October 24, 2007

Return to an appointed school board?

Fifteen years ago, residents angry about the possibly skewed outcome of a football game pushed successfully to require the election of Board of Education members.
No longer would politicians pick the people who should serve on the school board, supporters of the change said at the time.
But it hasn’t quite worked out the way they imagined.
Instead of the City Council selecting school board members, what’s happened is the Democratic Town Committee’s six choices for seats on the 9-member panel have easily won every election.
The only sign of a choice for voters has been which three of the Republican Town Committee’s six selections make the cut at the polls.
There is so little campaigning by prospective school board members that voters “have no idea” who the candidates for the volunteer seats are or what they stand for, said GOP mayoral hopeful Ken Johnson.
Johnson said the switch to an elected school panel is an experiment that “clearly, utterly failed.”
Democratic mayoral candidate Art Ward said he has “mixed feelings” about returning to an appointed school board.
He said he can “see the rationale” for dumping the elected board, “but I have a hard time telling the populace that we’re taking away their right to decide who represents them.”
The city’s Charter Revision Commission is eyeing the proposal to return to an appointed school board, a change that would also require the blessing of city councilors and a citywide vote to reverse the decision of the early 1990s.
Both Ward and Johnson said the nearly invisible school board campaign this year is providing impetus for a return to an appointed panel.
“They’re not getting up and answering the people,” Ward said.
Johnson said residents are clamoring for a discussion of the issues surrounding the plan to build two new 900-student schools for kindergarten through eighth grade, but they’re not hearing from the candidates.
Ward said the 13 school board contenders – six Democrats, six Republicans and Mary Rydingsward of the Working Families Party – are generally showing a “reluctance as far as stepping forward” to address pressing questions that residents want to know.
There isn’t much point in having an elected school board if the candidates running for seats on it don’t make any attempt to let voters know who they are and what they stand for, said supporters of returning to the appointed board.
Johnson said that he suspects almost nobody who enters a voting booth on November 6 will know any of the school board candidates.
He said that the people who want to serve on school board do it because they have an interest in education and children.
“They have no interest in politics,” Johnson said, so it doesn’t make sense to subject them to political campaigns.
Ward asked if appointing school board members at City Council meetings would be less political than having the town committees select the candidates.
“No, but it’s on TV,” responded Tim Furey, chairman of the charter panel. He said that the GOP and Democratic committee members aren’t shown on public access television, as regular council sessions are.
Furey said one suggestion he’s heard is to have the school elections at a different time of year so they would receive more attention.
Ward said that perhaps the city should hold all of its elections in the spring so the polls would be more accessible in warmer weather when the days are longer.
The charter panel will be weighing a wide range of potential issues before deciding on recommended changes to the city government’s blueprint in a report due in April.


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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

ITS MY RIGHT TO VOTE FOR WHO I WANT ON THE BOE. ITS MY JOB TO BE SURE TO KNOW WHO IS RUNNING. DO NOT TAKE AWAY THAT RIGHT FROM ME JOHNSON! APPOINTING MEMBERS IS ALL TO OFTEN POLITICAL.

YOUR KIDS ARE IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL AND THAT IS YOUR CHOICE JOHNSON - MY KIDS ARE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND MY RIGHT IS TO VOTE FOR WHO SERVES THEM!! YOUR ARE NOT RIGHT FOR BRISTOL, YOU ARE WRONG.

SAME WITH THE EMINENT DOMAIN ISSUE - I WORK HARD ALL MY LIFE FOR A HOUSE AND YOU SEE NO PROBLEM WITH TAKING IT? WELL I DO AND SO DO A NUMBER OF HARD WORKING CITIZENS.

CONCERNED FOR MY KIDS FUTURE!
Betsy Wells

Anonymous said...

Ms Wells,
Ken Johnsons kids attended Hubbell and Central!
You are mis informed!

Anonymous said...

I attended last nights' meeting and thought the BEST idea was having the BOE election on a different date than the general election.That would "force" the incumbents/candidates to come "out of the shadows" like they are this time around.Given the extreme importance of this issue, I find it to be an insult to every voter/parent in Bristol the way these individuals won't/can't step up and tell the voters where they stand!

Steve Collins said...

Personally, I'm struck by the contrast between the West Hartford Board of Education election and the school board race in Bristol. In West Hartford, there are signs, fliers, forums and more. Here, for example, is the Democratic school board candidates' website: http://ed-dems.com.
In Bristol, there are no signs, no fliers, no forums, nothing. It's a trick just to find out who's running.

