Who holds school systems accountable, if not the board?

Conroe news discusses their situation.

However, board members ultimately are elected by the voters, who are the taxpayers, and those trustees first have a responsibility to them.

Two items in the Rules of Conduct undermine those duties to the taxpayers.

One item states board members shall refer to the superintendent any and all complaints received from residents, including students, parents and employees, where any action by the administration may be required.

Another prevents board members from conducting investigations on their own of complaints by residents, including students, parents and employees. Any decision to conduct an investigation, and the manner in which an investigation is to be conducted, rests with the superintendent or the board.

As an elected official representing the public, board members should be allowed the opportunity to do their due diligence and look into matters entrusted in them by the public, including parents, students and staff members. Potential whistleblowers within the district also must be afforded some protection in coming forward with a complaint. That protection lies with the school board, not the administration, where the complaint may be targeted.

A comment:

In reference to the referral of complaints to the superintendent (assuming the complaint is not about the superintendent) you miss the point entirely. If the Board fails to process complaints in this fashion they WEAKEN their ability to hold the superintendent accountable for results. Hypothetically, if the Board handled all complaints then the superintendent is "off the hook" for ANY outcomes. The Board's duty is to assist their constituents resolve complaints through the proper channels - not handle them.

On the second issue of conducting investigations, ANY Board member actively involved in an investigation must recuse themselves (step out) of any hearing the Board conducts on the matter. In legal terms, they are tainted by "ex parte" information. Since a citizen would naturally complain to a sympathetic Trustee, that Trustee's involvement in an investigation would "knock out" a supporting vote if the issue should come before the Board.

I'd like to hear comments on both sides from Lancaster-ites...

ONE FORTY SIX

http://dallas-area-schools.blogspot.com/2010/05/children-at-risk-2010-high-school.html

The scary thing is, now there's room to go downwards...

Case for Crafts and Trades Education?

Even if you are college-ready, should you go?

Federal statistics show that just 36 percent of full-time students starting college in 2001 earned a four-year degree within that allotted time. Even with an extra two years to finish, that group's graduation rate increased only to 57 percent.

Spending more time in school also means greater overall student debt. The average student debt load in 2008 was $23,200 - a nearly $5,000 increase over five years. Two-thirds of students graduating from four-year schools owe money on student loans.

Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder blames the cultural notion of "credential inflation" for the stream of unqualified students into four-year colleges. His research has found that the number of new jobs requiring college degrees is less than number of college graduates.

Vedder's work also yielded something surprising: The more money states spend on higher education, the less the economy grows - the reverse of long-held assumptions.

"If people want to go out and get a master's degree in history and then cut down trees for a living, that's fine," he said, citing an example from a recent encounter with a worker. "But I don't think the public should be subsidizing it."

Vedder says nothing here about the ratio of economic growth to spending on secondary education...

Seated.

We're off to a good start. A whole school board meeting from start to finish in 32 minutes.

There's $325 wasted:

A candidate who worked as hard at campaigning as at frivolous litigation would, in my opinion, have better success at the polls.