. He is a Republican who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the State Board of Education.
Wilfredo Lee
/
AP
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran is a former Speaker of the Florida House. He is a Republican who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the State Board of Education.

Bills filed in the Florida House and Senate would give voters a say in whether to turn school board elections into partisan contests.

Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who also serves as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, on Thursday filed a measure that seeks to turn school board elections into partisan contests.

Currently in Florida, school board elections are non-partisan races. Gruters' proposal (SJR 244) aims to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2022 ballot allowing voters to choose whether school board elections should be partisan.

State Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, filed a similar proposal (HJR 35) on Sunday.

The annual 60-day legislative session begins on Jan. 11, and legislative committee weeks start Monday.

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