Episode 82: Demystifying School Boards - Understanding their Influence, Role in Education, and Making Your Voice Count

Ever wondered who holds the reins of our education system? I'm pulling back the curtain on the pivotal influence of school boards on this episode. I'll traverse their rich history and decode their responsibilities like establishing district vision and aligning policies and budgets. It's a deep exploration into the intricacies of school governance and the trials they face, proving how these roles aren't for the faint-hearted.

As I stride into the second part, I underscore how parents, students, or community members can effectively communicate with these boards. I'll illuminate the paths for you to navigate this labyrinth, shedding light on the profound impact of school board policies and their role in sculpting the future of education. You'll understand the power of your voice in school board elections and why it's essential to use it. This isn't just about understanding the system - it's about playing your part in molding it. So, brace yourself and join me on this enlightening journey into the world of school boards. Let's get involved!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:40

Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr Kim Fields, former corporate manager turned educational researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the micro discriminations that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids, who were in the public school system, I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in education that could affect you or your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K-12 education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. On today's episode, I'll be discussing the role of the school board as part of the school governance system. At some point during your child's educational progress, you'll have to interact with school governance. The school board is typically at the top of the school governance pyramid. So who constitutes the school board? How do they get elected? What is their specific role? How do school board policies impact what's implemented in the school district? I answer these questions and more, as well as provide guidelines for your interactions with the school board. Let's get started.

Speaker 1: 2:40

School boards in the United States play a crucial role in school governance because they enable the community to voice their comments, questions and concerns in educational practices and programs in rural communities across the United States, which account for over half of all the districts nationwide. Local control of the school board and how the school districts are run is a necessity, either through state boards or through unofficial, informal community engagement. Local control of the school board, which is typically enacted through democratically elected school boards, is one of the oldest American educational traditions, dating back as far as the 17th century in New England's use of town meetings and common schools. As federal and state governments became more active in educational policy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, local community control shifted. Several rural, locally controlled school boards enacted elements of democratic community center governance. It's important that locally controlled school boards examine how community diversity relates to accessing specific voices, especially in rural school board governance. Local school boards set at the intersection of state and federal policy and local implementation of reform initiatives.

Speaker 1: 4:22

School boards work within parameters established by state and federal laws and are charged with establishing conditions that will position school districts to successfully educate their students. It's not the job of school boards to run schools. The board's most important role is to establish a district vision and mission and to select, supervise and evaluate the district superintendent who is charged with leading the district and ensuring that policies and budget decisions align with the board's vision and mission. The challenge with many school districts, especially those striving to improve, is figuring out how to leverage a largely volunteer board of citizens, who generally have limited time to devote to board work, to develop coherent and innovative policies. The board's work is typically reduced to tracking the cost of buildings, buses, books and administrative costs or budgets. Several factors impede board's contributions, including dysfunctional relationships between board members and the superintendent, board member and administrative turnover, lack of knowledge, single agenda bias, interest group politics and financial insecurities. In order for boards to be more effective, there needs to be ongoing training and leadership development regarding board operations and education policy. New board members should be trained on process as well as substantive issues critical to establishing conditions for districts and schools success. Additionally, experienced board members, especially the board chairperson should have access to high quality, relevant and timely leadership training to ensure that it adds value to their practice.

Speaker 1: 6:29

To get a feel for the magnitude of this school board entity, there are approximately 14,000 school boards governing 13,194 school districts that enroll a total of 52 million students in the United States. In total, these school boards manage upwards of $600 billion in revenue and over 6 million employees. Composition of the school board is about 57% male and 43% female. Racially, the composition is majority white, with only 14% of school board members identified as people of color. The average age for a school board member is about 55 years old. Early demographics are that 31% of board members have bachelor's degree, 46.5% have master's degrees and 46% have doctor's degrees. Additionally, 19% had some college or other post-secondary training and only 4% had just a high school diploma. Board membership is relatively stable, as most members serve at least five years. Local school boards typically range from five to nine members.

Speaker 1: 8:03

The role that board members play in governance usually depends on the size of the school district. For example, school board members in rural districts tend to be more involved with managerial tasks, whereas school board members from large urban districts tend to work on approving contracts valued at $250,000 or more. School board members are typically elected with only a small minority, either appointed by mayors or the governor or the state board of education. When a board member resigns before the end of his or her term, the remaining board members may collectively solicit and appoint new members. With few exceptions, voter turnout for school board races that are separate from general elections in November are typically very low, and school board elections are usually not heavily contested.

