Have you heard the term “regulatory capture”. It means that any board, appointed or elected will sooner or later be controlled by the interests they are supposed to be regulating. The concept is that nobody cares who the 5th member of the school board is. And if its an ex-teacher who happens to be collecting a teachers pension, some say she knows something about teaching. Then add a guy who has a degree in education but made his money selling school books. And of course a guy who works for the law firm that represents the school. And the insurance agent who has a very large policy with the school. And a women who works for Wells Fargo and wants to float bonds that are backed by the school board.
So where are the parents that have children in the school? Well, they are busy. They work and have kids and are young. And besides all these guys sound like they know something about being on a board.
A charter school board is normally filled with parents, a requirement. And its business board has people who donate to the school. I am not saying that it can’t happen but regulatory capture seems to happen less often at charter schools.
Bingo.
Our school board is filled with ex-teachers and administrators who needed a paid position with benefits after being forced into retirement. The school board position should be voluntary so it is truly about public service. Unfortunately, ours pays $50,000 a year so these folks look at it as employment. The results are predictable.