SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Trusty Pawns

Here’s an interesting column in The Washington Post by a school board trustee in Montgomery, Alabama. Interesting because the trustee is defending herself against accusations that the entire board of trustees are pawns of the teachers’ union - by explaining that the trustees are actually pawns of the school board staff!

This state of affairs confirms my impression of most Canadian boards of trustees. Although the theory is that they are elected to make the boards democratic, their lack of power makes their election moot. And don’t even get me started on how meaningful trustee elections are!