Editorial: School boards suffer from voters’ inattention
November 17th, 2008Editorial: School boards suffer from voters’ inattention
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 11/14/2008 08:00:00 PM PST
Puzzling results in two San Jose school elections point to a problem facing many districts. There aren’t enough quality candidates or community interest to create the leadership that districts need as they head into the worst fiscal crisis in decades.
It’s not apathy per se. We believe parents and business leaders when they insist they want better schools; many parents are active in their children’s classrooms. And voters are willing to invest in schools: Every parcel tax and bond measure on the ballot this month passed.
But those who might run either don’t appreciate the vital role of a school trustee, or they’re turned off by the cost and hard work of running. Those who do run often struggle to make themselves known, as evident this time in the Alum Rock and East Side Union High School districts.
Alum Rock voters chose for one of two seats a former district employee whom the district had tried to fire. In signing a $17,000 settlement last year leading to her retirement, Dolores Marquez agreed not to set foot on district property. We don’t see how she can meet those terms and be an effective trustee. Given the personal nature of her dispute, we doubt she can be objective about schools.
East Side Union voters reinstated a trustee whom they wisely threw out of office two years earlier. Now that Patricia Martinez-Roach is back, parents can expect more contentious meetings prolonged by her micromanaging small expenditures. In both these cases, voters passed up excellent candidates, but information was limited. There was not one candidates’ forum in East Side Union and just a few sparsely attended events in Alum Rock. Martinez-Roach didn’t even submit a ballot statement. The Mercury News wrote about Marquez’s dispute shortly before the election, but word may not have gotten out.
This election may have been an anomaly because of the huge number of young and new voters. Races at the bottom of the ballot may have been an afterthought for them. Or they perhaps checked candidates, like Marquez and Martinez-Roach, whose names they recognized or who were first on the ballot.
Martinez-Roach was one of four candidates. Two years ago, when a board vacancy came open, two-dozen people sought the appointment, which Eddie Garcia won. But none of those saved Garcia this time.
The situation was hardly unique. In the San Jose Unified School District, two of three incumbents were unchallenged. The district has made progress but not enough to give trustees a free pass.
It takes commitment and money to run for essentially a volunteer job. East Side Union candidates paid $4,700 for a ballot statement that the county mails to voters. The charge is less for small districts, and a few districts subsidize the cost. Others should, too.
Parent groups and businesses must encourage good people to run and support them. Groups like Common Cause should offer advice on the nuts and bolts of campaigning. Districts should organize forums so that unknown candidates can get their word out.
Like any other well-run business or nonprofit, school districts need competent, thoughtful leaders. If they don’t step up, incompetent or self-serving candidates fill the vacuum.