School board jobs can be tough, but are critical
NIGHTS away from your family. Angry phone calls from constituents. A paycheck of, at most, $100 a month. Who wouldn’t want to serve on a school board? We’ve said this before. In fact, we say it on an almost annual basis as the filing period for school board seats approaches: Serving on a school board is a mostly thankless job, but it’s also critically important.
Filing for open school board seats is Dec. 2-4 at county election boards. Elections are Feb. 12.
The job of a school board member has always been tough. Much learning is required of concerned constituents who seek a board seat. Education has its own language that can be a challenge to interpret. Add this to the fast and furious pace of education reform in Oklahoma the past few years, and the job of school board members has become undeniably tougher.
Board members have no greater responsibility than employing a superintendent and approving a budget, a roadmap of sorts for a school district’s priorities. Too often, board members have delegated their oversight role to the superintendent, with disastrous and sometimes criminal consequences. On the opposite end, school board members also have a tendency to walk too far into the weeds and meddle in personnel decisions beyond their purview.
It’s a tough balance. Members must stay at a high level and focus on policy even when the calls they get from constituents tend to focus on individual situations. That said, they have plenty of room to use their policy-setting duties to ask about everything from student achievement to dropout rates to transportation to food services. No responsibility in a community is more important than ensuring the educational well-being of children.
The possibility of races for Oklahoma City Board of Education seats is of particular importance. Representatives for Districts 5 and 7 are up for election. District 5 includes northeast Oklahoma City and Spencer, including Star Spencer High School, Douglass High School and Northeast Academy of Health Sciences and Engineering. Ruth Veales was a political newcomer when she beat longtime school board member Thelma Parks for the District 5 seat in 2010.
District 7 representative Ron Millican, who graduated from Southeast High School, was also new to the political arena when he defeated two candidates in 2010. His area includes Southeast and Capitol Hill high schools in south Oklahoma City, a fast-growing area of the school district.
The school board could hire a new superintendent as early as next spring. If multiple people file for the District 5 or 7 seats, the potential hiring is likely to be a key issue because it will impact the district and city for years to come.
Elections provide significant opportunities for discussion. They’re an opportunity for voters to have their voices heard and fulfill their responsibility in holding elected officials accountable.
We urge all those with a passion and a serious interest in public education to consider running for a school board seat. And to those who’ve already made that decision, thank you! Few jobs are more difficult, but few have greater consequence.