My local district had embraced the new law, made draconian changes to our local attendance policy, and became the most notorious enforcer of it, to the detriment of dozens families in just the first year. This happened despite my district's boasting a 98% graduation rate and an average daily attendance rate of 96% before the policy change! This was the leading district in the state, but it was treating parents as though they were enemies not be trusted with the best interests of their own children.
I found that attitude did not exist here in Alpine, and I was delighted and relieved. My children enjoyed an enriching 2011-2012 school year at our local elementary school, with nothing but cordiality between me and the teachers and staff.
But I began to hear whispers of things that concerned me. First, I learned that Utah had adopted the Common Core State Standards, which had been developed by the National Governor's Association. I had come across this association during the school attendance fight in Nebraska, and I don't trust its intentions. I also didn't care for a few points of the standards themselves, nor especially for the anything-but-local nature of them.
As I sought to learn how Alpine School District was responding to this mandate, I was pleased to discover that it was thinking through things and taking the longest amount of time the state allowed to implement it so as it to make it go more smoothly for teachers and students, but I was frustrated to see it embracing the new standards and defending their adoption with the same alacrity with which my Nebraska district had embraced the school attendance law. I had hoped to find some push-back and protectiveness of our local territory.
Then I read through archived newspaper and blog articles about past disputes between the District and parents over teaching methods and District policy statements, and through several pages on the District website covering District and Board policy. I realized that that while Alpine does not have the intensely problematic attitude toward families which I found in the school officials in Nebraska, even Alpine has unwittingly absorbed some of the attitude which seems prevalent in public education today, one of educators knowing better than the parents of the children they're educating, feeling like their job is to "handle" parents rather than respond to them.
I reached this conclusion based on the stories I read, parents I talked to, and this document:
I reached this conclusion based on the stories I read, parents I talked to, and this document:
Alpine School District Board of Education Code of Conduct
This document describes the way the members of the Board of Education are supposed to conduct themselves in regard to other Board members and the school District. Much of it is a useful description of how members of any public body ought to behave, and is to be praised and supported.
But there are a few things about this code that are troublesome. They are these points:
1. Have the courage to speak your perspective and then when the decision is made support the Board and Administration.
Be accountable for policies and decisions made by the board.
Support the Board and Staff once a decision is made.
2. Achieve Unity and Trust
Show unity as a board.
Have faith in the administrators.
School Boards were set up to represent the interests of the people in the District in which they serve, to hold the District accountable to the voters and taxpayers. These points of the Code of Conduct suggest this role has been turned on its head in Alpine, and the Board is supposed to represent the District to the people.
I have a hard time imagining any other legislative body abiding by such rules. Requiring every member to be accountable for a rule or policy once a decision has been made undermines the representative role which Board members are elected to fill.
If the legislature operated under this policy, representatives could not go back to their constituents and tell them how they had voted against such and such a bill. It would preclude them from responding to a constituent who asked for a certain bill to be introduced if it went contrary to recently-passed legislation.
How would our U.S. Congressional representatives feel if constrained by such a policy? How would you feel about how Congress operated if it was expected to represent the President's and Congress' wishes to the people, and not express dissent?
Board members should always be free to communicate their non-support of policies which pass a vote of the majority, just as they are free to communicate their support of such policies. If they can't communicate to their own constituents their dissatisfaction with a certain rule or policy just the same as their satisfaction, constituents can't know whether or not they agree with that individual and whether to re-elect them.
Trying to create unity is a noble goal, but hardly to be expected in a civic body. There should be dissent in a civic body. It's healthy! It shows that a variety of views are represented and considered in that body. Creating an illusion of unity by requiring Board members to act as though they agree with every policy doesn't help anyone.
Which brings us to the charge to have faith in administrators. Of course the Board members should have general trust in the qualifications and competency of administration, but the Board's role is to scrutinize everything administrators do in their roles as powerful government officials. They are to protect the interests of the voters and taxpayers from possible District overreach and misdirection.
A school Board is supposed to function as a check on the power of the administration. James Madison said, "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor
internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government
which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this:
you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next
place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the
primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the
necessity of auxiliary precautions."
In a school district, the Board is that auxiliary precaution. It is a principle, an abiding one, that no matter how good the people in government are as individuals, they must be watched and held to a critical standard when they wield power as public officials. In reality, administrators can only be made better by being accountable to a body that will hold their feet to the fire, in this case a Board.
Once again, reflecting on the state legislature or U.S. Congress helps highlight how mistaken it is to ask for elected representatives to trust the officials and departments they vote to fund and regulate. Can you imagine the U.S. Congress being asked to have faith in the administrators of the Federal Department of Education, or Defense, or State? Of course not. They scrutinize and reevaluate and say "no" to more funding and "yes" to good policy changes, as they should.
My third and final concern with the Code of Conduct is its failure to reference the families or voters of the District. While it directs the Board to honor and support the will of the administration or Board many times, it never mentions the people who elected the Board, and to whom the Board is ultimately accountable.
Having a Code of Conduct is a good thing to do. But this one could be greatly improved, and should be. The lines referenced above should be stricken from the Code of Conduct, and acknowledgement of the Board's responsibility to the voters, families and taxpayers should be added.
On January 30, the Board will be discussing the Code of Conduct. If you feel you'd like to see changes as well - or if you like it the way it is - contact the Board and let them know your thoughts.
Further Information:
Read the Alpine School District Code of Conduct for the Board of Education.
Alpine District's explanation of the Code of Conduct: About the Board
Toward Openness and Accountability to Parents, from Fortifying Our Families.org
The comments under this blog post by Alpine School Board member Wendy Hart:
Code of Conduct
What To Do:
This document describes the way the members of the Board of Education are supposed to conduct themselves in regard to other Board members and the school District. Much of it is a useful description of how members of any public body ought to behave, and is to be praised and supported.
But there are a few things about this code that are troublesome. They are these points:
1. Have the courage to speak your perspective and then when the decision is made support the Board and Administration.
Be accountable for policies and decisions made by the board.
Support the Board and Staff once a decision is made.
2. Achieve Unity and Trust
Show unity as a board.
Have faith in the administrators.
School Boards were set up to represent the interests of the people in the District in which they serve, to hold the District accountable to the voters and taxpayers. These points of the Code of Conduct suggest this role has been turned on its head in Alpine, and the Board is supposed to represent the District to the people.
I have a hard time imagining any other legislative body abiding by such rules. Requiring every member to be accountable for a rule or policy once a decision has been made undermines the representative role which Board members are elected to fill.
If the legislature operated under this policy, representatives could not go back to their constituents and tell them how they had voted against such and such a bill. It would preclude them from responding to a constituent who asked for a certain bill to be introduced if it went contrary to recently-passed legislation.
How would our U.S. Congressional representatives feel if constrained by such a policy? How would you feel about how Congress operated if it was expected to represent the President's and Congress' wishes to the people, and not express dissent?
Board members should always be free to communicate their non-support of policies which pass a vote of the majority, just as they are free to communicate their support of such policies. If they can't communicate to their own constituents their dissatisfaction with a certain rule or policy just the same as their satisfaction, constituents can't know whether or not they agree with that individual and whether to re-elect them.
Trying to create unity is a noble goal, but hardly to be expected in a civic body. There should be dissent in a civic body. It's healthy! It shows that a variety of views are represented and considered in that body. Creating an illusion of unity by requiring Board members to act as though they agree with every policy doesn't help anyone.
Which brings us to the charge to have faith in administrators. Of course the Board members should have general trust in the qualifications and competency of administration, but the Board's role is to scrutinize everything administrators do in their roles as powerful government officials. They are to protect the interests of the voters and taxpayers from possible District overreach and misdirection.
In a school district, the Board is that auxiliary precaution. It is a principle, an abiding one, that no matter how good the people in government are as individuals, they must be watched and held to a critical standard when they wield power as public officials. In reality, administrators can only be made better by being accountable to a body that will hold their feet to the fire, in this case a Board.
Once again, reflecting on the state legislature or U.S. Congress helps highlight how mistaken it is to ask for elected representatives to trust the officials and departments they vote to fund and regulate. Can you imagine the U.S. Congress being asked to have faith in the administrators of the Federal Department of Education, or Defense, or State? Of course not. They scrutinize and reevaluate and say "no" to more funding and "yes" to good policy changes, as they should.
My third and final concern with the Code of Conduct is its failure to reference the families or voters of the District. While it directs the Board to honor and support the will of the administration or Board many times, it never mentions the people who elected the Board, and to whom the Board is ultimately accountable.
Having a Code of Conduct is a good thing to do. But this one could be greatly improved, and should be. The lines referenced above should be stricken from the Code of Conduct, and acknowledgement of the Board's responsibility to the voters, families and taxpayers should be added.
On January 30, the Board will be discussing the Code of Conduct. If you feel you'd like to see changes as well - or if you like it the way it is - contact the Board and let them know your thoughts.
Further Information:
Read the Alpine School District Code of Conduct for the Board of Education.
Alpine District's explanation of the Code of Conduct: About the Board
Toward Openness and Accountability to Parents, from Fortifying Our Families.org
The comments under this blog post by Alpine School Board member Wendy Hart:
Code of Conduct
What To Do:
Contact the Board and let them know what you think about the Code of Conduct. If you'd like to see any changes, let them know what those are. You can find the Board contact info here.
If you'd like to find the specific Board member who represents you, check here. You'll need to click on each map until you find the one of your area, then match the Precinct number up with the corresponding Board member. (Wish there were an easier way; if anyone knows of one, please tell me.)
School Boards were set up to represent the interests of the people in the District in which they serve. They can only do that well if they know what you want, so get to know your representative - via email, or by attending a Board meeting and becoming acquainted - and stay in touch with them when the Board is handling issues that are important to you.
If you'd like to find the specific Board member who represents you, check here. You'll need to click on each map until you find the one of your area, then match the Precinct number up with the corresponding Board member. (Wish there were an easier way; if anyone knows of one, please tell me.)
School Boards were set up to represent the interests of the people in the District in which they serve. They can only do that well if they know what you want, so get to know your representative - via email, or by attending a Board meeting and becoming acquainted - and stay in touch with them when the Board is handling issues that are important to you.
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