2021 Imagine Black School Board Endorsement Questionnaire

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We are excited to begin our first School Board Endorsement process. We believe that School Board members are the first line of defense in legally protecting our children from institutionalized racism and violence. From helping to set rules on the curriculum that must be taught and pushing for truth and equity, to passing policies that reduce suspensions and expulsions, School Board members make big decisions all the time. Keeping our kids safe in schools is a challenging struggle, and we need the School Board to support it. Our vision is that defunding the police will help increase funding for restorative justice councils.

We also believe that it is critical for parents and students to hold the School Board leaders accountable: that means calling, writing emails and letters to the editor, attending meetings, and speaking out consistently when they make decisions we do not agree with. The squeakiest wheel always gets the grease and we are looking to elect some very squeaky wheels!

To do this, we need to select and support viable candidates. At Imagine Black, we define candidate viability as the chances a candidate has of being successful, both as a candidate and an elected official.

To be viable, a candidate should have an understanding of the office they are seeking. Do they understand what the job requires? A candidate should know what it takes to run for office and win. What is the number of votes you need to win (your win number)? What are the financial needs of their campaign? How much money does your campaign have in the bank and what is your plan to get more if needed? A viable candidate should be supported by their community, and have a clear understanding of what it will take to win. Some questions we will consider: do you know your win number? Do you have a team of support? Do you have other people or organizations endorsing you?

We understand that this is not all it takes to be successful, but we would like to be transparent about some of the things we consider before endorsing a candidate.

We also know that you may want time to fill this out. With that in mind we have created a document for you to review the questions we will be asking and have shared a link to the Questionnaire Practice Sheet below. Before you submit, just make a copy and you will be able to edit the document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vJf-2mJwyMrW8TBGBgqbNe0x66WQtl2m7sDauB22xr8/edit?usp=sharing

We can not fully express how excited we are about this process and building relationships with community and electeds all in service to our children.

Here are some resources we think are important:

Endorsements, Action Alert, Electoral Justice Project, NewsPAALF ACTION FUNDEducation, Youth