Whoa there boy…
Barry Glassman appears to have jumped the gun on this elected school board bill. I applaud his efforts though. He clearly desires to be out in front on this issue. However, I have to agree with Dulany-James on this one. What exactly are the problems? The “one failure and your out” policy sparked this debate. The issues over the legislation appear to be many. First is the blended school board. If I were African-American I would be offended by this policy. “Honey, it’s the Governor on the phone. He wants you to be the token African-American on the school board so that they can say they have a diverse board.” Politicians can’t say stuff like that. Barry had to say that he has supported a blended school board for 10 years when in reality he has probably never even thought of the diversity of our school board. Here are some things that should be in our elected school board legislation:
1.) Non-Partisan: we need to move toward getting political affiliation off the ballot when it doesn’t matter. You can make a good argument that political affiliation does matter but ultimately morality in public education has lost. Conservatives cannot even mention the word God in public schools without the ACLU crying foul (read David Limbaugh’s Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity). Textbooks and buses are not really a partisan issue so I say leave it off the ballot
2.) In-district elections based on Councilmatic districts: this will not be difficult even with some schools crossing the Council district lines. Even if schools are split 50-50 by Council lines, the School Board candidates still need the votes and thus need to listen to the constituents
3.) Three appointments: all by the County Executive; no appointment by Governor
4.) Salaries: pay them $5,000-$10,000 per year and reimburse their expenses if any (up to a limit)
5.) Terms: 4 year terms, 2 term max. Three elected members up every two years.
I am sure there are more, but that is what you and this site are for. Again, I applaud Barry for taking this one by the horns. Let’s get it right.
Topic: County Council, Governor, House of Delegates, Issues Tags: None
January 30th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Agree with all but #2. I would prefer at-large elections.
What would be the recommended size of the school board? One per high school maybe. This would allow the school board to flow as the school system increases or decreases.
Also, I don’t see the “one failure and your out†policy as a problem. Since the purpose of schools is academic and/or work training not athletics or social engineering, failure should be a primary criteria. That is why after school activities are called extracurriculars; they are outside the regular curriculum. Get the regular correct, then you get the extras.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
The bill has passed the local contingent and is on its way. See Sun article http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-md.ha.board08feb08,0,1456974.story?coll=bal-local-harford
February 8th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
my issue with elected school boards is that it puts our education in the hands of the teacher’s union. who is going to put money into the election of a school board member? the union and that’s it. So you will have a board thatis controled by a group only seeking more teacher funding, and less accountability.
February 10th, 2007 at 10:30 am
I doubt seriously that teachers are the only groups interested in BOE membership. Have you ever attended a PNC meeting? There are all kinds of groups with agendas that question the candidates and vote for appointees on their own particular issues. I am concerned that here will be well financed attempts to stack an elected board with folks who have extreme curricular bias and no educational background or expertise. Think about electing- for example- a board that oversees medical practices in the state. Would you want Christian Scientists, farmers, fast food franchise owners telling your Drs what they can or can’t do? There is something sacrosanct in my personal opinion about ” public” education. It needs to be respectful of all cultures and should not show favoritism. If a family wants one and only one particular cultural slant- for example- on their child’s education, they should seek a private school that provides that. Public school should provide an objective, diverse and multicultural education. Case in point - because of the lobbying efforts of a small but vocal minority in Harford County, PTAs are no longer able to sponsor safe after school Halloween parties for kids. Teachers can’t put jack-o-lanterns up in the classroom. Not the biggest deal- but certainly the tip of an ominous iceberg.
One more objection to you commentary Hmmmm:
[quote post="243"]So you will have a board that is controled by a group only seeking more teacher funding, and less accountability. [/quote]
I personally resent that implication. My experience from 27 years in the trenches is that the vast majority of teachers are extremely dedicated to educating our children to the best of our ability. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of accountability and certainly did not pursue this vocation for the $$.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:26 am
[quote post="243"]We hold ourselves to the highest standards of accountability and certainly did not pursue this vocation for the $$. [/quote]
If this is true of all teachers, why do we always hear questions regarding how “low” paid teachers are and see teacher union strikes around the country? Very few people picked their profession (not just job) solely on the basis of its pay rate. They selected it because it interested them. Also, if “the highest standards of accountablity” are to be held, why do the teacher unions squash testing and performance requirements for teachers?
I am sure that you and many teachers feel as you have stated but the unions that teahcers have been selecting to represent them always drive for the lowest denominator which is pay, benefits and no accountabiity for themselves. The education system and the students and their curriculum are not a priority of the teacher unions, if they are even on their radar screen.
February 11th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I beg to differ with ya Eddie. You are voicing some common misconceptions. First- there are no teachers UNIONS in MD. We have an ASSOCIATION with no teeth. We are not allowed to strike by law. We don’t choose them- they are the only representation available. The association is only allowed to negotiate certain things- pay and benes. Gee, I wonder why that is their focus? Teachers have no say in things that directly effect student achievement- class size, curriculum, discipline, assessment, etc. Yet we are held completely accountable. The students are our reason for being. How can they not be on our radar?
Do we support raises for teachers you betcha! And do you know why? A huge group of us are on the way out and we are not attracting bright capable people to the profession- because they can make more money almost anywhere else. Nobody likes to pay taxes. Because teachers are paid out of the public till, resentment exists. Just as in any other part of our economy- ya get what you pay for. Services cost and education is way cheaper than incarceration.
As far as accountability goes, teacher associations advocate and lobby hard for high standards. We might differ in how those are measured- because we know that weighing the pig doesn’t make it fatter. And some scales are plain old inaccurate. We are also aware that there are many factors that influence student success other than just outstanding teacher dedication in the classroom - the family, the community and the system also need to be held accountable for student success.
Most individual teachers are extremely conscientious and we actually work hard to purge the inadequate teacher from our ranks. I do not want to pick up their slack or send my kids -who I have worked so hard to teach- to a less than quality teacher. There is a process for removing the incompetent- administrators drop the ball on that one. The association makes sure that the process is fairly applied- but they do not support the incompetent.
I invite you and any others who continue to judge teachers based on these misconceptions to investigate. Get the real scoop- don’t just buy prejudicial hearsay. Talk to a teacher. Shadow a teacher. Those who have observed in my classroom for even one hour have become my greatest advocates and allies.
I am proud of what I do. Harford County is getting a helluva bang for my buck and I do it for the kids because I really care. Are there a few who don’t ? Yep- as in any line of work. Does that give you the right to denigrate us all? NOPE.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:32 am
Sounds like someone got there button pushed. However, there are teacher unions in MD and HCEA is one of them. By definition, if they negotiate for a group on pay benefits and work conditions (as it says on the HCEA website) then it is a union. It doesn’t need to have union in its name or the ability to strike to be a union. It doesn’t need to be have teeth to be a union either. It is just a weak one then. Most unions are weak either due to lack of support of the membership or poor leadership or both. Unions that feel that the need to strike is their primary tool are misled (see Pennsylvania teachers’ union).