Why do we need to stick a party for our school board members? Why does it matter what political party a school board member subscribes to? Shouldn’t the focus be on the students?

In my newest installment of things I think Tennessee is doing stupidly, I will complain about having a school board member declare a party. In the last few years I feel like people have become obsessed with political parties. I miss the days when I was naïve to it and didn’t know the difference between Republican and Democrat. I was so in the dark. I remember complaining about Donald Trump in 2015 to my friend who was in the Young Republicans Club at the high school. She quickly informed me of her party affiliation. 

While I imagine the majority of the people currently on the school board are Republican, it still feels unnecessary to announce that. Are we going to vote some random person off the street in to replace the Democratic board members just because they carry the Republican title? I feel like board member qualifications should be just that, people who are qualified. I think by doing this, it is not putting the students’ needs first. The students don’t care what political party their board members are, they just want to be taken care of and get a proper education. 

For some reason in this town running as independent also seems to be a death sentence. I have heard some claim that someone running as independent is just a Democrat too scared to run as Democrat. I do not think that is the case. It is possible to be in the middle on partisan issues. It is possible to not affiliate yourself with either party. I don’t know anything about the property assessor election other than Beth Martin is running as independent against a Republican Party backed nominee. I fear Martin may be in trouble because people look for that “R” next to people’s name. Again, I know nothing about the other person running other than they are running as a Republican. 

I wish we would just vote for who we feel is qualified. I know that is not an option in the presidential election because it looks like it is going to be Trump and Biden again. Wonderful. Two of the oldest people in history running for president of the United States. Why can’t they just enjoy the nice, peaceful retirement life like other people their age? I’m sure learning how to cross-stitch and taking walks around a retirement facility is far less stressful than running a country. 

I am just particularly annoyed with the school board members having to declare a party. I find it unnecessary and I don’t see how it benefits the schools or the students. If someone who identifies as Republican is qualified, I have no issue with them being elected in any position. Same goes for Democrats. I just don’t think it is productive to solely base your vote on the party you are in. Do your research. Make your vote count. Don’t blindly vote this year. 

Standard News Editor Bethany Porter can be contacted at bporter@southernstandard.com