P ublic education is one of America’s hottest political flashpoints, yet, counterintuitively, making it more political will help lower the temperature.

Public schools have declined in large part because teachers’ unions have taken advantage of the unique election system that’s used for most of the country’s school boards. Those races should be aligned with the elections that Americans know best, increasing voter knowledge, turnout, and the likelihood that winners reflect local families’ priorities.

There are two big problems with the way most school-board elections are held.

First, in 37 states, some or all elections are held off-cycle, which means they occur outside of the major statewide and federal November elections. Many are happening around this time of year. As University of California, Berkeley’s Sarah Anzia has shown, this system was deliberately designed by early progressives to depress voter turnout, since people are less likely to be aware of elections that don’t involve national candidates.

The status quo favors the most organized groups, which almost always means teachers’ unions. They can dominate school-board elections because far fewer voters participate overall. In 2020, states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa saw about one-third the turnout in school-board elections compared with the general election in November. Nationally, teachers’-union-backed candidates win nearly three-quarters of all school-board races.

The second problem is that most school-board elections are nonpartisan. Only nine states require school-board candidates to declare their party affiliation or give them the option, depending on the district. This allows teachers’ unions to run candidates who may otherwise lose if their party affiliation were more obvious. In North Carolina, for instance, 14 counties voted for Republican candidates in federal Senate and House races in 2022 yet also elected registered Democrats to school boards. Democrats are far more likely to support teachers’-union demands once in office, which voters could better predict if party affiliation were mandatory. Even if they run in nonpartisan races, candidates don’t ignore their own politics once elected.

Both problems have directly contributed to public education’s decline. Teachers’ unions are notorious for supporting lower standards for students, higher pay and benefits for staff, and looser policies on moral and gender-related issues. School boards control or heavily influence such decisions, and when teachers’ unions find it easier to elect their preferred candidates, they can shape a school district to their benefit — and students’ detriment.

Yet parents should have the biggest say in how their local schools work. The past few years have proven that many families are frustrated with public education’s direction, and while they’ve elected reform candidates in some cases, the nature of most school-board elections generally puts them at a disadvantage. They deserve laws that increase the number of parents voting while decreasing the outsized influence of teachers’ unions. That means aligning school-board elections with general elections and requiring school-board candidates to disclose their party.

Some states are moving in the right direction. The Tennessee legislature is considering a bill, sponsored by Representative Chris Todd (R.), to put municipal school-board elections on the same day as general elections for state and federal office. The Arizona legislature passed a bill mandating party affiliation in school-board races. Sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack (R.), the bill is now on the desk of Governor Katie Hobbs. In Florida, the state legislature has put requiring partisan school-board elections on the 2024 ballot as a constitutional amendment.

These measures will encourage more voters to participate in school-board elections while having more of the information they need to make an informed decision. Many elections may lead to dramatic shifts in local education, while some may reaffirm existing policies. Either way, the outcome will inspire greater confidence because it will more closely reflect the will of the people, especially parents. As odd as it seems, putting public schools at the center of the political process will help depoliticize — and ultimately improve — the education that most students receive.