Forum Held to Inform of School Board Ethics

By Jessica Ferguson
The Times of SWLA


School boards have been accused of micromanaging and have become the focus for new rules and guidelines. When Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul G. Pastorek was asked to provide BESE with some recommendations on school board reform, the public in general focused on exactly what school board members do and what the problems might be. On April 14th, the League of Women Voters held a forum to educate the public on some of the controversial issues facing the school board; only a handful of people attended. Here are some of the issues discussed
:
• Limiting the ability of school boards and school board members to involve themselves in district hiring and firing decisions
• Requiring the approval of a super-majority of school board members before a superintendent can be fired
• Setting term limits for school board members
• Changing the compensation for school board members to a limited per diem system
• Strengthening state nepotism laws that govern school boards and superintendents
• Prohibiting school board members from taking part in district health insurance plans


Louisiana’s nationally recognized public education accountability program is number two in the nation. The state leads the country in accountability and testing programs, as well as data gathering and initiatives to improve teacher quality. In spite of that, student achievement is ranked one of the lowest in the country at number 47. According to Barry Erwin, President of the Council for Better Louisiana, there is a disconnect “between a decade of state efforts to improve public schools and what has happened at the local level.” CABL presents that education reform has been addressed at the state level and now it’s time to focus on local school boards.

On April 27th, Representative Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, will introduce the following bills to the legislature. These bills could change how local education functions. According to Erwin, they are focusing on things that are already in existing law or for which they have precedent.

• HB371 Ethics/Nepotism: Amends nepotism provisions relative to employees of school board.
• HB664 Schools/Boards: Provides term limits for members of city, parish & other public school boards.
• HB808 Schools/Boards: Provides relative to compensation of & benefits for members of local school boards.
• HB821 Schools/Boards-MFP: Provides relative to the allocation & reporting of certain
education funding.
• HB851 School/Boards: Provides relative to the powers, duties, functions, & city, parish & other local public school boards.

While many parents and educators across the state are vague when it comes to the school board reform battle, or have no opinion, or just don’t care, others have strong opinions. Most favor limiting the number of terms a member can serve.

One local teacher who wishes to remain anonymous said, “Board members often stay too long and want things to stay the same with little or no change.” Others fear that limiting terms will rid many knowledgeable and qualified board members. Some other local teachers, who prefer anonymity, feel the board should set policy and the school’s central office and the principals should see that policy is followed. They believe the principal should be allowed to run his school and hire who he wants, not who board members want and do not agree with the 2/3 majority.

One parent said, “Those who make the rules should know what they’re doing by actually being in the classroom for several days or weeks. That what they’ll know what really needs to be reformed.”

The main fear—the reason for battle between those for school board reform and those opposing it, is the loss of control, the balance of power, a turf war. Who will have the power? The state is responsible for how each school board does its job.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) says that “most reform that can be accomplished at the state level has been enacted, that the issue we face now is implementation which falls directly into the hands of those ultimately responsible for student achievement—the local school boards.”

The reforms are logical, straightforward, and have much Chamber of Commerce support across the State of Louisiana; Now, the decisions are for the future of all Louisiana children.
To learn more about school board reform, go to the following websites:
www.la-par.org
www.cabl.org
www.louisianaschools.net