EDMONTON, AB—The public school board election race is just warming up in Edmonton, but already it has become an historic one.

Teacher Karen Pheasant kicked off her campaign on June 3 as the first aboriginal woman to run for the board.

“It’s a time for change,” she said at a Westmount restaurant. “It’s a time for community participation.”

Pheasant is about to embark on her PhD at the University of Alberta.

“I do take a different perspective at education,” she said. “What we need (is) a more holistic-based education.

“I have strong concerns when we lose art programs; whe...