Monday, February 28, 2011
Horry County Schools
District Office
Members of the Board:
The Horry County Board of Education maintains operations which are unethical and illegal. Since implementing a governance system in 2000 that is inappropriate for public education, the Board has improperly delegated its legitimate authority over curriculum, finance, operations, and district policy to the Superintendent. Whether deliberate or unintentional, the Board shuts out citizens and even itself from having any significant influence on critical decision-making. The Board should act immediately to undo this injustice.
According to our governance policies, as long as the Superintendent does not violate the law, act unethically, or maneuver outside of what the Board sets as “operational expectations,” the Superintendent is authorized to make all decisions concerning district operations and is the sole determiner of district policy. Although these parameters would not necessarily be considered unethical in a form of government other than ours, they constitute an egregious wrong because they violate our very own constitutional principles of representative government, popular sovereignty, limited government, and checks and balances. Since the Constitution is the supreme law of our democratic-republic, these actions should be recognized as unethical and should be declared unconstitutional.
Citizens should be the ones making the decisions about their public schools, yet they are denied the right to vote, through their board representatives, on how their money is spent, the programs and practices to be used, and district policy. In order for this to be rectified, the Board should cooperate with the Superintendent in the management of the district by being well-informed and making binding decisions concerning operations and district policy. Currently, these decisions are entirely in the hands of one person - the Superintendent, whose power is not effectively checked or balanced by the Board.
The monitoring process is an impotent form of checks and balances. This is a superficial check on the power of the Superintendent and acts as a poor and biased device used by the district administration to inform the Board of district operations. Instead, there should be standing committees and subcommittees on curriculum, finance, operations, and policy. Board members would chair these. Continual exposure through committees to district operations and policy would make the Board much more knowledgeable and effective representatives.
Citizens, including teachers, may or may not want to participate in person, but they should at least have the right to have influence through their elected representatives on the “how” or “means” of public education. At present, these individual rights are denied. The public can only make suggestions about these matters and hope that their voices can make a difference in the decisions made by one person – the Superintendent. This is not a democratic practice.
Board members should listen to and consider the viewpoints of their constituents and not simply relay their concerns to the Superintendent, as is our current policy, a practice which can be very intimidating for teachers. “Constituency” is not a bad word in a democratic-republic. It should be seen as a proper avenue through which a citizen’s voice can have significant influence on district operations and policy. Public concerns should be considered and weighed by the Board before final voting.
Dr. Paul Peterson has supported my stances on numerous issues but presently opposes my position on school governance. I respect him immensely, but please don’t let his Ph.D. in political science, expert understanding of our government, and interpretations of constitutional issues overly influence you. He can actually be wrong, for once.
“Unethical” and “illegal” are strong words to use about our governance system. I stand by both. The Board should act immediately to right a serious wrong.
Sincerely,
Bobby Chandler
722 Pine Drive
Surfside Beach, S.C. 29575
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