Term Limits for the School Board?

"Sign the petition for term limits for the school board." The scraggly signature gatherer outside my local grocery store had my attention. "Really," I asked, "what else does it say?" "Local district elections," was his reply. Wow, sounded great. I picked up the petition board. He also told me there was more on the back. Taking a read, I became less impressed. There was some language about increasing the number of districts, but having some of the members nominated by particular community groups. I admit that I signed anyway, figuring we could debate the merits later.

Now I wish I hadn't. The petition drive is the brain child of an innocuous sounding group called San Diegans 4 Greater Schools. Scott Himmelstein is the organizer and he is given a full page to explain himself in the VOSD. My key problem is that four of the nine members of the school board would be appointed by people based on their positions as leaders of committees that are part of education/community partnerships. Such a plan has two key drawbacks, of which I am sure that Mr. Himmelstein is aware, but isn't discussing. First, these well meaning and dedicated people are, by the nature of their volunteer efforts, part of the education establishment. They wouldn't have been elevated to their positions without being able to work effectively with the educracy. This plan is a clever way for the education establishment to pick its own board. Look at the people who would be on the nominating committee if this plan were in effect today, and tell me honestly that these people aren't education insiders. I have no problem with their work, I just don't think they should be appointing members of the board.

Second, because of the new power that would be vested in these positions, inevitably, there will be political pressure to ensure that those appointed tow the mark with respect to the type of people nominated. One could easily see members being removed or replaced for political reasons, with the possible exception of the university presidents. This would be a disservice to these community leaders who are presumably working to make our schools better.

If we have learned anything from the Obamacare debacle, it is that process matters. School reform is too important an issue to be pursued with a school board that has members not selected through the democratic process, even if they are a minority. There is nothing about their plan to improve schools that couldn't be accomplished through an entirely democratically elected school board. Go to their web site and ask these same questions. If school reform is important, then those impacted need a grass roots movement of their own to start electing like minded board members. Further, I could be convinced that term limits and district only elections for the members of the board might also be a good thing, but undemocratic processes cause my gut to recoil.

Image courtesy of my lefty friends at OB RAG, with whom I seldom agree, but met at the coffee party meetings and seemed decent enough folks. They aren't down with this plan either.

Getting outflanked?

Dean here again helping out B-Daddy who is busy with some course work.

For an illustration of just how dire our public education system is in parts of our country, consider this: Democratic mayors from traditional machine-politics cities of the Midwest, Rust Belt and the Northeast are standing up to the teachers' unions in an attempt to implement pragmatic results-oriented solutions to their towns' school districts.

During the last weeks of the term, third graders at School 58-World of Inquiry School created an oil spill in a bowl. Under the guidance of teacher Alyson Ricci, they tried to clean it up. Cotton swabs worked.

The school last year won the national Excellence in Urban Education Award, with all students meeting state proficiency rates in science and social studies. It's an exception, though, in a Rochester system where fewer than half of the 32,000 public-school students graduate on time.

Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy wants to set up more schools that produce results like World of Inquiry's. But he says the superintendent's efforts to close failing schools and open new ones have been hobbled by a school board mired in minutia. He is pushing to dissolve the elected board in favor of one appointed by the mayor and city council for a five-year test period. New York's state legislature is considering the bid.



As cities come under increasing pressure to fix failing schools, more are, like Rochester, trying to take matters into their own hands—or at least those of their mayors.

"People are desperately seeking a model that can be duplicated and used in different communities," said Jim Ardis, the mayor of Peoria, Ill., who is considering such a move. He argues that a Peoria model—yet to be developed—is more likely to fit smaller cities across the Midwest than existing systems in larger urban areas.

The school district of Boston, where mayoral control was first pioneered back in '92 has been joined by New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Cleveland, New Haven, Conn., and Providence, Rhode Island which are now all under mayoral control.

Of course, giving the mayor more autonomy at the expense of school boards is not going unchallenged by the school boards themselves and their allies, lawmakers at the state and municipal levels and, of course, the teachers' unions (it has been declared unconstitutional by the courts here in California, natch).

Unions say mayoral control often ushers in policies counter to teachers' interests. Cities with mayoral control often seek to award pay or decide layoffs based on performance rather than seniority. Mayors have also pushed for the opening of charter schools, which are more difficult for unions to organize than public schools.

Once again, no where do we ever see the union concede that they may not have all the answers and how they might possibly be open to trying something different that just might be in the better interests of the children. Somehow the battle cry of "it's for the children!" is strangely absent in matters that actually effect the children.

Please read the article where they go to extents to explain that there is no cut and dry nor any black and white plan to reforming the district hierarchy but only a willingness to mix it up and try something different apart a culture and mindset that is failing the children of lower and working-class families.

Side note: We have taken the Republican Party to task at every opportunity for not doing enough to get out in front of education reform, particularly in way of vouchers, school choice and charter schools. Here is a situation, though, not of their making whereby the Democrats have a simple structural advantage in that the most significant education reform battles are being waged within the ranks of the Democratic Party itself and thus, the biggest proponents of education reform will be Democrats.

No matter... all the more reason for the Republicans to get off their sorry asses and engage the opposition in the education reform debate. It's doing right by the children, it's electorally-favorable with minorities and it cheezes-off the unions. Tell us again what we're missing here?

San Diego Tax and Spend Alert Update

I posted earlier about San Diego's Mayor Sanders eyeballing a half cent sales tax increase. Now the school board (President Shelia Jackson at right) is getting into the act of energizing us Tea Party types. From the Union-Tribune:

The San Diego Unified School District has proposed a parcel tax for the November ballot to help pay for teachers, protect class sizes and maintain education programs. It would generate $58 million annually over five years.

If the measure is placed on the ballot and approved by voters, single-family homeowners would be charged $98 annually while condominium and apartment owners would be taxed $60 per unit. Low-income seniors would be exempt.

I am now hoping that both the half cent sales tax and the parcel tax increase make it on the ballot. Given the falling property values, high unemployment, and generally difficult economic times, this is a great opportunity to let the politicians know that more taxes are unacceptable. The city is contemplating building a new city hall with your hard earned scratch. The district wants to keep the teacher's unions happy with this tax rather than deal with needed structural reforms. Fortunately the parcel tax requires a two-thirds majority to pass. I guarantee, right here and now, that the San Diego Tea Party won't let this happen.

So what could be done to plug the hole in the school district budget? If you look at the ratio of teachers to non-teacher employee counts in the district, compared to say the ratios in the private school systems, you will find a huge disparity. Time to cut administrative positions. This would expose the hypocrisy of the teacher's unions, because they would decry such cuts, as they have in the past. But such cuts protect class size and teacher salaries. Some cool facts:
Number of teachers: about 8100.
Number of staff members: about 14500.
Ratio of teachers to non-teachers: about 1.25 to 1
Ration of teachers to non-teachers, Chicago Catholic schools: about 7 to 1
(data derived from multiple sources)

Just something to think about.