What School Board Qualifications Should Be

Guess what qualification the State of South Carolina requires to be a school board candidate?

You must be a registered voter in the district you wish to represent.

That's it.

You can be a criminal with a long list of encounters with police, as long as you have no felony conviction that takes away the right to vote.

You could have dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and have never held a steady job since.

Of course, you could be an 18-year-old high school senior.

Some may argue that the election process weeds out the undesirables, but how much do we really know about people whom we've never met. How many stories have you heard about those who've puffed up their credentials, be it in education or military service?

Since here in Charleston County members of the school board run on a non-partisan basis, even the cursory vetting available from a political party doesn't exist.

What causes a person to desire the slings and arrows that arrive with school board membership? Who recruits these people? It turns out that most, not all, have an ax to grind--whether it be shilling for the Chamber of Commerce, palling around with the superintendent and her friends, or promoting mere self-interest, such as a stepping stone to higher office.

The sooner we realize that the Charleston County School District is one of the largest employers in the county and has one of the largest operating budgets, not to mention its capital projects, it becomes obvious that merely having gone to school at some time in your life or even having a child in the school system is not a qualification for this responsible position!

Believe it or not, this school board is supposed to supervise the superintendent and not vice versa. It is required to oversee both operating and capital budgets. Too many boards in the last decade have been at the mercy of fancy financial charts foreign to their backgrounds. CCSD administration is more than happy to enjoy an ignorant board; basically, oversight becomes nonexistent.

What if we created a list of qualifications for the members that actually meant they would understand what the district does? The National School Boards Association has published the following:

What makes a school board effective?
                                  Effective School Boards:
Commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement.
Have strong shared beliefs and values about students’ ability to learn and of the system and its ability to teach all children at high levels.
Are accountability driven.
Have a collaborative relationship with staff and the community.
Are data-savvy.
Align and sustain resources to meet district goals.
Lead as a united team with the superintendent.
Take part in team development and training.

Sounds good, right? "Data-savvy" should be changed to "Financially-savvy."

"Align and sustain resources to meet district goals" means that members must critique all those charts from administration. 

See what I mean? Maybe Todd Garrett figures out most of what goes on, but I'd wager than the majority of the present board must take administration's word for it. That's adequate for a small business.

CCSD is not a small business.