Below are recently published OP Ed and Editorials on the Lake County (FL) voter's ballot issue of changing the Lake County School District regulations so that the School District Superintendant is "Hired" or "Appointed by the Board" instead of the current method of being an elected position:
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OPINION MY WORD - Op Ed Column
Appointed superintendent makes sense
Pam Burtnett
October 29, 2006
The purpose of the educational system outside the classroom is to support what happens inside the classroom. Public schools that excel have a shared vision and smooth operation. Everyone involved -- teachers, principals, School Board members, superintendents, support staff, parents and community members -- focuses on positive results.
This shared understanding and common focus is difficult to achieve under a system that divides loyalties between elected policymakers such as the School Board and an elected administrator, the superintendent. Disagreements on issues of authority distract the educational community and consume the time needed for focused decision-making. Division and distraction are not good for students.
Blaming the elected individuals perpetuates the problem. They unfortunately are caught in a political process. Imagine trying to fight a war with an elected general or trying to run a multimillion-dollar corporation with an elected chief executive officer. Trying to run a school system with an elected superintendent is no different.
I have been an educator for more than three decades. Today, as president of the Lake County Education Association, the organization that represents teachers, I appeal to voters to think of the youngsters when they cast a ballot on the issue of whether to elect or hire the superintendent.
On the surface, it seems the elected option gives voters choice, but this choice is limited to a few candidates who have the political connections to win but not necessarily any expertise in education. If the School Board hired its superintendent, the choices would expand nationwide to include applicants with genuine administrative skill and knowledge of school operations.
By electing School Board members, voters participate fully in the democratic process. Of 15,000 U.S. school districts, all but 156 have appointed superintendents. That's how it should work in Lake County, too.
Regardless of where voters stand in the political spectrum, as human beings and community members, everyone shares common values about education. Everyone understands that the country needs educated young people to survive, and that its economic future depends on education to support its creative force and energy. Communities need excellent education systems to sustain common decency, civility and faith in a positive future.
Putting daily operations into the hands of a skilled professional will foster a strong, focused school system. I urge voters to say "yes" to an appointed superintendent.
Pam Burtnett is president of the Lake County Education Association.
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
from:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-lmyword29a06oct29,0,3215948.story?coll=orl-news-utility-lake
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Columnist Loren Ritchie has also written in support of an appointed Supervisor.
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Here is a Recommendation from the Orlando Sentinel
ELECTION 2006
Voter support seems to grow for appointed schools chief
Vicki Mcclure
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 5, 2006
TAVARES -- Supporters of a ballot measure asking residents Tuesday to change the way the school system is run say victory seems possible after years of defeat.
Voters have faced more or less the same question seven times over the past four decades: Should the School Board be allowed to appoint the superintendent rather than allowing residents to elect one? In 1966, they said yes. But in every subsequent election in which the question has been posed -- most recently in November 2004 -- they rejected the notion.
Much has happened in the past two years to convince voters to switch their positions, said Shannon Elswick, senior vice president of Orlando Regional Healthcare System and an organizer of the grass-roots effort pushing for a switch. Most important is the sense residents have that the current system is broken, Elswick said.
Since Superintendent Anna Cowin was elected two years ago, she has battled with the School Board over matters large and small, from meeting agendas to whether the district should build K-8 campuses. Cowin has hired her own attorneys at times, at taxpayer expense, to argue her positions. She also has made politically controversial moves, such as transferring more than a dozen assistant principals at once, that board members opposed but could do nothing to stop.
After speaking to dozens of civic groups across the county over the past few months, Elswick has heard residents voice a host of other reasons for why they now say they prefer to have a hired professional overseeing the county's largest employer:
The school district's annual budget tops $700 million.
More than 5,000 people work for the system.
Student enrollment continues to grow, now reaching close to 40,000.
Some view the vote as a referendum on Cowin, whose term ends in 2008, Elswick said. He said he hopes, though, that most see it as an opportunity to clarify the roles of the superintendent and the School Board.
"If she were an employee, she would have to do what the School Board tells her to do," Elswick said. "How could it ever be more obvious that we need a change?"
A number of groups have endorsed voting yes on the referendum, such as the League of Women Voters of Lake County and the South Lake Chamber of Commerce
Pam Burtnett, head of the Lake County Education Association, a teachers union, also has argued passionately in favor of an appointed superintendent, saying disagreements on issues of authority distract attention from improving student learning. She prefers to see a schools chief selected from a national pool of candidates with "genuine" administrative skill and knowledge. To be elected superintendent, a candidate must be only 18 or older and a county resident.
Gail Burry, a charter member of the local League of Women Voters, said she detected a change in voter attitudes as well. The League has long supported switching to an appointed superintendent, but this year, as Burry spoke at other civic groups and gatherings, she said the reception had been "really positive."
"I think this time in Lake County is a little different. We have grown tremendously. The School Board is big business now," Burry said. "We seem to have had a number of controversies the last couple of years. It is an issue that has reached its time."
Vicki McClure can be reached at [email protected] or 352-742-5928.
Source:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/elections/orl-lsuperintendent06nov05,0,6564429.story
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Comment:
This blog was created partly because of the bickering and lack of fiscal management perspective I have seen at School District Board meetings and read in the papers. Although this blog can provide some ideas for improvement that, if implemented, could repair the District's reputation regarding management, I can't do anything about what transpires at public meetings!. Thus, I believe one voice (the Board) should direct the hiring of management competency of the District (through responsibility for hiring the Superintendant), and not leave two separate elected entities to disrupt progress in District matters because they disagree.
vj
