by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Tuesday’s informal joint meeting of City Council and the Duval County School Board was designed to bring both groups together for the first time in about a year to talk about a handful of items. Instead, and perhaps not surprisingly, much of the conversation centered on an appointed School Board as opposed to an elected school board.
The city’s Charter Revision Commission supports giving the mayor the power to appoint school board members.
After hearing from Don McAdams, president of Houston-based Center for Reform of School Systems, some of that debate might be quelled.
A 12-year Houston School Board member, McAdams said the radical switch from an elected board to an appointed board, or vice versa, isn’t very effective.
He also said it only happens in circumstances in which the school system is both very large, such as Boston or New York, and in dire straits.
“The scholarly opinion is that there is insufficient evidence to make a judgment one way or the other,” he said, adding the conclusions are mixed.
“Mayoral takeovers work when certain conditions are met. Elected takeovers also work when certain conditions are met. If you look at it very carefully, there is insufficient data. My own personal opinion is, if you have a really failed school system, a mayoral takeover is a good solution, not permanently, but temporarily,” he said.
He said all situations are different and there are problems associated with all of them.
“There is no such thing as governance without problems. The worst situation of all is a half-elected, half-appointed board. Then, no one is in charge. If the mayor appoints the board, it needs to be really, really, really clear who is in charge,” he said.
The meeting took place at the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership. Ten of 19 council members attended while six of seven school board members were present.
Council President Richard Clark said the meeting went well and such joint meetings should happen at least four times a year. Clark said while the two bodies have different agendas, both are focused on improving the city of Jacksonville.
“I was very impressed with what Don had to say,” said Clark.
McAdams spent the better part of 15 minutes talking about the pros and cons of elected vs. appointed boards. He didn’t take sides on the matter professionally, but did point out that council doesn’t legally have a say on the issue. That, McAdams said, is in the hands of the individual state legislatures.
“What I got out of that statement was, every time it has happened (the switch), it was done by a state legislature,” said Clark. “It’s a local issue, but because of the state of affairs, the state legislature has to do something for a finite amount of time and then it’s back to the traditional elected board.”
The meeting did produce the kind of dialogue and interaction Clark would like to see, no matter who is in office.
“We need to meet more often. I am not sure of the timing, but I think it helps both sides because we are so entrenched in our own silos,” he said.
“It helps if we come together as a body. I think four times a year is reasonable to get together and see what’s going on. I am willing to bet as many school system questions as I get, they get City Council questions. I hope we do a lot more of them,” said Clark.
McAdams said the Duval County school system has a good reputation throughout the nation. He said there are both low- and high-performing schools, which is the norm for a system the size of Duval’s, which has in excess of 120,000 students. Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said graduation rates and test scores are slowly improving.
“Some districts are tracking downwards, but we are tracking upwards. It’s just not steep enough or fast enough,” he said.
McAdams also said funding is an issue, but not as big an issue as some people think. He said often underfunded districts perform better than highly-funded districts because of quality education and dedicated parents.
“If you use the money wisely, it does make a difference,” he said, adding the best strategy is to treat education like a business.
“Let the teachers do what they do best. The best place to spend your money is on what happens in the classroom. The best place to put your efforts is in the actual classroom,” he said.
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