Attend a School Board Meeting

Educated citizens are critical to an effective democracy and thus to being free. Our country's kindergarten through high school (i.e. K - 12) public and private schools are the primary way our citizens are formally educated. Most public schools are part of a school district which is managed by an elected Board of Directors. These school Boards are instrumental in determining the quality of their schools and thus the education of our children and the strength of our democracy.

While K - 12 schools boards differ from state to state, typically they are responsible for things like:

establishing a budget and the allocation of funds,
approving the hiring of teachers,

approving the building of new schools,

negotiating contracts with teachers' union,

determining the curricula and books to be used, and

setting school policy for such things as school hours, discipline, and dress guidelines.

Most school boards are elected. Attending the school board meeting in ones school district is a great way a) to assess the quality of its elected members and provides them an impetus to do a great job, and b) to gain a heightened awareness of school-related issues and provide in-person input on these issues. A good understanding of the school board and the educational issues they are dealing with results in better voting and more accurate information when discussing school-related issues with others.