School board members have power over more than just what happens in the classroom.
And several school board seats are up for grabs across South Florida in the upcoming Aug. 18 election.
WLRN's Alexander Gonzalez talked with the Miami Herald's education reporter Colleen Wright about the importance of these races.
ALEXANDER GONZALEZ: These are nonpartisan races. That means everybody gets to vote. As somebody who covers education closely, why are these races important to everybody? Whether or not you're a parent or the guardian of a kid in the public school system.
COLLEEN WRIGHT: In Miami-Dade, we're in the fourth largest school districts in the United States. There is a budget of $5 billion at stake. It is the economic engine for the county.
It's also one of the largest employers in the county, right?
It is the largest employer. I think they have over 40,000 employees. About 30,000 of those are educators and the rest are support staff. It's a big deal. They even set things like traffic patterns, like what we're talking about, what time school should start. That's going to affect everyone's commute — not just parents with kids in school.
This year, the school board election is also happening during the pandemic. And right now, everyone's trying to figure out how schools can reopen safely.
Right. It's a pretty polarizing issue. There's a lot of emotion. And ultimately, it will fall on school board members to vote and decide if kids should go to school or not. That can look from what school will look like, to how it's done, all the details there to big financial decisions.
The school district has gotten some money from the CARES Act, but it is a fraction compared, for example, to what the school district got during the recession. And we're seeing just as big economic impacts. This is the largest taxing authority in the county. Everyone pays taxes, so even if you don't have a child, this really does affect your life.
This interview has been edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
