Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506050016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If those residents get their way, voters will get the opportunity to decide whether the city should switch to an elected board.
Opponents of the plan to raze the older part of Jackson will circulate petitions to force a referendum on an elected School Board, members of which are now appointed to three-year terms by City Council.
Opponents of the razing are angry that the School Board won't change the plans for Jackson's $6 million modernization project, and that City Council refused to intervene.
"Council says it has no control over the board," said Robert Zimmerman, a Southeast resident. "Someone should have some control, and that is why we are going to push for an elected board."
To get the issue on the ballot, the group needs to collect the signatures of 10 percent of the city's 39,662 registered voters.
A similar effort failed last year when advocates did not collect enough signatures.
A referendum probably would not be held until 1996 because there might not be enough time to collect the signatures before this fall's election.
Zimmerman said the group is researching the issue and working on details. Zimmerman has been a leader in the protest over the school, but he said someone else will head the petition drive.
Roanoke and Salem are the only two localities in the region that have not switched to elected boards. Salem voters rejected the change in a referendum last fall.
The Southeast Roanoke group apparently will get little support from Mayor David Bowers or City Council members, who say they see no need for an elected board.
Council members fear that a change could bring politics into school issues and create a confrontation over school budgets.
As a young man, Bowers said, he wondered why Virginia was different from other states and had appointed school boards. But after 11 years in elected office, he said, he has come to appreciate the appointed system.
"People who think elected boards will get politics out of school matters are mistaken," he said. "Elections will put politics right in the middle of the schools."
The current system has provided excellent schools and offers residents the chance to apply and participate in the board selection process, Bowers said.
One of the problems with elected school boards in Virginia is that they lack the power to tax, said Vice Mayor John Edwards. That can create a conflict with the governing body, which must provide the funds, he said.
"With an elected board, there is no accountability to council, yet council has to provide the money," Edwards said.
In most states, school boards have the power to levy taxes.
Edwards said he is sympathetic to the Southeast Roanoke residents' complaints about razing part of Jackson, but he doesn't believe that merits changing to an elected board.
He said council has an open selection process for choosing board members and anyone can apply.
Councilman William White said the appointment system has produced a board with a good cross section in age, gender, race and place of residence.
"We have an open process, and it has produced a good board," White said. "If you go to an elected board, I am afraid you will get people who have an axe to grind."
Without taxing power, he said, a board still would have to get council's approval for funding.
Roanoke's teachers see no need to change to an elected board, said Gary Waldo, executive director of the Roanoke Education Association.
"Now, we are content with the caliber of School Board members we are getting: intelligent, accessible, open-minded and considerate people," Waldo said. "We see no reason now to change the system we have."
The Virginia Education Association has supported elected school boards and lobbied for boards to have the power to tax. But not all local teachers organizations have taken the same position.
More than 80 cities and counties in Virginia have switched to elected boards during the past three years. Several counties in Western Virginia will have board elections for the first time in November.
Advocates of elected boards say they are more accessible and responsive to parents and voters. They say an elected board has more political clout and can lobby harder for more funds for schools.
by CNB