THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512150018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Some Norfolk residents have been working to make the school board an elected rather than an appointed body answerable to City Council. According to a recent report by staff writer Jon Glass, a petition drive to get a referendum on the ballot by May is likely to fall short. That isn't necessarily bad news.
Norfolk is the only city in Hampton Roads that hasn't moved to an elected school board, but the arguments in favor of election are far from overpowering. It is often suggested that elected school boards are more responsive to voters but that's a double-edged sword. It can also mean that they are more at the mercy of the whim of the moment.
Education has got to change with the times and public education must be accountable to the citizens who pay for it. But education is already subject to fads and some of the changes that discontented citizens are hot to institute today may appear less desirable when coolly considered tomorrow. Students shouldn't be guinea pigs subjected to 13 years of laboratory experiments.
An argument for appointed school boards has always been that they provide a layer of insulation from the passions of the moment. They can be composed of excellent educators or judges of education though they may lack the desire or quite different skills needed to campaign for office.
Appointed school boards are still accountable to the public through elected city officials who answer to the voters. Conversely, if elected school boards don't also have the power to levy taxes, they have authority to oversee public education without the ability to pay for it.
The educational results in districts where appointed school boards have been replaced by the elected variety have been mixed at best. Some elected boards have worked well. But in other cases, boards have succumbed to the worst vices of partisan politics.
Members of elected boards are often tempted to play to their narrow constituencies rather than considering the greater good. Deliberations can turn divisive if board members pander to their particular factions. The issues often become taxes, unions, race, family values, political correctness - in short, almost everything except how to provide a first rate education at a reasonable price.
Those trying to persuade Norfolk to trade an appointed school board for an elected version are undoubtedly sincere. But the burden is on them to convince the electorate that public education in Norfolk would be improved by electing the school board. Plenty of cities that have adopted elected school boards wish they could return to the appointive model. by CNB