The Role of a School Board Member
by Gregory Sampson
Stone Eggs: Thoughts about world events, education, and theology
Originally Posted at: http://stoneeggs.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-role-of-school-board-member.html
The Role of a School Board Member
This morning brings news from California that a school board member is surveying students via Google docs to ask them which of their teachers should be fired.
I'm not making this up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuEAArKudshXvC2_OocgWDfj-cVnd0OKr7DtecaJudQzk1IA/viewform?c=0&w=1
Check the survey out for yourself.
School board members are elected officials. As such, there are no requirements, no qualifications, no certifications they have to hold to enter office other than receiving a majority of the vote in the election in which they ran.
Thus, it is not surprising that too many don't understand their role.
School board members are the representatives elected to oversee the public school system that is taxpayer funded. As such, they set policy, hire and supervise a superintendent who leads and manages the schools on a daily basis, and fulfill legal responsibilities to approve contracts that legally bind the institution to debt and payments of tax dollars, that govern the employees of the school system, and that fulfill the laws of their state. They work with the superintendent on strategic plans to increase student achievement, meet the growing need for seats in rapidly developing areas, and funding the capital (building, furniture, and equipment) needs of the system.
They are a strategic and important link for constituents, that is, voters and parents, who voice their praise and concerns about their schools.
They have a responsibility to advocate for and defend the community's schools against the forces that would decimate them, often for private profit.
Lastly, school board members serve as the guiding force for the democratic institution that the public schools of America have been and should always be.
School board members are not elected to micromanage schools. They Badass Teachers Association: The Role of a School Board Member by Gregory Sampson:
I'm not making this up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuEAArKudshXvC2_OocgWDfj-cVnd0OKr7DtecaJudQzk1IA/viewform?c=0&w=1
Check the survey out for yourself.
School board members are elected officials. As such, there are no requirements, no qualifications, no certifications they have to hold to enter office other than receiving a majority of the vote in the election in which they ran.
Thus, it is not surprising that too many don't understand their role.
School board members are the representatives elected to oversee the public school system that is taxpayer funded. As such, they set policy, hire and supervise a superintendent who leads and manages the schools on a daily basis, and fulfill legal responsibilities to approve contracts that legally bind the institution to debt and payments of tax dollars, that govern the employees of the school system, and that fulfill the laws of their state. They work with the superintendent on strategic plans to increase student achievement, meet the growing need for seats in rapidly developing areas, and funding the capital (building, furniture, and equipment) needs of the system.
They are a strategic and important link for constituents, that is, voters and parents, who voice their praise and concerns about their schools.
They have a responsibility to advocate for and defend the community's schools against the forces that would decimate them, often for private profit.
Lastly, school board members serve as the guiding force for the democratic institution that the public schools of America have been and should always be.
School board members are not elected to micromanage schools. They Badass Teachers Association: The Role of a School Board Member by Gregory Sampson: