From the Standard Speaker, Hazleton, PA.
Teachers need licensing. Drivers do too. Elected positions? Not so much. Other than an age or residency requirement, just about anyone can be elected to anything. We can debate if John McCain is more experienced than Barack Obama, but what experience truly prepares anyone to sit in the Oval Office?
Are school board members qualified to be school board members? Should professional educators be running the schools, or is "civilian" control and oversight required? What would be the basic requirements to qualify someone to be an effective school board member? Are the "hard" skills like facilities management and effective budgeting the required core competencies, or is it the "soft" skills of negotiation and finesse that are required?
Find other ways to run school
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:22 AM EDT
There is no question that under the current system, school board members in Pennsylvania need education. School districts are complex entities, with budgets running into the tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars. School operations include specialties in many different aspects of education, labor relations, law, construction management, logistics, business management, transportation and so on. Conscientious school board members often are overwhelmed not just by the workload, but by the complexity of the task. Those who are not so conscientious focus on the more readily understandable political elements of the position.
In Pennsylvania the qualifications to sit on a school board do not address the complexity of the job. The law requires candidates to be 18 or older, and a resident of the district for at least a year.
Moreover, the duties of school board members also are ill-defined. That’s why some members attempt to meddle in day-to-day district operations rather than to set the broad policies to be implemented by district professionals.
The school board structure itself is a vestige of the earliest days of public education, when each local school district truly was a distinct entity, often in an isolated community. Society has changed dramatically but the school board structure has not adapted.
School board competence is an issue across the nation, and there has been some experimentation. In a few jurisdictions, each school in a district operates as a charter school with an individual board. The function of the districtwide board is to approve and regulate the charters. In a few others, local jurisdictions establish qualifications and board members are appointed by mayors in accordance with those standards, usually through a screening commission.
Pennsylvania has a particular issue due to another vestige of an earlier era — vast, counterproductive fragmentation of local government. Pennsylvania has 501 school districts — most of them tiny. That ensures costly, redundant administration and small pools of potential school board candidates with a limited range of experiences.
Reform possibilities abound
Many reforms are possible:
--Consolidate small districts: Pennsylvanians elect multiple school boards in areas where one would be adequate. In addition to economies that would be realized, effective consolidation would create greater competition for school board seats and force candidates to rely on more than their local political base.
--Eliminate cross-filing: School board candidates are allowed to run on both major-party ballots under the amusing theory that doing so will eliminate politics as the driving force in school administration. In reality, it eliminates competition for school board seats, especially in jurisdictions where one party is dominant.
--Pay school directors: Conscientious school board service is time-consuming and demanding. Paying board members might produce more candidates with a wider range of experience and expertise.
--Set minimum standards: Magisterial district judges are not required to be lawyers, but they are required to take a course and to pass a test between their election and their service. School board members should be required to meet some basic requirements for service.
--Better define roles: School boards regularly hire superintendents at six-figure salaries and then prevent the superintendent from effectively using the knowledge and experience for which he was hired. The law should be rewritten to expressly preclude directors’ interference in day-to-day operations. That includes hiring of professional personnel other than the superintendent, which should be left to professionals.
The ultimate answer probably is a new school board structure that reflects modern circumstances. The Legislature should establish an independent commission to study that question, even as it tackles reforms to make the current system more effective.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
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4 comments:
AMEN!!!
Meanwhile, anyone think this is where we are headed? All because the dysfunctional School Board thinks it so damn IMPORTANT!! Sound familiar?
DECATUR — The embattled Clayton County school district has become the first U.S. district in 40 years to lose accreditation, according to a county commissioner.
Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell's office confirmed the loss an hour before the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools was expected to announce the news.
The 50,000-student district has scheduled a news conference at 4 p.m. today.
SACS gave the district until Sept. 1 to address nine mandates outlined in a scathing February report that called the school board "dysfunctional" and "fatally flawed." Clayton County has turned over more than 2,500 pages of evidence to SACS to prove it's fixing the problems.
A team from SACS visited the district last week and made recommendations on whether the district has done enough to keep accreditation.
Could be. If a majority of the board keeps taking the Hellmann-Mihok-Radosti path, we may very well get there. It's good to have goals, isn't it?
Clayton’s fears are realized
Accreditation lost: County schools become first in U.S. to suffer drastic penalty in decades.
By Megan Matteucci, Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, August 29, 2008
The stunning loss of accreditation for Clayton County schools left students, parents and residents reeling Thursday at the realization of “worthless” diplomas, dashed college dreams, depressed home values and an exodus of families.
The troubled 50,000-student district will become the first in the nation to lose accreditation since 1969.
News of the loss came Thursday just hours before Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered the removal of four school board members. A state administrative judge had recommended their removal for violating the state Open Meetings Act and the state code of ethics.
“The fate of the Clayton County school system is now in the hands of the voters,” Perdue said in a statement.
