Today in my area there is an election. Our ballot will be rather brief - there will be a couple of questions regarding our local fire district, and then an election for two members of a seven-person school board.
What should the main criteria be for voting for one person over another? Of course, in any given election that will depend on many things - what the office is, what the current issues are, etc. I actually ran for school board a couple of times, many years ago (I lost, by the way, but that’s a different story). One of the things that was important for me as a candidate, and is still important to me today in evaluating candidates, is the idea that the parents are ultimately responsible for a child’s education. That may mean that the parents choose to homeschool the child, but it doesn’t have to. Being responsible for something doesn’t mean one has to do it all. There are other options, such as private school, and of course, public school. But whichever option is chosen, the parents are not giving up their responsibility, but instead are choosing the most appropriate tools to carry out their responsibility. Whichever choice is made, the parents should still be very aware of what is being taught and learned, should know the child’s strengths and weaknesses, should be ready to advocate for the child. Too many parents abdicate much of their responsibility in their child’s life.
We choose school board members to represent us in making the major decisions of running a school district. But who is the “us” they should represent? Should they represent the children? Many people think so. And their opinion is seemingly confirmed by the amount of child neglect and child abuse at the hands of their parents. Teachers are often frustrated by the unresponsiveness they get when trying to reach out to many children’s parents. Someone has to advocate for the children.
Others say school board members should represent the community, or perhaps more specifically, the voters. In both this option and the previous one, you run into the issue of having elected officials who think that they know what is best for the children, over and above the parents. And we have been seeing that play out. There have been schools that have distributed contraceptives to students and facilitated abortions for students. The concern that some schools are indoctrinating students in regard to sexual orientation and gender identity issues has recently led Florida to pass a law that seeks to protect parental rights by prohibiting the teaching of these concepts to young children.
For Christians, the Bible instructs parents that they have a primary duty to teach their children. These instructions are mostly concerned about teaching them about God and following Him. But the overall implication of Scripture is that the parents are the assigned stewards of one (or more) of God’s children. God does not give that assignment to anyone else. It is not the village’s responsibility, not government’s, only the parents’.
Parents, understand your responsibility in the life of your child, and be involved. And choose school board members who will best represent your position as steward of your child.
