NEA Director Appointed to Suburban D.C. School Board
The Prince George's County public schools, a 124,000-student district that abuts the District of Columbia, has a new school board chairman familiar to the national education scene: He's Segun Eubanks, the director of teacher quality for the 3 million-member National Education Association.
Mr. Eubanks has two children in the Maryland district. He'll keep his NEA job while chairing the board; the position began June 1.
Prince George's County encompasses urban and suburban areas. It's well known for being among the wealthiest predominately black communities in the United States, despite having pockets of poverty. And this has led to a growing class-based gap: As Ovetta Wiggins of The Washington Post has reported, middle-class families have been enrolling their children in private schools, rather than the district's schools, because of their less-than-stellar reputation.
Dissatisfaction with the county's schools and the school board's squabbles recently led to new state legislation, signed into law in April, that established a brand-new governance structure in the district. The history here is pretty complicated, but traditionally, where schools were concerened, the county executive didn't do much more than sign off on the district's budget.
The new system isn't quite mayoral control, but it does nod in that direction: Now, the county executive gets to appoint the district CEO and three members of the school board. One more is appointed by the county council;
Mr. Eubanks has two children in the Maryland district. He'll keep his NEA job while chairing the board; the position began June 1.
Prince George's County encompasses urban and suburban areas. It's well known for being among the wealthiest predominately black communities in the United States, despite having pockets of poverty. And this has led to a growing class-based gap: As Ovetta Wiggins of The Washington Post has reported, middle-class families have been enrolling their children in private schools, rather than the district's schools, because of their less-than-stellar reputation.
Dissatisfaction with the county's schools and the school board's squabbles recently led to new state legislation, signed into law in April, that established a brand-new governance structure in the district. The history here is pretty complicated, but traditionally, where schools were concerened, the county executive didn't do much more than sign off on the district's budget.
The new system isn't quite mayoral control, but it does nod in that direction: Now, the county executive gets to appoint the district CEO and three members of the school board. One more is appointed by the county council;
