Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991 TAG: 9102120471
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID G. BRICKLEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Is Virginia's unique position the result of citizen sentiment? Hardly! At the end of 1987, the respected Mason-Dixon poll found that 64 percent of those interviewed supported elected school boards, while only 27 percent were opposed.
An elected board was approved by a sizable majority of the voters in an advisory referendum in Virginia Beach. In Richmond, the issue garners support from all sides of the political fence, including the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia State PTA, Virginia Taxpayers Association, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and many others. The idea has even received the backing of the conservative Lynchburg News and the not-so-conservative Washington Post.
Yet with all this support, why hasn't this legislation been approved by the General Assembly? Let's review the history.
In 1796, the Virginia General Assembly embraced Thomas Jefferson's proposal for a public school system. County voters elected aldermen to initiate local public schools. Annual elections of school-district commissioners were authorized in 1846. Virginia's constitution was changed in 1903 in a blatant effort to exclude blacks from school board representation. This past spring, the State Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that upheld the law concluding that its discriminatory efforts have disappeared.
With special legislation passed in 1947, Arlington County voters elected their School Board members until 1956. But when Arlington insisted upon keeping its schools open rather than opposing integration through massive resistance, the General Assembly suspended Arlington's local option to elect School Board members. Since that time there hasn't been an elected school board in Virginia. What a sad footnote to Virginia's history!
What we are fighting for is the option to allow local voters, through a referendum, to decide if they prefer an elected school board. If a locality wants to continue having an appointed board, that's fine. But if it supports elections, let's hold them.
Opponents are afraid of giving the voters this choice. If the people are smart enough to elect federal and state representatives, they are certainly wise enough to elect their school-board members. And rest assured, there will be no problem finding qualified candidates to run for those positions.
Survey after survey holds that the people believe an elected school board would be more responsive to the needs of a community than an appointed board. Public support and accountability are vital to our public school systems.
It's time for a change in Virginia. Let us look at the opponent's arguments:
Objection: Politics will be brought into the school system.
Response: If anyone still believes that politics is somehow absent in an appointed board, he's living in another world.
Objection: School boards don't have taxing authority.
Response: Some states give their school boards taxing authority, while others do not; yet all save Virginia have elected boards. If the people desire that school boards have separate taxing authority, it could be approved in a constitutional amendment by the voters of Virginia.
In 1976, I introduced my first bill to allow for the local option of elected school boards. It had a couple of other brave co-patrons. This year, my legislation had 56 General Assembly members sign on as patrons, including 42 of 100 delegates, and 14 of 40 senators.
In a landmark vote, the bill passed the House of Delegates by a 2-1 ratio, allowing six localities to decide if they want elected school boards. The state Senate will hold a public hearing on the legislation at 4 p.m. today.
Elected school boards will provide an easily traveled path to bring parents, educators, students and school administrations together. With this election, there are no losers.
by CNB