Leading off today: I don't think I'm alone in believing that tomorrow shapes up as a bit of a beta test for upcoming primaries and the November election.

   School-board elections and budget propositions tell us just about nothing in terms of Democrats vs. Republicans and liberals vs. conservatives, but it has value as an economic barometer.

   If the maxim that "people vote with their wallet" holds up, we could well see a bunch of school budgets rejected tomorrow -- including some that really are about as bare-bones as possible. Very few of the folks I talk to are feeling financially secure these days, even after the way investments bounced back over the last nine months of 2009 -- and two weeks of wild Wall Street swings indicate there may be trouble ahead.

   It's not unreasonable to expect that some people in that situation will want to put elected officials in Albany and Washington on notice for November. For better or worse, the annual school vote is one of the few ways to deliver that message ahead of the fall elections.

   I raise the subject less as a sermon than as an introduction to a couple of items I stumbled across over the weekend. Just call it "John Bob's guide to the election."

   (1) Here's how to get noticed: If you've ever attended a "meet the candidates night" at the local school board meeting, you know that little is said that distinguishes one candidate from another. Oh, sure, some folks come across as more fiscally conservative than others, but by the end of the night they still come off sounding pretty much similar.

   And then there's Ford Beckwith, who really set himself apart from the rest of the field in the Frontier district last week, The Buffalo News reported. Beckwith, who runs a blog called Hamburg First, questioned sports spending in light of what he termed a declining graduation rate.

   "Do we want to continue to sink money into sports versus education?” Beckwith asked. "You should teach kids to read, write, do math and science. . . . Everything after that is a bunch of crap. How many kids will grow up to play football?”

   Being a Navy veteran, you'd think maybe Beckwith placed some value on the concept of learning teamwork and cooperation in achieving a common goal. Perhaps not, particularly with respect to his feelings toward Superintendent Ronald DeCarli.

   "My focus will be on what the residents want. If that clashes with Mr. DeCarli, then we’ll go to fisticuffs,” he said.

   I'm not sure if Beckwith stands a chance of being elected tomorrow. What I do know is that board meetings will be a charge-admission-and-sell-popcorn event if he does come up with enough votes.

   (2) The age-old debate: The Monroe-Woodbury School District is asking taxpayers to vote on a $1.7 million proposition for a new synthetic turf field. I cannot think of a worse time in the last quarter of a century to float that idea -- other than a year ago at this time.

   The economic climate remains shaky at best, and the school district has been cutting everywhere, including staff positions. But as reporter Kevin Gleason pointed out in The Times Herald-Record, there's more to the story.

   The football and soccer fields at M-W suffer from poor drainage, and a number of home games have had to be moved in recent seasons to a facility 12 miles away, where the lacrosse team plays its home games and the football team often practices to avoid tearing up its main field even more.

   A $1.7 million project will never pay for itself, even factoring in the need for less maintenance. And if voters decide they cannot afford such a luxury, then at least they can shoot down the proposition without having to also reject the main spending proposal.

   But I've seen first-hand how a turf field can make a positive difference. Half a dozen gym classes can use it in the morning and afternoon, and then the football team can practice on it and two soccer teams can play on it under the lights.

   Contrast that with having to shut down a grass field altogether for a week or two because a football game was played on a rainy day.

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   On the other hand, opponents can build a case of their own. How many of the 41 jobs that are being cut could be restored with the $1.7 million? Unfortunately, the answer is "fewer than you think," since state aid will cover more than half the cost of the project, and the remaining expense will be spread out over the life of the bonds.

   "I believe in physical education," says Theresa Budich, running again for the school board after narrowly losing her seat last spring. "I understand that it makes a well-rounded child. This is one field. At this point, whether you consider it a luxury, it certainly is not a necessity."

   The turf-field debate was heated in many places even before the economy tanked. The M-W proposal will be an interesting test of sentiment in 2010.

   (3) What happens next? Actually, we should be talking about what isn't likely to happen next in districts that have budgets rejected tomorrow and in a subsequent re-vote.

   I call it the Wantagh scenario.

   Two years ago, Wantagh voters twice said no to budget proposals in the spring, leading to an austerity budget in which sports and other extracurricular activities were left unfunded. The community quickly organized to begin raising the approximately $650,000 needed to keep all the programs running.

   They succeeded, but a huge chunk of that money came from you and me. State Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) announced a $75,000 donation from the New York State Legislature, presented by him and Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R-North Merrick).

   The money came from Albany's "members items" budget, a pork-barrel trough that politicians use for a few worthwhile causes that were left out of the state budget. Mostly, though, that fund is a slush fund for helping Albany hacks get re-elected by greasing the palms of organizations that can deliver votes in November.

   As slime-laden as that whole concept for spending tax dollars may be, it gets worse when you consider that all taxpayers essentially contribute equally to the multi-million fund, but the payouts are not equal. The majority parties in the Assembly and Senate control a disproportionate amount of that money, and then they don't even share that money equally among members despite the fact those those men and women all represent approximately the same number of New Yorkers.

   Well, as you may have noticed, Albany once again blew the April 1 budget deadline -- and there's no solution in site. That would be bad enough in a normal year, but it's even more of a problem for elected officials this year because the cry of "throw them all out" has never been louder. The state always misses the budget deadline, but voters are in no mood to forgive and forget this time around.

   With all the angst associated with school budgets since districts began their planning process back in December, there is no way most politicians can get away with sliding money from the pork fund to one school district without doing likewise for the others they represent.

   With something like 650 school districts across the state, there simply won't be enough money to go around. We know that already because school funding in the regular budget is scheduled to take a 5 percent hit, and that's made the budget process even tougher for superintendents and school boards.

   A lot of incumbants (hopefully) are already doomed in November. Anyone who plays favorites between school districts during these tough times can expect a similar fate.