Welcome back to the LP School Board Download – our quarterly newsletter about all things school board! As the year winds to a close, we’re reflecting on everything that’s happened in 2025. There’s no way to sugarcoat it – it’s been a dark year for our country and our kids. We are heartened, though, by our member leaders who are continuing to show up for students, their families, and their teachers every day. Thank you for fighting the good fight – LP has your back as you do it.
Before we get started, LP is looking into new ways we can support our members who have to navigate one-board voice rules. If you’d like to get involved in the fight against these policies, please shoot me an email.
👨‍🏫 School Board Membership
Our school board network at Local Progress continues to grow! We’re closing in on 500 school board members, across almost every state in the country. You’re fighting for public education in rural towns, sprawling urban centers, and in the suburbs, in districts big and small! We’re excited to continue building resources for you, planning campaigns with you, and connecting you to each other in 2026.
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Do you have any fellow board members who should be part of our network? Here’s where they can sign up.
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🌆 Federal Deployments
Across the country, as the federal government continues to escalate its attack on our immigrant families, school board leaders, parents, our teachers unions and neighbors, continue to step up to make sure kids are able to learn. We’re proud to see LP members across the country, work hand-in-hand with their community to protect our kids. Read more about the community-wide effort to safely get kids to school in Chicago here. Â
đź’Ş Public School Strong
Tonight, our partners at Public School Strong are hosting a session with public education thought-leader and Education Wars author Jennifer Berkshire on what’s in store for public schools in 2026. Sign up here. They’ve also released an Education For All / Safe Zones Toolkit, which includes a sample Safe Zones resolution via the National Education Association. More guidance from the NEA on protecting immigration students can be found here.Â
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🔌 Building Power Resource Center
Our friends at Building Power Resource Center and the Labor Network for Sustainability recently released a new report – Bargaining For Green Schools, Good Jobs and Bright Futures. The report offers case studies, action steps, and best practices for union contracts that protect student health and well-being, lower energy costs, and create good-paying job opportunities and apprenticeships. Want 1:1 support? Email me and I’ll get you connected!Â
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👩‍⚖️ National Women’s Law Center
A new toolkit explaining Mahmoud v. Taylor (the Supreme Court case that said parents should be allowed to opt their kids out of classes that discuss anything LGBTQ+ related) might be useful for school board members as you navigate discussions about the importance of inclusive education and safe spaces in schools! Find it here.
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🤖 Free The Future
Our friends at the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) are spearheading the Free the Future campaign focused on training folks to spot, and push back against, extremist agendas in public schools. Find out more about the campaign here.
🖥️ Help Desk
Did you know Local Progress has a Help Desk where you can ask for support? We’ve helped take school board members’ goals and turn them into tangible policies, brainstormed ways to keep students safe from ICE agents, and connected members to resources on how to create community schools in their districts. And these are just a few of the many ways we’ve helped our school board members across the country. How can we help you? Email our Help Desk with your requests and we’ll get working on it soon!
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đź“Ł Comms Bootcamp
The Local Progress Impact Lab was proud to kick off our first-ever communications workshop for school board members! On November 24, we gathered with the Local Progress communications team to begin our first of three communications workshops. These sessions are designed to give school board members real communication skills and techniques that they can use in their roles. On December 8, we had our second session focused on the press and how school board members can navigate speaking to the media under one-board policies. We have our final session focused on digital and video strategies next Monday at 6 PM – register here!Â
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🪧 No Secret Police
Local Progress has created the No Secret Police Local Policy Toolkit to help local governments wield their power in counties, cities, and school districts to disrupt the rise in authoritarian tactics. The toolkit features model ordinances and guidance for how local governments can cut ties with harmful surveillance technology and detention centers in our communities, end partnerships with federal immigration enforcement agencies, and create robust sanctuary policies to keep our students safe. The current toolkit is just policies for the municipal level, but we’ll have some for school board members coming soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, please share this toolkit with other LP members and check out our messaging resource, which includes talking points/messaging guidance for each policy included in this toolkit.
🗺️ Policy Map
The Local Progress Impact Lab is still collecting policies you’re proud of that are working in your district. We’re particularly interested in how you’re protecting vulnerable students and advancing green schools (here’s the form to add them.) We’re planning to roll out a map of what LP school board members are working on at our National Convening this summer. We’re excited about this tool helping us to increase collaboration across the country.
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🎤 Podcast Opportunity
The podcast Seats of Change: The Future of School Boards is hoping to speak with more school board members about the importance of elected local governance of school systems. Are you interested in sharing your experience? Let me know!
And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you’d like to check-in (or find time on my calendar here.)Â