The unanimous decision by the national Accreditation Commission left students and parents devastated. Some students burst into tears; others left school early. Parents flooded main offices at various schools to withdraw their students.
“I blame those board members who didn’t put my needs before their own. They all say they put the students first, but they really just think about themselves and because of them my future is now at risk,” said Ludny Lily, 17, a senior at Jonesboro High School. “I didn’t work this hard for all these years to graduate with a worthless diploma.” Lily wants to attend Georgia State University and study law.
As many as 2,000 students failed to return to the district this school year, and officials expected more would leave for other districts.
“I fear we’re going to have to move,” said Isaac Robinson, the father of a second-grader at Jackson Elementary in Jonesboro. “We can’t stay in a school system that’s not accredited. Sure, it may get better, but I don’t know if we can afford to wait it out.”
Superintendent John Thompson urged students to remain in the district.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure these kids get full accreditation,” he said.
Thompson said the district will appeal the accreditation loss, which takes effect Monday.
“A storm came through and look at it now, the sun is shining,” Thompson said Thursday afternoon. “That’s what’s going to happen in Clayton County.”
The commission cited Clayton’s dysfunctional school board as the school system’s main problem.
The governance issues hampered everything from teaching and learning to staffing and allocation of resources, accreditors said.
“It affected the entire school system,” said Mark A. Elgart, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. “Today, the students’ education in this particular district is being compromised.”
The national commission governs SACS.
Perdue called on Clayton voters to fix the board:
“Through the elections to replace these four board members, they can send a clear signal that the kind of behavior that has led to this ruling and the system’s loss of accreditation will not be tolerated.”
The loss of accreditation means students could have trouble getting into some colleges and universities, or receiving scholarship money. Georgia’s public colleges have promised to accept Clayton students. Students who graduate before 2010 will still receive their HOPE scholarships, thanks to new legislation signed by Perdue this year.
School officials have 10 days to file an appeal, but they will have to show that SACS was incorrect and they have met all the nine mandates spelled out by accreditors in February.
Clayton can regain accreditation if it shows before Sept. 1, 2009, that all the nine mandates have been met.
If successful, accreditation would be restored, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2008. If it is not successful, the school system would have to start the accreditation process from the beginning, which likely would take about three years.
That means that if Clayton meets the mandates by May, this year’s seniors could graduate with an accredited diploma.
On Thursday, SACS said the school system had fulfilled only one mandate: to assure that every board member lives in the county.
“There’s positive intent in some cases, but there is no result in some cases,” Elgart said.
A team of investigators from across the nation reviewed Clayton’s progress and found no evidence to show the school system had a fully functioning board or permanent superintendent, Elgart said.
Accreditors were particularly concerned that the board surrendered its governing authority to Thompson, Elgart said. In April, the board signed a contract that allowed Thompson as the new superintendent to violate policies and circumvent the board.
“The current contract cedes authority to the superintendent,” Elgart said. “It not only violates standards for accreditation, but board policy and violates state law.”
Elgart said he and two state Board of Education members appointed to help Clayton pointed out the flawed contract months ago, but the board didn’t listen.
“They gave the superintendent responsibility that needed to be held by the board,” said state Board of Education member James E. Bostic Jr., who was appointed by Perdue to help Clayton.
On Thursday, Thompson said he would amend his contract if needed.
The governor’s liaisons said they were optimistic —- as long as new board members are committed to meeting SACS’ mandates and not pointing fingers.
“If folks continue to talk about the blame and try to do the autopsies, a year from now we’ll be in the exact same place,” said William “Brad” Bryant, a state board member and Perdue’s liaison.
Perdue removed board Chairwoman Michelle Strong, along with members Sandra Scott, Yolanda Everett and Lois Baines-Hunter.
“It’s a great day to be an American,” Scott said, declining further comment.
The accreditation loss doesn’t just affect students, but every resident and business owner in Clayton.
Real estate agents have estimated the county has lost almost $550 million in housing equity since the school system was placed on probation in 2003.
“It’s about as bad a thing as could happen to a housing market,” said Richard Martin, associate professor of real estate at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Demond Scott, the father of two children at Camelot Christian Academy in Rex, said his home has been on the market for more than a year.
“It’s already hard enough to sell a home here, and now it’s about to get worse,” Scott said. “Now this is going to drive down all our property values and bring up foreclosures. Get ready for the mass exodus. I was planning to put my kids in public school starting in middle school. But now I don’t want to be in this county anymore.”
Staff writer John Hollis contributed to this article.
IMPACT OF LOSS OF ACCREDITATION
> Students may have difficulty getting into some colleges and universities, especially those outside the state.
> Students may have a harder time obtaining scholarships but remain eligible for HOPE scholarships until June 2010.
> Students may have difficulty getting credits accepted in other school districts.
> District loses pre-kindergarten funding.
> Property values likely to go down, property harder to sell.
> Teachers could lose benefits if they transfer to other school systems.
> Teachers will get credit for their current certification training from the schools but the accreditation loss means they’ll have to pay for college classes in the future.
> Future economic development in Clayton County could be diminished.
—- Staff
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
“I think we’ve seen this train coming. It’s unfortunate it happened. We’ve now got 55,000 education refugees in our state from no fault of their own.”
STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON (R-Savannah), the Senate president pro tempore and a strong advocate for vouchers
“The future of many excellent students, especially those in Clayton County high schools, has been thrust into turmoil by the actions of the very people who were elected to look out for their best interests.”
KATHY COX
State superintendent of schools, in a statement
“This is a sad situation that could have been averted. All nine mandates dealt with mismanagement at the school board level, and unfortunately the board chose inaction rather than to protect the interests of the citizens of Clayton County.”
U.S. REP. DAVID SCOTT (D) whose 13th District includes Clayton County, in a statement
“How could they do this to us? Don’t they see all our hard work? We’re getting better. They didn’t have to do this. Why couldn’t they just put us on probation?”
JO ANN MITCHELL- STRINGER
Parent of an eighth-grader at Sequoyah Middle and a freshman and junior at Mount Zion High
“I’m heartbroken. I don’t know if I’m going to stay, but I’ve got to think about my kids.”
DAWN MAULDIN
a bus driver for the school district. She is the mother of a sophomore at Jonesboro High and a fourth-grader at Jackson Elementary.
“This is a setback for us, but people should watch because they’re going to see this community rally behind our schools and turn them around.”
LASHONDRA SWANSON
mother of three young children, including a first-grader at Jackson Elementary
“This isn’t the teachers’ fault or the principal’s fault or the students’ fault, but we’re the only ones punished for it… . Sure I may get into a college out of state, but will I be able to get the scholarship money to pay for it?”
BRAEDEN ORR, 16
a junior at Jonesboro High and a member of the national championship mock trial team for two years. He wants to attend Harvard or Yale and study law.
“I don’t want a dummy diploma. I’m working hard, and I want to go to college, a good school. Don’t these adults know they’re messing with my future?”
JASMINE SHELTON, 16
a sophomore at Jonesboro High. She wants to become a nurse.
“I study and I do my homework. I do what I was supposed to do, and now it may be for nothing. It’s hard to focus in school, but I’ve got to look out for my future. No one else will.”
DOMINIQUE MAXWELL, 14
a freshman at Jonesboro High. She wants to attend The Juilliard School.
The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind 'cos he was way behind: he was willin' to make a deal.
When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot.
And the devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said: "Boy let me tell you what:
"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player too.
"And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.
"Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due:
"I bet a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cos I think I'm better than you."
The boy said: "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin,
"But I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been."
Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.
'Cos hells broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals it hard.
And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold.
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul.
The devil opened up his case and he said: "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his fingertips as he resined up his bow.
And he pulled the bow across his strings and it made an evil hiss.
Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this.
When the devil finished, Johnny said: "Well you're pretty good ol' son.
"But if you'll sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how its done."
Fire on the moun, run boys, run.
The devil's in the house of the risin' sun.
Chicken in the bread pin, pickin' out dough.
"Granny, does your dog bite?"
"No, child, no."
The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
He laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet.
Johnny said: "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again.
"I told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been."
And he played fire on the mount, run boys, run.
The devil's in the house of the risin' sun.
Chicken in the bread pin pickin' out dough.
"Granny, does your dog bite?"
"No, child, no."
And it burned inside his mind the way he suffered that defeat
In the darkest pits of hell the devil hatched an evil plan
To tempt the fiddle player for he's just a mortal man
"The sin of pride," the devil cried is what will do you in
"I thought we had this settled, I'm the best there's ever been."
Johnny did you ever know that time keeps marching on
The coldest hour is the one comes just before the dawn
The devil's back in Georgia will you stand up to the test
Or will you let the devil be the best?
"In truth I haven't played much since the baby came in June
But give me half a minute an' I'll get this fiddle back in tune"
The devil grabbed the golden fiddle out of Johnny's hand and said
"Though I'm the fiddle player underground and I walk upon the land"
"Y'all just better be just turnin' back if you want this boy to win
'Cos practice is the only cure for the predicament he's in"
"Now devil it would be a sin for you to get my bow
You go on back to hell and to the wood shed I will go"
Johnny are you practising or will your hands grow cold?
The devil walks the land and plays a fiddle made of gold
Can you hear the babe a crying, will he ever know
The devil wants his daddy's very soul?
"Before we play I want to thank you for letting God's own Word ring true
He said you can't be trusted" "Yes but what you gonna do?"
"Well you get your fiddle devil if you think that you can win
'Cos I beat you once you old dog and I can whip your butt again"
John Brown's green, the devil is red
Mama's little baby loves shortnin' bread
The devil's dream is that he can win
But Johnny is the best that's ever been
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