I have to admit that Norfolk’s appointed school boards is one of my pet peeves. And Sunday’s op-ed by Margaret Edds points out why (emphasis mine):
At a time when 96 percent of school boards nationwide are popularly elected, as are 109 of 134 boards in Virginia, the solution in Richmond is to move back to more centralized, less democratic control.
I hope not.
Maybe none of these fine folk were living in Richmond back in the 1980s and early ’90s – or maybe none of their children were attending Richmond public schools, as were mine – but I can tell them that concentrating power in the hands of a few does not solve anything.
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Today, you can mount a School Board campaign centered around your ideas. Back then, you could show up at a School Board meeting to complain, but your real power, as a citizen and parent, was zilch.
For Norfolk citizens, the power remains zilch. Three times in the mid-1990s, petition drives were mounted to allow Norfolk to elect their school board. All three times, the petitions failed. Virginia has allowed elected school boards since 1992. I don’t know why the drives failed, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that no one on Council voiced support for it.
I understand the argument about the lack of taxing authority, making the School Board reliant upon council for funding. But anything that increases the power of the citizenry just makes sense to me. As Thomas Jefferson said:
I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.
Is it time for another petition drive to be mounted? Is it time to return some power to the people?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Right on, Vivian. Even though school boards don’t have taxing power, it’s amazing how much more responsive they are to citizens when they are elected versus appointed.
Someone could win a City Council seat pretty easily pledging this issue alone.
Petition drives are tough and take alot of coordination and time. I think you need something like 10 percent of the total number of registered voters to sign the petitions; so in Norfolk that would be something like 15K signatures. No easy task…I know the best method for accomplishing this task is on election day, having a person(s) at each polling place with a petition…people who vote, generally are favorable towards signing petitions to allow them to vote for something…and once it is on the ballot, it will be approved…
Returning to an appointed method is silly, and no one can make a good argument why taking something out of the hands of voters is a good thing…regardless of how influential or powerful you (or you friends) are…do you hear me Mr. Wilder and Mr. Ukrop?
I haven’t looked at the statute but 10% sounds right. There are about 105K registered voters. And if you take a look at the linked story, the organizers did exactly as you said: worked the polls. Unfortunately, it rained, which depressed turnout.
Perhaps this should be an issue in next year’s council elections.
They only need to get 125 signatures 24.2-506(5).
I don’t have a real problem with elected school boards, but they are way over-sold. First, there is no reason to think that elected school boards have any better performance than appointed school boards (student performance). Second, the kinds of people who apply for appointed school boards sometimes include a mix of abilities that are different and arguably better at some tasks than the kinds of people who seek to run for it as an elected office.
Public involvement and “democracy” is a virtue in itself, but sometimes it is not the only virtue at stake.
If those folks who apply for the school board are so diverse and skilled, then why not run for elected office?
Sure, simply electing SB members doesn’t gurantee much, expect, well, that the at least 51 percent to the public supports the elected SB member…still, as a voter I’d prefer to vote for my SB members…
I agree with Will et. all who think want to vote for their SB members. It seems the parents would have more power to effect change when the SB members are held accountable. I, for one, am very interested in how sex education is approached in this state – specifically abstinence-based sex education. I know it is only one issue amongst many, but I want to be able to hold the SB accountable for decisions like forcing a failing policy like AB sex ed. courses on our kids for some misplaced sense of morality.
Are you sure? That section deals with candidate petitions.
This article says 10% of the registered voters. If only 125 signatures were required, we’d have an elected school board in Norfolk by now 😦
I agree that you get a different type of person with elected vs. appointed boards. But both types seem to be qualified individuals. The main difference is that appointed boards in Virginia Beach seemed to be a tool of Council to try to keep the schools from asking for more resources. At least with elected Boards, the schools have an advocate, and not just a yes-man for a particular Council member. The Virginian-Pilot for years made it sound as if the School Board was being a naughty little child in asking for money at budget time. That tension, and that argument, was just elected school officials living up to their promise to make the schools a priority, and standing up to the good old boys on council. As a result, many of our leaky, dangerous, asbestos-filled school buildings have finally been replaced. If Virginia Beach had not gone to elected school boards, that would never have happened.
For far too long, Norfolk’s appointed boards have not necessarily reflected the breath of experience and knowledge found in the populace as a whole. That is not to say that some of the folks who have been appointed have not been well-qualified, because they have been. The problem is that they tend to come from the same circle of folks over and over again. I often joke that there is an “acceptable appointee” list that exists; unfortunately, my time in Norfolk (almost 30 years) has taught me that it really isn’t a joke. Combine that with the fact that until last year, each appointed board and commission in Norfolk intentionally had the same racial makeup as council and it makes me feel as if the voters have little voice.
Yes, I know the answer: elect different people on council.
#9. I have to agree with you, Vivian. Norfolk is run by a small group of people who seem to have known each other all their lives. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
#7. It’s 10% of the registered voters:
§ 22.1-57.2. Referendum on direct election of school board members by the voters. — The registered voters of any such county, city, or town may, by petition filed with the circuit court thereof, ask that a referendum be held on the question of whether the members of the school board of the county, city, or town shall be elected directly by the voters. The petition shall be signed by registered voters equal in number to at least ten percent of the number registered in such locality on the January 1 preceding its filing.
The way I read it, you have a year to get the signatures, and they all have to be turned in together.
so Norfolk is run by a small group of people who have known each other all their lives? Sounds like 90 percent of all the other places in the Commonwealth!
do not be shocked when someone other than winn is running next year on a education reform program for norfolk public schools, a new generation of ideas people 1st for a change.
Sorry — I misunderstood the question. 10% to get the question on the ballot; the 125 signatures is for candidates once the decision is made to do it by election.