THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150190
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Creating a district voting system that would permit a School Board member to be elected by residents of one district alone could bring disaster to our already maligned public schools.
Most persons, if elected by their neighbors, would have trouble seeing the big picture. They would feel accountable only to the voters in limited areas. In that scenario, the School Board easily could fall into a stalemate, accomplishing nothing because every member had his own idea of how money should be spent (in his own voting district, of course) and of what the schools should be like in one district, not in the entire city. Trade-offs among members could reach a ridiculous point; i.e., I'll vote for your appropriation if you'll vote for mine without regard to the total financial picture.
We don't need School Board members beholden to one neighborhood or to one PTA group. We need members dedicated to improvement of the entire school system.
Who runs and who votes ultimately will determine the makeup of the School Board or any other elected group. If good blacks run and blacks vote for them, there is no reason to think we won't have black board members. The same goes for whites and everybody else.
If a good person runs from Cradock, and Cradock residents vote for him, that's fine. But that person also should have to withstand the scrutiny of all the voters of the city.
One alternative solution would be to create districts from which residents would run but continue to have all members elected by the total population. Such a plan would spread out the seats while still avoiding special interest members elected by small special interest groups.
A board is the sum of its parts. The Portsmouth School Board must be as whole as possible if we are going to push ahead into the next century. by CNB