10,544 Oshkoshians

Ten thousand, five hundred and forty four Oshkoshians! (the demonym sounds too cool not to use, plus sportswriter Peter King used it so…)

Seems like a large number, doesn’t it? Especially for Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a mid-size American city.

Take a guess as to what accurately describes 10,544 Oshkoshians:

A). Los Angeles Rams Fans

B). Hot Dog Lovers

C). College Degree Holders

D). Nintendo Switch Console Owners

If you’ve been paying attention to this blog for awhile, you would’ve suspected none of these answers were correct.

In fact, the answer is…..

E). Recent voters!

10,544 Oshkoshians cast ballots on February 15th, 2022.

That’s a lot, isn’t it? Especially in a non-presidential election year?

Well, allow me to provide some context. Oshkosh’s adult population (greater than or equal to 18 years) is 54,950, which is close enough to its voting population to provide an estimate of voter turnout.

10,544/54,950 = 19.2%, rounded to the nearest tenth.

Consider the 2020 presidential election with 58% turnout. (32,000/54,950)

Yikes. Not so great after all.

What issue brought roughly 1/5th of eligible voters to the polls?

Or in other words, what wasn’t important enough for 4/5ths of them?

Why the Oshkosh Board of Education, aka Oshkosh School Board (OSB). The OSB consists of “seven community members, elected at large for three-year terms.”

With four challengers to two incumbents, it was a more active primary election than most.

Two of the surviving four candidates will be elected on April 5th.

While everyone is familiar with school boards and has been or continues to be affected by them, comprehension of what they do and their compensation isn’t always easy to figure out.

Per the Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) website:

“School board members act as ambassadors and advocates for district interests and are tasked with making strategic decisions….Although it varies widely based on areas of responsibility, schedules and availability, school board members may put in 10–30 hours a week related to meeting preparations and school and community engagement.”

The OSB has to attend “board meetings, special meetings, executive sessions, committee meetings and school and/or district sponsored events.”

As the Wisconsin Association of School Board further explains, “the school board’s job is to focus on the ends while the superintendent focuses on the ways and means to attain the ends. In other words, the board oversees the education of students and is responsible for school district operations, but does not directly run the district’s day-to-day operations.”

For instance, the OSB approved of a 4.7% wage increase for teachers at its January 26th meeting.

As philosopher Plato put it, “education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” Therefore, all this work comes with a big meal ticket, right?

Right?!

Across Wisconsin, board compensation varies widely. The highest numbers I’ve found approach 10k yearly in the largest districts such as Madison or Milwaukee. Across the Fox Cities, board members get a range from a cool $0 dollars to a fortune of several thousand bucks. I can’t find anything definitive concerning the OSB.

For argument’s sake, let’s say OSB members earn 10k per year and work of 10 hours per week. Even at these absurdly idealistic estimates, the OSB averages about $20 per hour without any benefits doing work guiding Oshkosh’s education system. Not a lot of moolah to help guide the youth to desire what is correct.

Interestingly, Oshkosh superintendent Bryan Davis receives $207,000 per year, plus benefits.

Not only are OSB members lowly compensated, 4/5 of eligible Oshkoshians aren’t interested enough to participate in their election.

There are few things as important as education for a child. If so few participate in the OSB’s composition, how will future generations of Oshkoshians fare?

Perhaps part of the turnout issue can be explained by factors other than indifference. I scoured the Internet for information concerning the election and the candidates. The Oshkosh Media YouTube channel posted a candidate forum from January 31st and the Oshkosh Northwestern summarized the six candidates’ positions. There’s not a lot of info for busy adults with full time jobs, families or other responsibilities.

As I’ve written a million times before and will write a million times again, “All politics is local.” Yes, offices such as the President, Congress and Senate represent us at the national stage, get the most attention and often preside over the most controversial issues, such as abortion, foreign policy and the like.

However, these national actors don’t affect us every single day in an intimate matter like school boards do. Education may not “sexy” or exciting, susceptible to the latest clickbait, but it’s the foundation of life worth living. We must pay as much attention to city education, as well as all forms of local and state politics, as we do national politics.

Let’s go from 10,544 to 32,000+ Oshkoshians voting in the OSB elections.

Let’s go from a few thousand salary per year to 10k+ for OSB members.

Let’s go from a little media coverage of OSB candidates to an abundance of it.

Adjusting for local circumstances and numbers, this goes for villages, cities and towns across the U.S.A.

Agree?