P ublic schools educate nine out of ten chil- dren in this country. The quality of that educa-tion has an impact on the commu- nity where the students graduate and on our country as a whole. But whether you’re a parent of a child in public school or other types of schools, school boards affect you. School board members determine the cost of education and how much they’ll ask of taxpayers. Beyond money, school boards determine what kind of Superintendent to hire, whether or not to permit parents a choice between public schools, whether to grant a charter school application if permitted by the state, or whether home school children can participate in a class or two. They even control what text- books to buy and organize commit- tees who advise them, which unfortunately are often composed of more administrators and teachers than parents. Many education observers have noted that school boards are often more sympathetic to the demands of school officials than parents. In San Diego, California, parents frus- trated over the school board contin- ually rubber stamping the Superintendent’s textbook picks organized to help influence the outcome of the elections, so that the curriculum that had been held up as the main reason for inadequate instruction could be changed. If your children are no longer or not of school age, or you’re in schools other than public ones, you might want to think about the effects of bad education decisions on future graduates. Poorly educated graduates affect the community when business owners have diffi- culty finding qualified help or need to provide additional training. The biggest cost to society, however, comes from students who, lacking the proper education, become disillusioned, angry, violent — and resort to crime. The term “at-risk”signifies the potential of a child who is more likely to do poorly, drop out and be a problem to others later on. Without a better education system, those children hurt everyone, not least of all themselves. School boards don’t have all the power, of course. The power for education is splintered across local, state and federal levels and across schools, districts and other bureaucra- cies. But the local arena offers an opportunity for concentrated influence. The challenge to all parents, then, is being engaged in school board politics when there are so many other important things tugging at you. The key is to know clearly who is running for school board, what the important issues are and how to distinguish what simply sounds good from what works. There’s nothing better for a community than to have a reform-minded school board that takes nothing for granted, asks questions of the school leaders and demands accountability from the system. Here are some things to look for:Make sure you know when school board elections are. Many assume they take place at the same time as the general elec- tions, but many times that’s not the case. In New York, for example, elections for school board are usually held in June,when public attention is diverted from the idea of an election. As a result, fewer than five percent of voters may vote in a school board election.Does the candidate believe parents should have a larger voice in school decisions and that your decisions about how your children best learn should get first priority? Ask them what they would do if a parent wanted to send their child to another school in the system or perhaps at an independent, public charter school. Does the candidate support the concept of parents having greater choices in education?What are the important issues facing your community right now? What should they be? If your reading program hasn’t been reviewed in years, is this something the candidate will pursue? Make sure he/she is not overly focused on bricks and mortar. There’s much more to being a good, responsive school board member than whether the football field needs better grass. There are lots of other questions to ask and many more ideas that will relate only to your community. There may even be groups in your community already focused on a parent-friendly agenda that you can seek out. The bottom line is that parents need to take that extra time to understand what’ s happening at the schools and how to effect change through school board elections. The age-old institution of local school boards have often shown themselves to be defenders of the status quo in local communities, and parents need to stake a claim on the policies that emanate from school boards – not only to help their own child, but to help all children.Why School Board races are importantSchool boards are often more sympathetic to the demands ofschool officialsthan parents.
