NEW: Big School Board Debate: Appointed vs. Elected
Monday, March 21, 2011
The debate over whether local school committees should be appointed or elected is heating up in light of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras’ recommendation that four public schools close in an attempt to save the city roughly $12 million.
In Providence, school closures or the controversial decision to issue termination notices to every teacher ultimately comes down to a vote by a nine-member board appointed by the mayor. But some teachers union officials and education leaders are saying an elected school committee might better protect the interests of students and neighborhoods in the city.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOthers say elected boards would be forced to oppose closing schools or firing teachers if they wanted to remain in office. They say appointed school boards are more likely to think about the long-term financial impact on cities or towns and make better decisions for the district.
The Worst Contracts
Tim Duffy, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees (RIASC), has a different take altogether. While his organization has no formal position on the elected/appointed debate, he said the two Rhode Island cities with appointed school committees (Providence and Central Falls) have historically been the most willing to bend when it comes to teacher contracts. That is, until recently.
The reason, he said, is when a mayor is pressured to hold the line on taxes and can’t afford to pay teachers more, he tends to give more leverage in the contract. If the board is serving at the pleasure of the mayor, they are likely to do the same.
“What happens is you can’t pay more so you sacrifice management language,” Duffy said. “Providence and Central Falls have some of the worst contracts relative to management rights.”
No Pressure From Voters
Teachers union officials are also saying the public should look no further than Providence and Central Falls for the reasons appointed school committees are flawed. One teachers union source said it was no coincidence that both cities have taken “dramatic anti-teacher actions” over the past two years.
The source also noted that Providence and Central Falls have two of the lowest performing school districts in the state.
“Democratic bodies do not, generally, take anti-democratic actions, and the wholesale termination of teachers, in a high school or across a whole district, is clearly an anti-democratic action,” the source said. “Teachers were not afforded due process, and clear and distinct rights enshrined in law were trampled upon. Why? Because the school committees knew they would not feel any pressure from the voters for their actions because the voters didn't put them in their seats.“
More Accountable To Students
But Providence City Councilman Sam Zurier, who previously served on the school committee, says not having to answer to voters is precisely the reason an appointed school board can be more effective.
If an elected board faced school closings, Zurier said the board would function similar to a City Council, where members from affected neighborhoods would be forced to represent the interests of their constituents over what might be best for the city.
Zurier said appointed school committees, “allow you to be better equipped to make district-wide decisions that are good for kids as a whole.”
Neither Makes A Difference
Still, there are others who say the debate over elected and appointed schools boards is overblown because neither have proved to be game-changing when it comes to the performance of students.
Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee (at left), largely viewed as the "education mayor" in Rhode Island, says his charter school initiative (called Mayoral Academies) should be added to the conversation. McKee is slated to speak on a panel titled, “Governance Reform: Who Should Provide School Vision and Oversight?” at next week’s Yale Education Leadership Conference in New Haven.
As the chairman of the board that oversees the state’s only Mayoral Academy, Blackstone Valley Prep, McKee does have a major voice when it comes decision making. But that doesn’t mean he’s totally sold on appointed school boards, he said.
“A lot of people think [appointed boards] will be transformational,” McKee said. “But I don’t see much that it makes a difference. My feeling is there are still the same old broken financial and performance models in so many cities.”
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