This year, a record number of educators are hoping to be elected to public office in today’s mid-term elections, according to an article published online by Education Week on July 17, 2018. At least 167 teachers, retired teachers, and administrators nationwide threw their hats into the political ring this year. Of these, 40 won their primaries, and 64 ran unopposed.

Educators are typically the most civic-minded individuals in any community, and many of those who have run for public office say their motivation for getting involved in politics sprang from a desire to make a significant positive impact on their communities. Many of these campaigns resulted from teacher activism in states where school funding and teacher pay are hotly-contested issues. For example, of the 167 educators who originally mounted campaigns, a whopping 67 of them made bids for public office in the state of Oklahoma and 20 mounted campaigns in Kentucky. Arizona, Colorado, and West Virginia have also seen an uptick in teacher candidates.

“We’ve got plenty of business people, we have plenty of rich people, we have plenty of lawyers,” pointed out Lily Eskelsen Garcia, President of the National Education Association. “Why not have somebody with that common-sense community grounding that a school teacher would have?”

To view the entire article, see www.educationweek.org. To view a list of educators running for public office compiled by Education Week, click on the link Teachers Running for Public Office.

And don’t forget to VOTE today!