Anne Arundel School Board Commission dooms process from the get go

Have you heard about the results of the meeting the School Board Nominating Commission of Anne Arundel County held on Monday? Of course not. Did you hear about the consensus that was reached? You will be shocked to read it:

"The purpose of the testimony was to further assist the Commission in meeting its statutory obligation to identify, vet, and ultimately recommend applicants to the Governor for appointment to the Board of Education" said Commission Chairman Joshua Greene. Four overarching points were constants in all the testimony given to the Commission regarding what to look for when attracting, reviewing, and selecting potential Board members for appointment: a commitment to serve; an ability to listen to all sides; strong interpersonal and analytical skills; and a recognition that the proper role of Board members is to focus on policy making and strategic planning not school system operations.

That's right, in the eyes of the O'Malley and Leopold apparatchiks, School Board members should not pay attention to school system operations. Who in the hell thinks that is a good idea? If the point of having a School Board is to oversee the Board of Education, who in the hell thinks that accomplishing that goal is possible if the Commission appointing Board members think that the Board should be neutered? Who then oversees the budget of the school system? Who comments about the growth of the school system if the appointed Board members are powerless? If the Board of Education should not exercise the power that it has, why do we need a Board of Education at all?

The School Board selection process reforms passed by the General Assembly in 2007 continue to haunt the future of our county schools. Clearly it is becoming apparent that this process continues to be an embarrassment to our schools and our county, and needs to be scrapped for something better. And while we all prefer direct elections of School Board members, we all should be able to agree that almost anything is better than we are going to get from this O'Malley/Leopold Commission....