School-of-Thought

This is the best damn description of a board member’s job I’ve ever read!  If you want to know what a school board member does, check out Jim Woods’ blog.  

A School Board positon will vary somewhat from district to district and from state to state – for example, unlike Oregon that doesn’t pay a plug nickel for serving, in our school district we receive stipend of $60/month (wow!).  There are a few other small differences, but the essence of school boarding is pretty well laid out in Dr. Wood’s blog.  Serving on a school board takes time, takes work, and takes commitment – but it’s richly rewarding, far beyond anything money can buy.  Check out what he has to say.

Every school board faces the challenge of dealing with special interest groups.  Rapid City recently settled a federal lawsuit after denying access for a pro-life organization to use its middle school gym.  In Watertown, our special interest challenges have come mostly from sports boosters.  I’ve previously written about the proposal to incorporate our community’s soccer program into the school’s official sports program, and more recently we’ve been presented with a request by the local tennis association to upgrade the tennis courts to the tune of some $300,000.  It will be interesting to see how that one turns out.

As school boards respond to different requests, what’s important is that it ensures its response is consistent with its policy, and ensures its policy is consistently applied.  It’s when a school board deviates from this path – when it applies policy differently for different groups – that’s when it runs into hot water. 

In the world of education,  just like in life, it’s not possible to make everyone happy.   That being said, I believe a wise board recognizes that good ideas often grow out of differences – and that many good ideas have their beginnings in conversations centered on disagreements and controversies.

Special interest groups are part of the mosaic of who we are as a community.  The pressures they bring to the table may not always be comfortable, but anything that makes us think and dialog and consider things outside our comfort zone, makes us a better and stronger school district.

What do you think?

Pat, over at Successful Teaching, read my recent post about Education Week taking a slap at school board members, and came up with a list of suggestions about how teachers can develop relationships with their school board members.  Pat’s ideas are right-on in my opinion, and I re-print them for you to consider:

1. Teachers should know the person who represents the district they live in. Share this information with your students so they see you as a role model. Help them see who their school board member is.

2. Teachers should know the names of all of the school board members and have their contact information.

3. Teachers should attend a school board meeting as much as possible. They might be making decisions that impact your classroom and you should know what is going on.

4. Teachers should know and understand the issues that are coming before the school board.

5. Teachers should invite school board members to their classrooms, especially if you have a special lesson going on. They might not be able to attend but I’m sure they would appreciate the invitation.

6. If there is a special issue that you feel strongly about, call or email your school board member and tell them about it. They may not have any one who is giving them input from your point of view.

7. Contact your school board member and give them your contact information in case they have a question or if they want to know how you feel about a specific issue.

Below is the feedback I left for Pat’s Blog:

Pat, I understand your idea of “us versus them.”  When I first ran for school board, I invited leaders of our local teacher union out to lunch to discuss educational issues. In addition to speaking about the issues, they said a few things that surprised me.  First, they said no school board member (or school board candidate) had ever sought their opinion before; and second, they described their concept of a school board member as someone “sitting in an ivory castle,” removed from the realities of the classroom.  

I invited them to lunch because I genuinely wanted their opinions.  To my way of thinking, who else knows the nitty-gritty of front-lines down-in-the-ditch education better than teachers?  If I’m going to assume a leadership role to develop policy and participate in establishing a vision for the future of the school district, it seems to me that it’s prudent to solicit input from local teachers. 

The “ivory tower” concept annoyed me as much back then as it does now.  I don’t think that’s a beneficial concept for education, and I’ve worked hard to dispel that notion by just being a normal guy as a school board member —  welcoming, honest and transparent.  No one is education should occupy an ivory tower, in my opinion. School board members, administrators, and teachers all play different but vital roles.  It seems to me the more teachers can be empowered, the more they can be encouraged to take leadership roles, the better it is for the entire system – which to me means the better it is for all our children.    

Concerning your suggestion about inviting board members into your classroom, I’ve never received an invitation, but I would love to receive one!  I have to tell you, I periodically visit classrooms, and one of my personal goals is to visit every classroom in the school district sometime during my three year elected term.  I believe it’s important for me to simply observe what’s going on.  I look at interactions between teacher and student, and between students.  I look at the classroom – is it warm and inviting, conducive to learning?  I walk the hallways.  Is the school safe and clean?  I always let the teacher know ahead of time that I’ll be coming, and I always let them know that my visit has nothing to do with evaluating – it’s not my role to do that.  The entire purpose is to get a sense of how things are going – are children learning?  The visit also sends a message to the teacher, I hope, that the school board cares. 

An invitation to visit a classroom, perhaps to observe something special, would be like icing on the cake.

What do you think?  Do you have other suggestions?  What other ways can teachers reach out to school board members?  What other ways can we get to know each other?