Defeat HB24

Bills for the 2006 session have been pre-filed, and we now know that HB24 is the School Board bill that must see defeat during this legislative session. I have said time, and time, and time again about how bad of an idea this sort of change is. What's worse is that the bill now clearly delineates who will, and who will not be represented on the Commission. Seats on the commission are reserved for the Teachers Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the County PTA, the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Anne Arundel Community College Board of Trustees, and the Association of Education Leaders. Other than one seat, where are the parents? Where are the taxpayers? Who is looking out for them?

This bill does nothing other than take a status quo that does not adequately represent the community, and repackages it as something that has less representation, less accountability, and less influence from the community at large. What still galls me is the fact that Delegates Love, Leopold, Dwyer and Busch have the chutzpah to call this an "elected" school board. What an insult to the intelligence of the county voter. I cannot understand why the delegates will not submit a bill that would let the voters of Anne Arundel County elect their school board. The only reason that I can deduce is that these Delegates Love, Leopold, Dwyer and Busch believe that big government should make the decision for us. In lieu of an elected board, we get a charade.

The devil we know, with its faults, is better than the devil we don't know. Mobilize now; this bill must be defeated.