THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Despite the large number of candidates on the ballot in the upcoming Virginia Beach School Board elections, the actions of the present board should cause many voters to question the wisdom of having an elected school board at all.
Less than two years after the first Virginia Beach School Board election a special grand jury recommended that seven of the 11 board members either quit or be indicted for malfeasance.
Elected school boards solve no problems and create new ones. Oversight of schools should be entrusted to responsible citizens who care about education, who can set policy and monitor administrators in a nonpoliticized atmosphere.
Worst of all is the present hybrid system, an elected School Board - answerable only to the voters - which spends millions but can't raise a cent.
The special grand jury recognized this flaw and recommended that the School Board, which oversees a $358 million budget, be given the power to tax in order to make it fully accountable to the electorate. Yet at this point, residents would be reluctant to trust the Virginia Beach School Board with loose change, let alone the power to raise taxes.
There's a better solution: Return to an appointed School Board insulated from political pressures but accountable to City Council. The Virginia Code provides a simple remedy to cities disillusioned with their elected school boards. It's Code Section 22.1-57.4 ``Referendum to revert to appointment of the school board.''
The law clearly outlines the procedure to go back to the old system. The section was enacted into law by the General Assembly in 1992, the same year the legislature voted to allow elected school boards. Obviously, lawmakers with foresight realized there would be school districts where elected school boards would fail. Virginia Beach is one such example.
To revert, concerned citizens - 10 percent of the registered voters as of Jan. 1 - need to petition the Circuit Court for another referendum, this one to ask for a return to school boards appointed by city councils and boards of supervisors. If the requisite number of signatures are on the petition, the court must order the question to be placed on the ballot. If the referendum passes, the elected board members' terms expire on the following June 30.
A school board appointed by city council makes council - the body responsible for assessing and collecting taxes - ultimately responsible for the behavior of the school board. It allows board members to serve without bending to each political wind. It allows the appointment of thoughtful citizens who might otherwise shun the hurly-burly of political campaigning.
It's not too late. by CNB