“A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part II
Written by Cindy · Filed Under Local Ink, The School Yard
February 11, 2008 | Print this post
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You have to wonder what Del. Mary-Dulany James and Del. Dan Riley really think about the people they represent. Maybe we could get them on “Moment of Truth”, that new reality show where people are hooked up to a giant lie detector and then asked embarrassing questions such as:
Do you think your constituents are incapable of electing their own board of education?
That would be one way to get at the truth. Or we could just take a look at HB 806, the legislation James and Riley put together to thwart the elected school board bill being sponsored by the rest of the Harford County delegation.
Here’s the link to HB 806 so you can read the entire bill for yourself and here, for comparison, is the elected school board bill HB 779.
The short version is that the bill establishes a nominating commission and names nine special interest groups, each of which will get two votes, regardless size. So a group like the Chamber of Commerce which has over 1200 members, will have the same number of votes as the Harford Business Roundtable, which has about 30. And the most under-represented group, if you don’t consider the public (and this bill certainly does not consider the public) is parents. All together, the parents in Harford County who send nearly 40,000 students to public school, and who have written letters and signed petitions and sent e-mails and made phone calls in support of school board elections get, you guessed it, two votes.
If you happen not to be a member of these nine groups, some of which are quite exclusive, don’t feel left out, even though you are. Being on the commission doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a say in the selection of school board members anyway. The bill requires the commission to send a list of candidates to the governor, who may choose the candidate who got the most votes from the commission, or the least. Or he may reject the entire list. In that case, the commission must come up with another list, until the governor finds a candidate to his liking. All of which sounds like a smoke screen for business as usual; political appointments based on the recommendation of whichever special interest group has the governor’s ear at the moment. So who supports this sham? The only support so far has come mainly from a few of the same special interest groups named in the legislation and the board of education itself. What a surprise.
Mary-Dulany James’ and Dan Riley’s attempt to create the illusion of public involvement in the selection of school board members is not just bad legislation; it’s an insult to the voters. No matter, the plan is to try to kill the elected school board bill in committee and then bamboozle the rest of the Harford County delegation into accepting their charade as a substitute.
Whether or not James and Riley succeed depends on whether anyone in Annapolis reminds them that we still live in a republic, and we aim to keep it.
If you missed it, please check out “A Republic, If You Can Keep It - Part I”
What should we expect from one delegate who voted for the tax increase and the other one missed the vote ( I know Mr. Riley it was your mother’s birthday). How is this really any different than the current system for choosing the BOE members?
The BOE should be made up of parents who hear and see first hand what is going on in the schools of this county. They should be elected and be a similar represention of the council districts.
I am still trying to figure out why they polled the students on the uniform policy and then sent surveys home for the parents to fill out. We still haven’t heard how many found their way back to school.
Maybe we should use that policy for choosing our school board? The kids would probably do a better job.
It’s different from the current system in that it is far worse. This proposal would create an oligarchy to make nominations, further diluting any real voice that the public could have in education. I hope that everyone will join me in writing to Delegate James and Delegate Riley to express our extreme disappointment in what this bill says about their understanding of what we want in a school board and a selection process.
The Harford County Farm Bureau? I guess they included them in the membership of this board so they’d have a ready source to shovel the bull—- they’d be peddling. Rediculous.
Can someone please answer this?! Do Dan Riley and/or Mary Delaney James have children in the Harford County Public School system and if so, are these two actively involved in their school communities? Do they regularly attend School Board meetings to know what issues are being addressed, avoided or concealed by the school system? Can they name any of the current issues before the School Board?
Many active parents can and they should have the opportunity to vote for individuals who can be accountable to the public for the decisions made, voted on and tax money expended. What a slap in the face of the voters/citizens of Harford County.
SZQ Mary Delaney James children go to the Tome School and if memory serves me correctly I think Riley was a social studies teacher in Harford County schools so he does know what goes on in HCPS but from the teacher’s perspective.
You are absolutely correct about the legislation.
Chicken little, thank you for the information. Perhaps Mr. Riley and Mrs Delaney James should get up to speed on the currents issues before the School Board such as the four period day, the “Everyday Math” curriculum, magnet schools, the dress code, building repairs current and upcoming and more. They could only benefit from more information and a better understanding of the current issues.
SZQ, you may be interesting in the latest from the dagger…
http://www.daggerpress.com/2008/02/14/the-elected-school-board-stunt-of-the-week/
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