U.S. SCHOOLS Fewer elected boards concern some

One study says districts with conflict-ridden boards have lower test scores.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A dwindling number of elected school boards across America over the past century has some people concerned about making sure that parents and voters have a say in educating the nation's youth.
Others simply want to say good riddance to a "dysfunctional arrangement" that they contend puts the inexperienced in charge.
The number of school boards in America has dropped from about 127,000 in 1933 to just 15,000 today as communities have opted to consolidate or turn to appointed members. That is prompting educators and researchers to debate the value of school boards and whether they help or hurt public education.
Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, believes school boards are the best way to allow parents and other voters to have an impact on public schools.
"In a democracy, school boards are the closest thing to the ground," she said.
Criticism
Critics contend that school boards are composed of unskilled, unprepared people voted in by a small turnout of voters and that they do more harm than good when members fail to communicate.
Today's world of education is too complex for ordinary citizens, said Chester Finn, former assistant education secretary under President Reagan. While the earliest school boards focused on one task -- finding teachers -- board members are now responsible for budget, policy, school construction, technology and personnel.
"School boards are an aberration, an anachronism, an educational sinkhole," Finn said. "Put this dysfunctional arrangement out of misery."
Studies have shown that schools suffer when board members don't get along.
Studies
According to a five-state study conducted by the New England School Development Council, school boards that are in constant conflict have districts with lower test scores, fewer students attending college and a higher rate of dropout.
Another study, conducted by the Iowa Association of School Boards, found that high-achieving districts had more board members who knew and better understood topics ranging from curriculum to testing and monitoring student progress.
The impact was obvious last month in South Allegheny. School was canceled after police said that an angry school-board member intentionally struck the school district police chief with her car.
"What does this do to the kids? We are the models of what behavior is appropriate and inappropriate," said Berneice Brownell, head of the education department at Susquehanna University.
Dwindling confidence
Up through the 1970s, many urban school boards were selected by judges or commissions, said researcher Thomas E. Glass at the University of Memphis. As the political climate changed, more people demanded to choose their own board members.
But a growing lack of confidence in board members has some districts reverting to appointing members. Recently, Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy recommended the city switch from elected to appointed board members as a way to end infighting.
According to a poll conducted last month for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, 40 percent of Allegheny County residents said they had "not much confidence" or no confidence in their school-board members.
Bryant, of the school boards association, said there's greater demand on board members -- about a third of whom didn't graduate from college, according to national statistics. In Pennsylvania, board members are responsible for spending $14.8 billion to educate more than 1.8 million students.
She sees no reason for abolishing boards even if members' actions and motivations for serving on the boards are questioned.
"If the state Legislature acts stupid, do we talk about doing away with state legislatures?" Bryant said.
Morton "Moe" Coleman, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, suggests otherwise.
"Schools are different, and maybe [their] government has to be different," he said.