Elected School Board
I am trying to think about reasons to not have an elected school board and they are hard to come by. I am sure some of you can help me think of some. I very rarely if ever support taking (or preventing) citizens voting power to elect people that control tax dollars. A good case can be made that the School Board is currently making decisions that do not reflect reality. The most recent example being the “one and your done” policy (one failure equals no extracurricular activities).
Allan Vought wrote a piece in the PP&T section of the Aegis this week on the issue. He used a phrase “wisdom of the governor…” which I find laughable. One needs to look no farther than Baltimore City to see that the Boy Governor couldn’t appoint himself out of a wet paper bag much less choose good leaders to serve on our school board. Keep in mind this is 65 / 35 country. As soon as the Boy Governor steps out of Baltimore City he is in enemy territory. He won in only 5 other places (and Baltimore County by less than 400 people). This state is led by the D.C. suburbs, Baltimore City, and whatever percentage the dems can scrape from the other areas. In other words, O’Scary owes us nothing. The sooner we wrest appointment power away from him and his kind the better off we will be.
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January 22nd, 2007 at 8:42 am
I would support an elected school board but on some possible conditions.
1. The elected term should be of sufficient length to keep it moving and maintain continuity. I am not sure what length would be sufficient but may be 4 years or more. If teh term is too short, we’ll get a constant churn and nothing will get done but political posturing.
2. The head of the school board should be an appointed position. This would hopefully moderate the politicing of individual members.
3. The election would be non-partisan. This is one of the drawbacks I think we have in some other positions such as clerks and sheriff. Do you think Bane (who may turn into a good sheriff) would have one if Price or Tritt had been added to the general election mix? Do you think party matters to a sheriff or clerk or register of wills? These are functional positions that should not have political stands but functional demands.
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I agree with you 100%. A nonpartisan County-wide election would be very interesting. Appointing the head is great idea too. What about the County Exec. appointing and not Annapolis? I think a 4 year term would suffice. 6 years is too long and 2 is too short in my opinion. 4 years is one high school class. A board member could come in with a group of high school freshmen, and if he/she stinks, he/she could leave with the graduating seniors.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Welcome back Gop! Just a few thoughts re an elected school board: As an educator I am concerned that curriculum might become a political football in the hands of an elected BOE. Fiscally, I am concerned that the cost of an elected board might be high- right now I think they get a minimal stipend- but if they have to run a campaign??? I DO like the idea of some real checks and balances on the school system administration though. Right now the BOE seems to be a rubber stamp rather than the ultimate authority of HCPS. People in the system aren’t even allowed to communicate directly with BOE members…. interesting set up.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Actually, I was considering appointment by the CE rather than Annapolis but would be afraid of how that could get turned into funding battles (since Annapolis has no piece of the pie or voice).
IE- I’m not sure that the curriculum has not already been politicized but just without the voice of the people. (Hold on, did I just sound like a D…?) As it is now, I’ve pulled my kids out of HCPS a few years ago because of disagreements on curriculum (reading and math @ elementary level). The biggest problem for me was that there was no way for me to have an impact on what I saw as a problem (whole word reading and calculators in math). Response from the principal on down were almost a shoulder shrug of helplessness. With a private or parochial school, I could have more of an impact and actually have someone to listen to my concerns, at a cost. In HCPS, the BoE seemed to dictate curiculum without input from the customer (parents) or the teachers. An elected BoE MAY be able to do this.
This is my only qualm about an elected school board. The elected school board could operate in the same manner as the existing board. WE as the voters could change that but it may take several election cycles to get there. But, with the very short term memory of the majority of voters, hope could be lost in fleeting memories of what could have been.
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Independent,
I have heard the pay issue brought up before as a reason for not having the elected board, and I don’t see why the two issues seem to come “married” together. I think the mayor of Aberdeen gets paid around $3000 per year, and it is elected, so I don’t see why we couldn’t still keep it low.
If members have to run for election, at least they will have to talk to voters every few years, as opposed to simply schmoozing with the politicos to get the appointment.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Actually BA Republican, the administration of HCPS rules the curriculum roost . The BOE folks have next to no say in what/how things are taught. In recent years they have just taken what is told to them by the Supt. as gospel and teachers and parents have had zero venue to address curricular or any other concerns. I am not sure that electing them will make a diff. Esp if they continue to be involved part time.
I am not sure how the BOE responsibilities are defined. I DO know that they evaluate and can renew or discontinue the contract of the Superintendent. So in that way, they could have some leverage - but only if they really get honest info. Right now their information is basically controlled by the Superintendent. As part timers they are seldom seen in schools and they rarely talk to teachers or parents. When addressed at BOE meetings , they never respond. Decisions are made before the public meeting occcurs. Teachers- by the by- who know what is going on at the classroom/ student and parent level are not allowed to be on the BOE.
It seems to me that many of our elected folks are not really ” representative” of the voters once they get elected. They only seem to know us during the election cycle. I am not sure that electing the BOE is going to make them any more representative, responsive, efficient or capable. That said, I would probably support a change- just in hopes that improvement might be possible. Right now the status quo is pathetic.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
IE, although what you say is true regarding curriculum, the BoE has the ability to control the curriculum. They just haven’t because as you said “…they have just taken what is told to them by the Supt. as gospel …” . Maybe it is because they are part-time and have more pressing concerns such as where to put all the kids. But, maybe, it is because they are appointed without a stake in the outcomes. The BoE is supposed to be the oversight and control of HCPS. As it is they do not seem to be performing their function.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Reference http://www.hcps.org/BOE/PoliciesProcedures/docs/Instruction/0002-000%20Curriculum%20Development.pdf
from the BoE Policy Manual.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
The BOE establishes the GCC but the Supt stacks that deck and I have never seen the BOE dispute the GCC’s recommendations.etc. You may be right re their motivations or maybe the same scenario we occur with an elected BOE. Would be interesting to see it played out. Then again as an educator, I am not sure that I want people who have no expertise in the field calling those shots. In MY perfect world classroom teachers would be highly involved and really empowered in the curriculum process. Right now all that exists is what we fondly call ” the illusion of inclusion”.
one other thought is that if the positions would be full time
(and that may be the only way they would have the time to REALLY do the job) we will have to pay them a LOT more.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
GOP, do you think the no pass no play policy is bad? Can you imagine a school system that did not realize tha nearly half of the students in at least 3 of its schools were failing at least one class. And this is a system that has classes like “Consumer Math”.
January 26th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Eddie Burke,
I do think the no pass no play policy is bad. I think it should be two classes with an appeal process. Let the kids be advocates for themselves. Make them explain why they failed two classes and what they are going to do to improve their grades. I think that makes too much sense though.