Richmond businesses seek to abolish elected school board
Richmond, Virginia’s business community, led by powerful allies of Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, has asked the mayor and City Council to seek the abolishment of an elected school board. A five-page letter, signed by 26 business and academic leaders, urges the return to a system of appointed school boards. However, it recommends the creation of a nominating committee, appointed by the council with the mayor's recommendation, that would screen potential candidates for each of the city's nine councilmanic districts. The proposal would require action by the Virginia General Assembly to amend the city’s charter. "We have no quarrel with the members of the School Board who have done their best¯rather we believe a fundamental flaw exists in the governance structure, which cannot be solved without a new approach to leadership and accountability for the success of the schools," the letter states. It cites the roles of the mayor and council in levying taxes and administering a budget and adds, "The School Board proposes a budget, yet has no control over raising revenues and, as we have learned recently, has no control over when they will receive their operating funds during the course of the fiscal year."
The letter hit City Hall like a bombshell. "The next step is for the people of the city of Richmond to determine what kind of school system they want and what kind of representation they want," says Mayor Wilder. School board member Evette L. Wilson opposes changing to an appointed board. "In my opinion if we go back to the appointed school board, then you cannot guarantee the citizens the right to hold the school board members accountable for any decisions they make," she says. However, school board chairman George P. Braxton II sees the benefits of both systems. "I don't believe that it is the role of this current board to be the defender of elected boards," he says. "You definitely won't get that from me." Members of the City Council were startled by the letter and generally took a wait-and-see approach.
In addition to abolishing elected boards, the letter calls for the mayor and council to establish a magnet school for math and science and to ensure funding and administration of the city vocational-training program. "The skills these two forms of education will enhance are critical to the present and future needs of our companies," the letter states. School board member Lisa Dawson has quietly spent the past several weeks talking with several in the business community¯including some who signed the letter¯trying to work out a way to build cooperation between Richmond's fractured government bodies. She had been hoping for a blue-ribbon commission that could serve as a neutral body to examine education in Richmond. "I imagine that they're speaking from frustration," she says referring to the business leaders, "from 2½ years of strife, from inability to cooperate ... and that the current government structure makes it more difficult to cooperate."
Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Michael Martz
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: The letter is posted at the first link below. It asserts that Richmond’s schools are funded at a higher level, devote a lower percentage of funding to "the classroom," and achieve unfavorable academic results compared to other Virginia school divisions. Background on the dispute between the mayor and school board is at the second link. Information on the election or appointment of school boards is at the third.]
[Letter to Mayor Wilder]
[NSBA School Law pages on Richmond dispute]
[NSBA School Law pages on elected vs. appointed school boards]