The push to move school board and other municipal elections to the fall and make them partisan is not benign. It represents an effort to politicize local offices and make them subject to the same partisan postcards we just saw for statewide offices. It would also lead to voters casting uninformed ballots on school board races which would likely get overwhelmed by the other races at that time. Kansans need to stay informed on this issue.

“‘I think it’s a terrible idea,’ said Lawrence school board president Shannon Kimball. ‘The partisan politics going on at the state level really don’t have any place in the decisions going on in the school district. Our mission is to educate kids in the best way we can and that should not be a partisan issue.’

“Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx agreed. ‘I like the nonpartisan part (of the current system), and I do like the fact that they’re not part of the general election,’ he said. ‘Local elections need to keep their own identity.’

“Kimball said moving the local elections to November would be especially hard for school districts because it would mean new board members would take office in the middle of a school year and the middle of a budget cycle.

“Kimball said she is also concerned about the low turnout for municipal elections, but she doesn’t think changing the date of elections would solve the problem.” http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/nov/21/lawmakers-study-pros-and-cons-moving-elections/#comments