LOUISIANA: Voters in the Bayou State overwhelmingly agreed that the state should take over failing public schools. Probably the first system to feel the effects is New Orleans. Some 60 percent of Louisiana voters approved the amendment that gives the state board the authority to take over public schools that have failed to meet the state's student performance minimum on state tests and indicate little or no improvement in three years. A vote of confidence in parents came from opponents such as the New Orleans school board president Ellenese Brooks-Simms, who argued that it passed only because voters are not very smart. She said: "It won in New Orleans because our people aren't educated. The people in general did not know what this really means." It is estimated that 16 New Orleans schools could qualify already for state takeover this year if there is no improvement, and 34 more schools in the next several years if improvements are not made and academic goals not met. The election shows that community support, a component found necessary for such takeovers to succeed, is there as a clear majority of New Orleans residents supported the amendment." (emphasis added.)
At last check, the role of the school board was to educate the citizenry, apparently not only does this school board member and president not trust the population to make a rational and informed decision because they are "not very smart" she fails to see the irony in the statement. Evidently she has failed to do her job.
I can't say for certain, but there seems to be a trend toward parents exhibiting a lack of faith in their local school boards. I am not sure if the parents don't trust the school board or don't like the manner in which the school board is handling their tax money.
I for one would like to see a different approach for school boards to be compensated (which most are well-compensated). Like most poeple, school boards want to keep their jobs. Fine, an understandable motivation, but unlike most private workers, there is no incentive for them to be good at their jobs, even if they are elected. If a person at a private sector job fails to meet performance standards,they are fired or at the very least they get no extra pay. Unfortuneately, that is not an option for public officials--firing them that is. But it is possible to tie the performance of the school board and the performance of the performance of the kids they are responsible for educating.
Starting at a specific point in time, the school board loses one dollar of their annual salary for every child who fails to meet minimum standards of performance. Such a direct impact on their pocket book will help school board members realize that their petty little turf wars cost the kids of the community a quality education. School boards will also be more willing to try different tactics to educate kids--because if they don't, no paycheck.
Of course, for this to happen, County Council's and state legislators have to have the backbone to put such a compensation system into place--but it certainly would turn the politics of school boards on its head.
Center for Education Reform
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