School Board Failure
With so much gone wrong in so many school districts, citizens rely on school boards or similar bodies of oversight to serve as the local stewards of community stakeholder interests related to public schooling. However, what we are witnessing in many places is the unwillingness and inability of school board members to respect and fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities and recognize that the central focus of their efforts should be on the needs of students enrolled in schools. The level of dysfunction, turmoil, and personal animosity and disdain that permeates some of these boards is truly unbelievable and unconscionable. Further, the lack of professionalism, conflicts of interest, hidden agendas, and outright disregard for public stewardship is so disturbing that parents, students, school faculty and staff, and community groups are demanding board resignations and filing lawsuits. While the goal has never been to force parents and communities to engage in protest marches and legal battles, it is encouraging though to see the focus and intensity that this type of engagement brings to the process for monitoring local schools and holding critical parties accountable for the academic training of our youth.
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