Sponsor a forum for legislative, congressional candidates
Helpful resources on CSBA's website
Published: September 4, 2012
CSBA’s Governmental Relations Department has prepared resources governing boards can use to host candidate forums between now and Election Day Nov. 6. “County school board association meetings in October would be a perfect time to sponsor a candidate forum—but planning must begin as soon as possible,” advised Dennis Meyers, CSBA’s assistant executive director for Governmental Relations. “Fall 2012 Candidate Forums” includes a list—sorted by CSBA region—of candidates for state Senate (where applicable), Assembly and Congress, reflecting this year’s reapportioned district boundaries following the 2010 U.S. Census. There’s also party registration information for every legislative district in the state, and a handy checklist for organizing candidate forums.
“These events are not about candidate endorsements. They are about relationship building between who eventually wins the election and local school board leaders and their districts/county offices of education,” the guidelines advise. “Be clear about the event being a forum, not a debate, and that it will not lead to endorsements. It is about hearing/sharing ideas about public schools and developing relationships between local, state and federal elected representatives.”