Stand Up Blue Valley Candidate Evaluation Process

Stand Up Blue Valley got our start in 2015, when an Americans for Prosperity candidate with children in private school ran for the Blue Valley School Board. Six years, ten elections, dozens of candidates later - we’re still here. We will evaluate 2021 Blue Valley School Board candidates and, if appropriate, issue endorsements to help our members make their voting decisions. Here’s a short overview of our evaluation and endorsement process - which has remained pretty much the same since the August 2016 Kansas Legislative primary. We send candidates a questionnaire to the email address they provided to the election office when they filed to run. Questionnaires ask for facts and opinions that can be answered fairly succinctly. (Our questionnaire for the Nov. 2021 BOE race was sent last week.) Candidates who complete and return the questionnaire by our requested deadline are then invited to schedule an interview, where we cover topics that require more depth than a questionnaire. We review candidates’ social media posts, websites, printed materials, public and online statements, and any other available materials. (We’ll share this info with members, and encourage you to do this yourself, also.) We evaluate who supports the candidates and who the candidates have previously supported, donated to, or endorsed. We talk with trusted sources who are familiar with the candidates. If they’ve held public office, we look at their votes. (Same as above.) After all that, we ask the question: is one of the candidates the *best* choice for Blue Valley Schools? If yes - we endorse that candidate. If, on balance, two candidates seem like they’d be equally good, we may issue a dual endorsement - saying: voters, we believe either candidate would be a good choice for our kids and their schools. (Yes, we’ve done that before.) If we decide neither candidate meets our criteria for endorsement, we may issue no endorsement in that race. (We’ve done that, too.) After we issue endorsements, we provide members with the reasons behind our decisions. Families and businesses move here for our Blue Valley Schools. For decades, our schools have been the backbone of our thriving local economy, strong, stable property values, and highly-educated workforce. Our schools draw businesses to Johnson County and consistently place Overland Park among the top places to live in America. If you agree with us that elected officials - from our local school board to our state legislature and governor - should value and support our children’s futures by supporting their neighborhood public schools - then our endorsements will be helpful to you. If these items are not your priority in making voting decisions, you may wish to look elsewhere for recommendations.