Speaker 1: 9:00

Being a member of the school board requires a significant amount of time. In large district boards, this equates to about 15 to 40 hours per month toward board responsibilities. For small district boards, their time requirement is fewer than 15 hours per month toward board responsibilities. Board members usually attend one to two formal meetings a month, however. They participate in a variety of committee meetings and work sessions. They also participate in school and community events. Additionally, board members also allocate a fair amount of time to reading background material and staying abreast of educational issues.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Typically, board members receive minimal compensation. Roughly 66% of board members receive no compensation for their service. Some larger district boards receive between $25,000 per year and $50,000 per year in compensation. This would include districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District and Miami Dade County School District. Some Los Angeles school board members who don't have other employment can receive $125,000 per year. Several school boards provide stipends, allocating a set amount to be paid for each meeting attended. Usually, this amounts to less than $100 per meeting. Other school boards may allow per diem payments and set an annual maximum. State laws in Wyoming, pennsylvania and Iowa explicitly bar school board members from being paid. Now for your information, no research has been conducted to prove whether pay hikes would be an effective way to attract more diverse candidates or help with improving board members' ability to manage districts.

Speaker 1: 11:12

School boards responsibilities have shifted from administering basic operations to aligning federal, state and local policies, crafting and overseeing complex budgets and hiring and evaluating superintendents that are responsible for leading districts within a high-stakes accountability environment. The key areas of focus for a school board are vision, standards, assessment, accountability, alignment, climate, collaboration and community engagement and continuous improvement. The one single role of the school board that can be boiled down to a single critical action is that of hiring and supervising a district superintendent. School boards must follow laws regarding meetings, as well as transact their business transparently to the greatest extent possible according to state statutes. Local school boards need to understand how their macro-level decisions impact principals, teachers and students, and then align resources accordingly in order to create optimal conditions for student outcomes. Local school boards are accountable to their communities. This means that they are ultimately accountable for student performance in the district. Among the other duties that I've mentioned, school boards also set minimum graduation requirements. Just like many other areas within the public education space, school boards have become increasingly politicized systems.

Speaker 1: 12:56

In the United States. There are eight characteristics of an effective board 1. Effective school boards commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement as well as quality instruction, and they define clear goals toward that vision. 2. They have strong shared beliefs and values about what's possible for students and their ability to learn, and they have shared belief in the system's ability to teach all children at high levels. 3. They're accountable and accountability-driven, spending less time on operational issues and more time on policies that improve student achievement. 4. Effective school boards have collaborative relationships with staff and the community. They communicate, inform and engage internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals. These school boards are data savvy. They use and monitor data in order to drive continuous improvement. They use resources such as professional development to meet district goals. 7. They lead as a unified front with the superintendent, using strong collaboration and mutual trust to perform their respective roles. 8. Effective school boards take part in development and training to build shared knowledge, values and commitments for their improvement efforts.

Speaker 1: 14:44

In contrast, there are certain characteristics of ineffective boards. These include 1. The board is only vaguely aware of school improvement initiatives and is seldom able to describe actions being taken to improve student learning. 2. They are focused on external pressures as the main reasons for lack of student success. These external pressures include poverty, lack of parental support, societal factors or lack of motivation. 3. They tend to have negative comments about students and teachers.

Speaker 1: 15:25

4. Ineffective school boards micromanage day-to-day operations. 5. They disregard the agenda process and the chain of command. 6. They have little communication between the board and the superintendent. 7. These types of boards are quick to describe the lack of parental interest in education or other barriers to community outreach. 8. They look at the data from a different perspective. It's more like a blaming perspective. In other words, they describe teachers, students and families as major causes for low performance. 9. They have little understanding or coordination on staff development for teachers. 10. An ineffective school board is slow to define a vision. 11. They end up hiring the superintendent, who is not in alignment with their vision. 12. The ineffective school board provides little professional development for board members.

Speaker 1: 16:45

The fact of the matter is that school boards do have some influence on student achievement. Research indicates that districts with high quality governance tend to have greater student achievement, as measured by dropout, college attendance and aptitude test rates. It seems that board members' behaviors and beliefs have a positive impact on a school district's efforts to improve student achievement. Also, how board members interact with public and connect with community help to build public awareness toward improving student achievement. Additionally, the school board's relationship with staff, as well as district-wide leadership, provides the foundation for ongoing staff development and applies pressure for accountability. Finally, school boards should focus on policy development related to the improvement of teaching and learning. When school boards are focused on functioning as a team that seeks to further student achievement while leveraging community resources, this benefits all students and will make for effective school board governance.

Speaker 1: 18:03

Being on the school board is not just for adults. Students are also becoming members of school boards. Student members of school boards occupy unique positions. They have the perspective of experiencing day-to-day situations in schools, but they also represent the very audience that is most directly impacted by a board's decisions. In contrast, adult members of the board operate as trustees who basically do what they think is best for students without really having to feel the direct consequences of their decisions. Historically, in the United States, students were observed on school boards since 1969, when California became the first state to appoint a high school student to serve on its state board of education. Currently, 33 states have laws that permit boards to include student members, and two states, ohio and Massachusetts, require such representation. 14% of the 495 larger school districts in the United States have student board members and more than 400 students are currently serving on state boards of education or state advisory councils.

