Participating in local elections for things like school bonds, levies and school board races can be a good way for OSEA chapters to strategically influence the issues that matter most to our members – such as outsourcing, district funding, or strengthening relationships with key decision-makers.
All OSEA endorsements in local elections are made at the chapter level. That's because chapter members are the ones who have first-hand, up-to-date knowledge of your area. You're the expert on local needs, relationships, challenges and the best ways to improve the education system in your community.
Making local endorsements also helps your chapter members become decision-makers ourselves. Seeking an endorsement from your chapter requires candidates and campaigns to think deeply about classified staff, the inherent value of our work and what we need in the workplace. As OSEA chapters continue to impact school board races and levy campaigns, we will increase our worker power statewide.
OSEA is doubling down on the importance of local campaigns this year. At the state level, we have a solidarity fund that we use to offer financial support for the campaigns we endorse; the Board of Directors recently updated OSEA's policy to specify that money in the solidarity fund can only be used for local elections, based on chapter endorsements.
Your chapter's executive board will determine which races to get involved in, based on members' priorities. OSEA has a step-by-step guide to making endorsements as a chapter which you can see at the link below.
Chapter endorsements in local electionsChapters set their own local endorsement process timeline and determine what financial contribution they will request on behalf of the chapter for their endorsed candidates and measures. Contribution requests from chapters go to the OSEA Board of Directors for approval.
OSEA's government relations staff is here to help along the way! Email Willis, Cassidy and Miles if you have any questions or if you want recommendations about any contribution requests.