Anonymous said...

personally, I don't believe that any of the present members deserve reelection. get some people who show that they care.

Anonymous said...

Steve that was a great web-site. Imagine, candidates running for elected office actually outlining their positions. You have to give those WH folks credit. This BOE election in Bristol is nothing less than a travesty. I don’t know if elected vs. appointed is right or wrong but clearly the elected board method has failed. Especially in a year when so much is at stake. Clearly Ms. Wells cares about her children and their future but as you can see she can't make an informed decision because she has nothing to go on but rumor and innuendo and hence makes a statement about a candidate that is just wrong. Now she either presumed that Ken Johnson's children were in private schools based on stereotypical Republican = Wealthy = Private School. Or, someone purposely feed her this information knowing full well it was wrong. Now I recognize that this sort of thing happens even when there is a bevy of information about a candidate. But when you factor in the deafening silence that we have endured from the BOE candidates this (both parties) year then these kinds’ rumors and wrong impressions get exacerbated.

To send a message, maybe we should just encourage everyone who votes this year to leave the BOE choice blank. I'd be the first to say that in doing we fail in our duties as voters but I'm perplexed as to what else we can do in the short run.

Anonymous said...

West Hartford also has a top-notch fundraising group for education called The Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools. Check out their website at www.fwhps.org.
I attended their fundraiser at the new Crate & Barrel and at $25 a head the people were packed in like sardines. They must have made a huge profit on that one event alone. They've given over $730,000 to the West Hartford public schools since its inception in 1997. Sounds like a good initiative for Bristol to adopt.

Anonymous said...

Education spending counts for about 40% of Bristol's FY 2008 operating budget. That is more than General Government, Public Safety, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation combined. The Bristol Board of Education supervises over one thousand employees and sets the policies for everything our children learn and do during their hours at school. Why would we want to put so much power back into the hands of a board that is not directly accountable to the citizens?

Anonymous said...

WH also has a string program for young musicians (Bristol has no orchestra program), foreign language classes that start in kindergarten (nope, not in Bristol) and a lot more, including full day kindergarten. Oh, it also has educated, involved parents, many (but not all) of whom are missing in Bristol.

Anonymous said...

Councilman Minor, if you truly believe that the current elected BOE has been accountable to the voters and taxpayers you are either asleep at the wheel or simply not paying attention.

They have all but ignored the absolute outcry against the proposed K8/large school plan. On top of which they have gone silent as candidates. Their behavior has been abhorrent and their attitude toward anyone who speaks out in public against the plan condescending and demeaning. I have attended public meetings and forums and have seen their dismissive looks and heard their comments. Appointing the BOE may not be Nirvana but what we have now is a travesty. I would expect you at minimum to acknowledge that and encourage them to be more transparent and honest. Instead your comments do nothing more than protect the status quo.

Anonymous said...

Minor is asleep, has been for 2 years. Johnson wants an appointed board of ed. This is same board who puts public participation at the end of their meetings, why? To keep the public from speaking. Well if Johnson thinks an appointed board is the way to go, he is 100% wrong! I the voter, taxpayer, and whose kids attend public schools has the right to vote in WHO I WANT, not a person the council feels I should have!!
Johnson you are wrong for Bristol at this time! Sit on a few boards for a few years (if you can make them) before running for Mayor and giving the people what you think they want to hear! We are not as stupid as you make us out to be.

Anonymous said...

Ever heard the saying, "people get the government they deserve"? Democracy is a participatory sport, not spectator. Quit whining and take some responsibility. If you don't like what they did, vote them out in November.

Anonymous said...

But gee Johnson is stating we people in Bristol don't know who is running for the BOE becasue they don't have lawn signs. We do read in Bristol Ken.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this BOE does not have posters, etc. because of a total lack of money. Perhaps this BOE is silent because of all the political attacks for the K-8 schools. I was raised in Bristol and I attended a k-8 with approx. 1000 students.Perhaps this BOE is frustrated with the lack of parents attending BOE meetings where they are desperately needed to advocate for our children. Perhaps there are even more important issues such as getting our kids books(which they lacked until the last four years), more teachers and improved curriculum. Perhaps this board's focus has been on desperately wanting to decrease class sizes but hand s are tied due to lack of space in the schools we have now.This BOE is on the TV and holds regular monthly meetings. When is the last time you critics have attended?Perhaps this board is caring and qualified and is focused on the real issues. If this city does not want new schools, so be it!!! But this issue of needing new schools has been a BOE issue for at least 10 years.This is nothing new.But the hate and vilification of decent citizens who care about our kids and who volunteer their free time is what is really appalling!