Speaker 1: 19:23

Student representatives are either elected or appointed by superintendents to become board members. Now, students may not be privy to all of the sessions of the board meeting like executive sessions, where adult board members discuss sensitive personnel or salary matters. How much power does a student member of a school board actually have? Well, it depends. Student members of school boards can be positioned anywhere from level 2 to a level 8. A student member of the board who has voting rights would be at level 8, whereas a student member of the board without voting rights, whose main responsibility is that of reporting on student activities to the board would be more likely to be positioned at level 2. A recent study in 2023 indicated that when students are members of school boards, they take the responsibilities and the work quite seriously. Some of the issues that student members of boards bring to the table include a lack of representation of students of color in advanced courses, uplifting voices of marginalized students, etc. They also introduce resolutions or amendments that weren't otherwise considered, as well as help to shape the outcome of political contests among school board members. Students who serve on school boards have recently formed a national organization called the National Student Board Member Association, and its goal is to help student members build collaborative relationships with their adult colleagues and to meaningfully represent the voices of their student peers.

Speaker 1: 21:13

Student board members typically serve a one-year term. It's important for the student members to stay up on, and study up on, the complicated rules and policies governing the board, to work more effectively with adults on the board and to advocate for more voting power. Only seven states allow student board members to cast preferential votes. This allows them to record their positions on board decisions without affecting the outcome. Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic.

Speaker 1: 21:57

So what is this discussion about the role of the school board have to do with you personally More than you think. Well, for one thing, you may need to attend your local school board meeting over issues that are important for you concerning your child's education. It's important that you understand the role of school board members, their impact and how you can best interact with them. In general, addressing the school board should be considered if and or when the issue or question remains unresolved after going through appropriate channels at the school level, or when there's a concern of significant importance, or if that concern affects multiple schools within the district. Here are a couple of situations where becoming involved with the school board may be appropriate 1. If your question or issue pertains to district-wide policies, procedures or other matters that are beyond the control of individual schools or principals, attending a school board meeting for these matters may be discussed could be necessary. 2. If your concern involves systemic issues such as safety concerns, curriculum restrictions, discrimination or other serious matters affecting multiple schools or students within the district, it may be appropriate to escalate the issue to be heard at a school board meeting. Remember to remain open and respectful in your communication throughout the process, as collaborative efforts are often the most effective way to address concerns and find solutions within the school governance system.

Speaker 1: 23:44

A dominant storyline over the past two years has been parents in schools that are locked in, conflicts over curriculum, bookbands as well as policies that support gender identification. In many districts, schools often struggle with fostering meaningful engagement with the families of the students they serve. Some of the ways that schools and school districts build effective relationships with parents and families is by inviting families to participate in the creation of district policies before a decision is made. They can also provide spaces for parents to build community with each other. This may include something as simple as providing transportation services or inviting parents to board meetings.

Speaker 1: 24:35

If you've never voted in a school board election, you might want to think about doing so in the future. Leadership matters and your vote can shape every aspect of your child's educational journey. The fact of the matter is that, whether or not you have school-aged children, the impact of school boards is felt throughout your community, including in municipal budgets and property taxes. There are more than 14,000 school boards across the country that are responsible for overseeing and managing everything from how students are transported to school to what they learn in the classroom. The majority of these boards are made up of official elected personnel who actually answer to voters. So the next time the school board election comes up, consider voting in it. Also, consider what you want the future of education to look like. Understanding that future has an impact on your families and children, especially after you assess your preferred candidate's values, you might also want to consider how to get more involved in your district. It can be something as simple as helping out the school board candidate's campaign and again by attending a school board meeting. Here are this episode's takeaways.

Speaker 1: 26:15

School boards work within the parameters established by state and federal laws and are charged with establishing conditions that will position school districts to successfully educate their students. It's not the job of school boards to run schools. The board's most important role is to establish a district vision and mission and to select, supervise and evaluate the district superintendent who is charged with leading the district and ensuring that policies and budget decisions align with the board's vision and mission. School boards responsibilities have shifted from administering basic operations to aligning federal, state and local policies, crafting and overseeing complex budgets and hiring and evaluating superintendents that are responsible for leading districts within a high stakes accountability environment. The key areas of focus for a school board are vision, standards, assessment, accountability, alignment, climate collaboration and community engagement, and continuous improvement. Being on a school board is not just for adults. Schools are also becoming members of school boards. Student members of school boards occupy unique positions. They have the perspective of experiencing day-to-day situations in schools, but they also represent the very audience that is most directly impacted by a board's decisions. In contrast, adult members of the board operate as trustees who basically do what they think is best for students without really having to feel the direct consequences of their decisions.

Speaker 1: 28:20

Did you enjoy this episode? If so, then leave me a rating, a review or a comment on Apple or PodChaser. Leaving me a rating is a great way to support me and help my podcast grow. Do me a favor and remember to share this episode with anyone that you think can find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, family and community about my podcast. By the way, did you get a chance to check out podinboxcom forward slash k12educationuntangling Yet? Go there now and leave me a text message or a voice message about how you're enjoying my show. Thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K-12 education discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Be sure to stay tuned. On the next episode, I'll be discussing the blended learning model. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.