George (in ) said:

| "Morris Dovey" wrote in message
| ...
|| IMO, the only way to fix most problems with school boards is to go
|| to the meetings, talk with stakeholders, and (if you're sure can
|| do a better job) run for election to the board yourself.
|
| You're dreaming, of course. The administration spoon-feeds the
| board, who rubber stamps the fare of the day. Of course, the
| administration is also limited by the Feds, the State, and managed
| by work rule down to the micro level by the Teachers' union.
|
| No way a board member, even a concerned one, could actually find
| out the limit to their power, given the entrenched full-timers in
| the way. Even the "training seminar" for school board members here
| in MI is a company job. Even if you find you do have some power to
| change something, you'll find the budget constraints are as big as
| the regulatory.

Not dreaming - and had a very different experience in small towns in
southern Minnesota. I went to the board meetings, visited classes,
talked to administrators, teachers, other parents, kids - and
substitute taught (math) when needed. I ran for election to the school
board (and lost - but to a person for whom I had a great deal of
respect).

My experience is that a thoughtfully-engaged participant _can_ affect
the way things play. Perhaps it depends on what it is that you're
trying to accomplish and how you're going about it. My agenda was to
keep what was working while making incremental improvements to those
things that weren't working as well as I thought they should.

I wasn't bashful about looking for resources outside the educational
context. The newspaper was pleased to be fed information about
exceptional teachers and students, for example; and most local
business people were willing to help in whatever way they could if
asked (and asked in the right way). I don't know about Michigan; but
educating young people just wasn't a hard sell in Minnesota.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html