THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
``Scrap the elected board'' (editorial, March 8) identifies an important issue for citizens in Virginia Beach, but it gives the wrong solution. While elected school boards may yet prove to be an idea worthy of reconsideration, the recent budget troubles of the Virginia Beach public schools are irrelevant to the question.
Rather, voters should ask themselves if their concerns about the direction of Beach schools would be adequately addressed by an appointed board. In the past, School Board members appointed by City Council have been shy about demanding that the city fully fund its schools. The decision of a past council not to reappoint those board members with the temerity to speak forcefully for schools' requirements gives one pause. Would an appointed board make school funding or the security of their appointed positions a great priority?
Considering the issue of accountability, elected school boards haven't been given a chance. The voters were not allowed to render a judgment on the members of the Virginia Beach School Board. While it was appropriate for the special grand jury to call these citizens to task for their errors, the shrill language used in the report smacked of a political campaign in its own right - perhaps for the next commonwealth's attorney. City Council, which may be no less reliant than the School Board upon its own staff, should thank City Manager James Spore for not having put them in such a position.
Keeping in mind these concerns, your editorial contains its own mathematical errors. You imply that the budget trouble was completely the fault of an elected board. In fact, during the majority of time that the ill-conceived and poorly executed 1994-95 and 1995-96 budgets were discussed, only four of the 11 board members were elected. Perhaps we should ask why council failed to appoint members who were able to sound the alarm. Also, appointed and elected members split their votes on the issue of rehiring Mr. Smith, the board's most curious decision.
Finally, it should be noted that Sidney Faucette, the man who bears the greatest responsibility for this mess, was hired by a fully appointed School Board. Apparently, surviving the political process leading up to appointment by City Council doesn't ensure an infallible board, either.
There are good reasons today to wonder whether elected school boards are worth the potential heartache. The budget fiasco is not one of those reasons.
JEFFREY W. COBB
Chesapeake, March 8, 1996 by CNB