In Prince George’s County, MD, legislation has recently been approved to give the county executive exclusive powers over schools. (Cnty Exec Rushern Baker, III, appeared onApril 4 show.) Although the final legislation did not grant the executive control over the budget, the executive can choose a superintendent and appoint school board members, including chair and vice chair; the executive can also close schools without any hearing.
Janis Hagey and David Cahn, co-chairs ofCitizens for an Elected School Board, appeared on the May 9 show to discuss their efforts to reverse this impending action. Iris Toyer, longtime DC activist and former member of DC’s elected school board — prior to mayoral control, offered additional perspective.
Executive Control and Public Voice
Hagey and Cahn argue that no jurisdiction which adopted executive control over schools — New York, DC, etal. — has seen improvements in outcomes for students. Baker said his proposal would benefit from errors in other locations and stressed longevity of superintendents — excepting DC — under executive control. Three finalists for Supt. have since withdrawn, and the interim Supt. is leaving a month before his contract concludes.
Hagey, a lifelong educator who has worked on policy for the National Education Association (NEA), pointed out that a thorough process, including town halls for citizens to share what they seek in a superintendent and the efforts of a nationally recognized search firm, are now for naught. Cahn added that several recent superintendents left the county for reasons of their own and not because they were desirous of a jurisdiction with executive control. Both say the legislation reduces the people’s voice in education.
The citizen petition effort would put the referendum on the ballot in November 2014, thus allow a public discussion of matters that were decided late in the school year without much public input.
Toyer concluded: “Information is power. Once people realize that their elected representative has taken power out of their hands, they’ll be angry enough” to effect change.YOUNG CITIZENS, PLEASE NOTE: Citizens who will be 18 by November 2014 can sign the petition.
Petitions — and copies of the legislation, which must accompany petitions — are available on the group’s Facebook page and on their website, electedboard.org [coming soon]. Contact: David Cahn — 301-627-5126; Janis Hagey — 301-464-0171
