Seth Rosenblatt

Seth Rosenblatt

With the November election behind us, it's a good time to reflect on what works and doesn't work in our democracy.

Conspicuously in that location are amazing things about the American arrangement, but this election was an boggling illustration of how far the U.S. political system has strayed from its intentions and ideals. In addition to the peculiarly egregious efforts such every bit active voter suppression, we observed a tape corporeality of ballot spending and the baneful influence of that money on our system.

On the national scale, we've been witness to the most fractious and negative political environment ever, and in California the initiative organisation continues to show how, ironically, it has get the very matter that is was created to prevent: the damaging influence of money and power. Our political parties have go intractable, and money has become spoken language; more $420 million was spent on California proposition campaigns solitary and more than $two billion spent on the U.S. presidential ballot.

November 6th reminded me that there is however one political body that has largely not strayed from our ethics and is not buried under the weight of money or party politics: the local school board. Ironically, there are a number of voices who point to schoolhouse boards as part of the trouble in public didactics and/or advocate for massive consolidation among schoolhouse districts. Although in some cases there could be benefits to school district consolidation, I would argue that the current scope of school boards more closely reflects the intention of our democracy and is fundamentally more effective in a number of cardinal ways:

  • Independence: Well-nigh school board members don't declare a political party, generally require small-scale funds to run a campaign, and have footling ambition for "higher office." These 3 aspects alone remove much of the influence of outside interests, freeing upward the elected official to rely more and more on collaboration with his/her colleagues, information from experts, and good judgment. No political party has always told me how I need to vote on an issue (and I've never taken a silly "pledge" committing that I will always, or never, do something), and I don't receive much attending from lobbyists.
  • Accountability: I run across my constituents every day. People recognize me when I walk down the street. I personally answer every e-mail and phone telephone call I get. If someone asks to meet with me, I have java with them. Endeavour doing that with your U.S. Congressperson, State Senator, or even Canton Supervisor. Their territory is just as well large to be that familiar with all of the citizens. Information technology is this closeness which creates that accountability – I cannot hide anywhere.
  • Public participation: The flip side of the accountability coin is the ability for the public to participate in the process. In our little boondocks, everyone is within a v-minute drive of every public board meeting, and there are and so many avenues to communicate with their local elected representatives.
  • Intimacy/knowledge: Just as the closeness with the community creates accountability, it also creates a sense of intimacy and a more specific cognition nearly the commune over which one governs. Especially in a school district, where the support and energy of the community is so vital, I would contend this allows the board member to make improve decisions. Every school board member comes to appreciate that many of their issues are truly local and dependent upon the culture of that community, and even these subtle differences tin drive more optimal decisions.
  • Denizen representatives: Nigh schoolhouse lath positions are part-time and many are unpaid (or just paid a small stipend). This makes it clear that being a "politico" is not a career path for nigh lath members, then at that place is niggling pressure to twist your values and judgment and arrange to what you lot think people desire to hear.
  • Separation of executive dominance and political role: School board members are elected; superintendents are non. This is more similar to a corporate lath model, where a board selects and manages the CEO. Of course superintendents are affected by "politics," but they are freer to exist honest experts in the diplomacy of a schoolhouse district, and largely they retain or lose their job based on their actual performance.

At that place is one caveat to my above assertions: The larger the schoolhouse district gets, the more likely the above benefits will diminish. Larger school boards will start to acquire some of the negative dynamics of other political bodies (arguing once over again against massive school commune consolidation). In that location is no magic number for when a school district "gets as well big" – it is rather a continuum – but in my observation, once a district gets bigger than around ten,000 students, the above benefits start to dissipate quickly. Certainly the largest school districts, such equally San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, generate hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars in campaign contributions for school lath races and often go the phase for a political battle between unions and reformers. But the far majority of school districts effectually our land are fairly solid examples of American republic.

I'one thousand non suggesting that all of the benefits of our local democracy tin can practically apply at the state or national level, just it is worth discussing what elements of our schoolhouse lath system piece of work and how we can estimate those benefits more than broadly. For example, how can nosotros diminish the dissentious influence of money and party politics in our state and in our nation? Naturally the school board arrangement is far from perfect, and there are horror stories nigh terrible schoolhouse board members and stupid decisions. Every organization volition have stronger and weaker representatives. Simply if nosotros only consolidated and gave the political trunk a greater scope, do nosotros really believe nosotros'd have stronger and more accountable representatives who would make better decisions? The evidence suggests otherwise.

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Seth Rosenblatt is the president of the Governing Board of the San Carlos School District, currently in his second term. He also serves as the president of the San Mateo Canton Schoolhouse Boards Clan and sits on the Executive Committee of the Articulation Venture Silicon Valley Sustainable Schools Task Forcefulness. He has two children in San Carlos public schools. He writes frequently on issues in public instruction, in regional and national publications as well equally on his own blog. Seth has more than 20 years of experience in media and technology, including executive positions in both start-up companies and large enterprises. Seth currently operates his own consulting firm for engineering companies focused on strategy, marketing, and business organisation development. He holds a B.A. in Economic science from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

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