League News and Publicity
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of our School Board and Supt.
Blocker:
My name is Deirdre Macnab, I am president of the League of Women
Voters of Orange County. I am here this evening to bring a message
from my board of directors which was unanimously approved.
Let me start by saying the League does not have a position pro
or con regarding the proposal on the Elected School Board Chair.
We take positions only after careful and rigorous study.
I am however here to urge caution.
As an 85 year old grassroots organization composed of individuals
from all parties we are joined by our interest in seeing government
use best practices and practice good governance. In addition we
urge great caution and study prior to changing governance, due
to the difficulty of its later modification.
In this instance, we would observe the following:
- There does not appear to be evidence of this proposal as a
“best practice” in any other school districts. According
to the lead attorney at the NSBA, National School Boards Association
in Washington DC, they are aware only of a handful of school
districts (out of 15,000), and had no information on anyone
else having an equal number of members. A study performed by
UCF in 2004 at the request of Rep. Gardiner examined this type
of board governance. Their recommendation….needs further
discussion and debate.
- This proposal seems in conflict with that made by the Blue
Ribbon Panel. Truly a broad based citizens panel, we applauded
their efforts, as cited numerous times in their Executive Summary,
to identify best practices to ensure recommendations were
those that had succeeded in other school districts.
The Blue Ribbon Panel made as one of its recommendations some
changes regarding school board governance…taking two
of the seven members and making them at large. We are confused
by the clear difference between this proposal and the issue
which is at hand here this evening.
- The Florida Constitution clearly sets forth that school boards
should be composed of an odd number of members. The reason for
having an odd number of members in any government structure
is so that there can be a majority, and that it could then prevail
upon controversial issues. This legislation would create an
even number of board members, which arguably is inconsistent
with the intent of our Constitution. Concerningly, this will
endow the extra member with power over their colleagues on the
school board. This is evidenced most clearly by the way the
law provides that in the event of a tie, the side with the elected
chair, prevails. It diminishes the constitutional authority
of the other board members.
- We believe it is important that any change in governance,
particularly one put before voters, have the full exploration
and consensus by all stakeholders. While we recognize that several
prominent and well regarded individuals in the business and
civic community have recommended this and is being aggressively
promoted, we do not know the origin of this proposed change
in governance.
- On a historical note, there was a lawsuit in the mid
eighties brought by the NAACP that basically said that minorities
were not receiving equal access in elections in Florida. The
remedy in this suit resulted in about 18 counties creating single
member districts for their school boards, giving minorities
greater access to governance structure. Access to our minority
communities should be a concern in this decision.
These issues give us cause for concern.
In summary, The League recommends any change in governance that
is put before voters should be based on solid best practices,
and a clear track record from other school districts, and
-secondly, have the careful scrutiny, analysis and consensus
of a broad range of stakeholders discussing the pros and cons
of such change in the public eye.
We'd ask the board to consider the following:
- Convene a stakeholders committee to research best practices
in school board management…looking around the country
and state for proven methods of board governances, with the
objective of making recommendation to the board.
- Ask this committee to include in their research the experience
and advice of objective outside governance experts such as the
Carver Organization, NSBA, FSBA and others.
On behalf of the board of the League of Women Voters of Orange
County, I thank you for your time and attention this evening,
and your on going service and commitment to the children of our
County.
Deirdre Macnab
President, League of Women Voters of Orange County
8/22/06
back to News and Publicity
|
