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View From By Charles Rogers Thanks, But It’s Time For School Boards To Hang It Up At one time, I was a staunch advocate of school boards and praised its members, especially those local folks who sat on the board of Community School District 18 and served with such great distinction through years of many frustrating confrontations with the Establishment on one hand and a stubborn and restless constituency on the other. Theirs, at the time, was a thankless task that required a watchdog frame of mind, overseeing and approving many of the educational changes that made this particular district one of the best in the city. Those days are no longer with us. It was nice when we had real elections for board members, where more than three percent of the population voted and took the board’s deliberations to heart. I admire our current board members, to a degree. A small degree. When I wrote about the meeting a couple of months ago where they had to vote on a resolution not to bicker like children it was the last straw (notwithstanding subsequent correspondence from Board President Donna Pensabene defending the resolution). How childish! There was a time when the administrators in our district secured monies and programs that are far advanced; programs that put computers and technical facilities in the hands of children who have already begun honing the skills they’ll need in order to pursue productive lives in the future. In the past — previous to 1996, when repeated corruption and patronage scandals prompted the State Legislature to strip all the boards of most of their power — I attended board meetings where it would be resolved to accept a grant for hundreds of thousands of dollars; as if they would not agree to accept it. I mean, can you ever imagine a board turning down a proposal for a new program or new money from the state? When the superintendent or PTA or other body wanted to recognize an individual or a school for particular efforts, the board would put that resolution on the agenda — with congratulations. This was, and is, nice. But, sorry, we don’t need it. We don’t need an entity that has become merely an approval-stamping middle man. Each of the local members deserves admiration and respect for their collective and individual effort and civic response. There are not too many people who would take on such a task these days and, whether or not I have offered "vituperative" comments in the past, it doesn’t mean I don’t admire them and sincerely commend them. Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said he would like to do away with school boards, echoing the words of his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani and a growing number of officials throughout the state. And this week the City Council is holding hearings regarding reforming the school governance structure, during which Borough President Marty Markowitz has already offered a proposal to restructure the Board of Ed and replace the school boards. He cautioned that mayoral direct control of schools through an education commissioner, as opposed to the present chancellor, runs the risk of a future mayor granting patronage to certain districts, such as those that went overboard to see him or her elected. It could happen, you know. Of course, Markowitz wants to replace the school boards with "advisory boards," which, in essence, is the same thing we have now. A rose is a rose is a...school board, in this case, after all, and, whether you give it a lovely name, it can still smell as bad (with apologies to the roses of the world). It’s a waste of time, manpower and money to have school boards continue.
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