By Ben Velderman<\/p>\n
EAGnews.org<\/em><\/p>\n SPRINGFIELD, Ill. \u2013 A provision in Illinois\u2019 2011 education reform law requires all newly elected school board members to receive training \u201cin areas including education, labor law (and) financial oversight,\u201d reports EdWeek.org.<\/p>\n Jenner says the mandate means all new school board members will receive training from the Illinois Association of School Boards, since it\u2019s \u201cthe only game in town.\u201d And in Jenner\u2019s view, the school board association is little more than an appendage of the Education Establishment \u2013 comprised of school administrators, K-12 \u201cexperts\u201d and teacher union leaders \u2013 that trains fresh board members in the stale thinking of the status quo.<\/p>\n \u201cThe IASB tells new board members, \u2018This is how the status quo works, work within the system, and don\u2019t think outside the box,\u2019\u201d Jenner tells EAGnews.org.<\/p>\n In other words, the IASB kicks the legs out from the bold, innovative education reforms that are essential to improving the state\u2019s floundering public education system. That means the school board association is perpetuating problems instead of solving them.<\/p>\n If the IASB was serious about improving public education, it wouldn\u2019t have chosen Roger Eddy as its new executive director, Jenner says.<\/p>\n Eddy has spent the past 31 years in public education \u2013 the last 15 as a school superintendent \u2013 and just retired as a part-time state legislator after nearly five full terms. In Jenner\u2019s view, Eddy represents much of what\u2019s wrong with public education.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a state representative, he has\u00a0opposed<\/a>\u00a0school choice, received large campaign contributions from the\u00a0Illinois Education Association<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Illinois Federation of Teachers<\/a>, sponsored bills to make public bodies less transparent, and to allow property tax hikes\u00a0beyond<\/a>\u00a0the tax cap,\u201d Jenner said in prepared remarks to his fellow board members earlier this year.<\/p>\n In addition, Eddy is on track to receive lavish taxpayer-funded pensions, as recently detailed by the\u00a0Chicago Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a matter of weeks, Eddy will head the organization that will train all new school board members how to do their jobs, as directed by state law.<\/p>\n Jenner says he\u2019d \u201crather have no training at all.\u201d That\u2019s pretty benign and noncontroversial.<\/p>\n But critics say school board associations too often veer outside of their narrow, nonpartisan mission and serve as mouthpieces for the teacher unions.<\/p>\n After being elected to the Springboro (Ohio) school board in 2010, Kelly Kohls attended an Ohio School Boards Association training session, and was disgusted with what board members were told.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told us, \u2018You must do whatever your superintendent and treasurer tells you to do,\u2019\u201d Kohls says, adding that she speaks only for herself and not the rest of the board.<\/p>\n Kohls says OSBA\u2019s trainers also told board members to refrain from visiting schools because it makes teachers nervous and disrupts the learning environment.<\/p>\n Basically, board members are trained to leave decisions to the experts and to not ask any questions, she says.<\/p>\n She was not impressed with the advice. Kohls ran for the school board to reform the district\u2019s misplaced spending priorities, not to perpetuate them by playing nice with union representatives and deferring to status quo administrators.<\/p>\n According to Kohls, the OSBA promotes pro-teacher union policies to board members, and even publicly opposed recent school voucher legislation as \u201cbad for education.\u201d<\/p>\n The OSBA\u2019s lobbying efforts and overall philosophy led Kohls to conclude that the organization is \u201can arm of the union.\u201d The Springboro school board recently voted to cancel its membership with the OSBA.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see an organization that reminds school board members that they work for the community, not the district,\u201d Kohls says. Meyer has a mostly favorable view of the New York State School Boards Association, but is well aware of its deficiencies.<\/p>\n \u201cI love them to death,\u201d Meyer says of the NYSSBA\u2019s employees. \u201cThey\u2019re very helpful. They work very hard to answer questions. But they don\u2019t do a very good job of helping school boards make out-of-the-box improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer doesn\u2019t see the association \u201cas being in the clutches of the teachers unions,\u201d but he does view them as inadvertently promoting the unions\u2019 agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cThe association\u2019s mantra is, \u2018Don\u2019t micromanage. Let your professionals do their work. Support your teachers and superintendents,\u2019\u201d Meyer says. \u201cAnd the professionals\u2019 job is to keep the staff happy.\u201d<\/p>\n That requires administrators and superintendents to appease the staff\u2019s labor leaders as much as possible, which results in perpetuating the status quo.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a vicious cycle,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The result, Meyer says, is that school officials end up \u201cmanaging failure\u201d instead of \u201cmanaging improvement,\u201d which would require making significant changes that inevitably upset the school employee unions.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why public education is in such deep doo-doo,\u201d Meyer concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Ben Velderman EAGnews.org SPRINGFIELD, Ill. \u2013 A provision in Illinois\u2019 2011 education reform law requires all newly elected school board members to receive training \u201cin areas including education, labor law (and) financial oversight,\u201d reports EdWeek.org. Is that a smart new reform that will ensure better school governance? Or is it a clever way for teacher unions and their allies to teach new board members the \u201capproved\u201d way of leading a school district? Cary District … Continue reading
\nIs that a smart new reform that will ensure better school governance? Or is it a clever way for teacher unions and their allies to teach new board members the \u201capproved\u201d way of leading a school district?
\n
\n<\/strong>Cary District 26 (Illinois) school board member Chris Jenner believes it\u2019s the latter.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n
\nTrained not to ask questions
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nIn theory, school board associations exist to strengthen public education. One of the ways they do that is by helping school officials stay on top of ever-changing education laws. For a fee, school board associations provide districts with sample policies that help school boards stay in full compliance with the law.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u2018Let your professionals do their work\u2019
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nIn just over a month, Peter Meyer will complete his five-year term as a member of the Hudson City (NY) school board. He also writes extensively about public education in his role as a senior policy analyst at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.<\/p>\n