Being a school board member means you can effect change in powerful ways by using your familiarity with your town, city, or county to create an ideal environment for children to learn and grow. But being a school board member can be overwhelming if you don’t have a good mentor to back you up. That’s where we come in. We know it’s hard to balance differing viewpoints, shifting political landscapes, and all the day-to-day challenges of the job, so we created a school board resource guide to offer insight into your challenging position.
School boards matter, and that’s why we need good school board members like YOU!
At NWEF, we come alongside you on this journey. Over the years we have collaborated with the best school board members, educators, and professionals in America. Together, we’ve created a wealth of resources to help you influence your district in all the best ways.
Know Your State
To find information on your state’s education laws and leaders, head over to our interactive state map. Just click on your state to view helpful resources, statistics, and contact information.
Podcast Resources for School Board Members:
- “Can Local School Boards Win Back Education?” with school board member Veronica Gemma
- “The Role of Local Government in Education” with NWEF president Melvin Adams
- “Uniting School Board Members” with school board members Sherri Story and Cheryl Facciani
- “A Grassroots Movement Chokes the Education System’s Weeds” with school board members—and Moms for Liberty founders—Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich
- “Rethinking Public Education” with Professor Frederick Hess
- “Is SEL Endangering Our Kids?” with Alvin Lui
- “An Inside Look Into Educational Policy & Those Who Make It” with Senator Steve Newman
- “Restoring History & Social Studies In Our Schools” with Virginia State School Board Superintendent Jillian Balow
- “Are Schools Spending Your Money Wisely?” with school board member Ted Lamb
- “How to Get Academic Freedom without Defunding” with Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute
Video Resources for School Board Members:
- Why Are You Running for School Board?
- School Board Members, You Could Drive Local Politics
- Why the Fight for Education Matters
- This Can Make or Break Local Education
- Falling Behind: The Hidden Crisis in Our Education System
- The Reality of School Violence
- Reasons to Jump in and Join the Fight
Article Resources for School Board Members:
- 8 Myths About Running for School Board
- What Do School Boards Do, Anyway?
- Will School Choice Lead to Defunded Public Schools?
- Is School the Right Place for the Gender Unicorn? — A Look into the Research on Transgenderism, Children, and Transparency
- Is School Choice That Big of a Deal?
- While the Paint Dries: Influencing Public Education Policy Through the Process of Negotiated Rulemaking
- What’s the Fuss About SEL (Social Emotional Learning)?
- Pros and Cons of Free Lunch Programs
- Building Moral Literacy through Reading: One Charter School’s Answer to “Book Bans”
Courses for School Board Members:
Did you know NWEF offers self-paced online courses for school board members? Here are some of our favorites.
Introduction to School Boards
This comprehensive training course teaches you how to run for school board and WIN. In it, you’ll hear from experienced school board members and educators from across the nation, as they offer you critical information and principles of leadership that you’ll need to succeed. Don’t let incumbents who don’t represent your values win by default! School boards are the key to taking back control of education and the future of our country.
The First Amendment & How You Can Protect It
With the recent increase in legal suits about free speech, school boards must be extra aware of how they direct their meetings and create policy. This course will teach you how the First Amendment impacts you as a school board member and how to safeguard it in today’s contentious political and cultural environment.
Parliamentary Procedure: The Minority Voice and Maintaining Order
What can school board members do to keep a meeting on track? Can you, as an individual, really influence your fellow school board members? In this course, Mary Loose DeViney teaches you to do all this and more through parliamentary procedure. She also shows why you don’t have to be in the majority on your board to make a difference!
Math Instruction: The Next Curriculum Challenge for Schools
Math proficiency is at an all-time low in America and fixing the issue starts with the school board. But to do that, you need to know what a good math curriculum looks like. In this course, Eric Nelson, one of the leading authorities on math for decades, shows us where the problem began, where we are today, and how you can rectify it.
Like what you’re seeing? Check out all NWEF’s training sessions here.
Changing Education, One District at a Time
Let’s make this the best era for education yet! As a school board member, you have a big role in what our kids see, hear, and learn in the classroom. Right now, public schools are focusing on Critical Race and gender theory at the expense of the basics such as reading and math. But you can change that.
It’s time for school board members everywhere to step up and repair our broken policies and curriculum. Our children deserve better.
We hope our resource guide for school boards was helpful to you. If you’re looking for content on a specific topic please reach out to us for more information.
