All campaigns at any level can get ugly, dirty, and downright underhanded. Yet there's a "positive-vibes only" one-sidedness that often occurs when we're dealing with public school board races.
The tilted perception of local school board races often goes something like this:
There's a core of board/district leadership that's essentially a booster club. To them, the school and any state and federal machinery (and associated teacher unions) can do no major wrong -- and therefore, their preferred candidates are automatically assumed to have the moral high ground and have that as an advantage at the ballot box. Win or lose, much like at your alma mater's homecoming football game, you had better cheer every play the board makes or you're a traitor. Rah-rah! Or should we say kumbaya?
Then there's everyone else, who apparently have no school spirit because of their disruption of board harmoniousness. They are immediately accused of having no other agenda than to dismantle public education, take all the kids to private school, and bring the school tax rate down to zero. Why? Because they dare to criticize. Boo! Hiss!
Any thinking voter knows the situation is more complex than the black hats versus the white hats -- it's all very much political, with both Republican and Democratic parties now weighing in, as well as various internecine conflicts taking place as an undercurrent that voters often do not see. Taxpayer-funded lobby groups are not happy about this trend one iota. Florida voters are even considering whether or not to label school board candidates by party like up-ballot races.