On School Boards
My friends on the right in Maryland like to lament about the lack of local accountability for many of the school boards in Maryland. In Baltimore County specifically, our school board is appointed - by the Governor, in its entirety. This is unacceptable - as there really is no local accountability. That said, I do not support a fully elected school board. Why? I lived through them.
I grew up in upstate New York. In our area, local school boards are a) hyper local and b) directly elected in non-partisan races. What this led to in the past were a few issues. First, a number of locals who happened to be well known with little to no qualifications or ability get elected. These people in New York have the power to levy school taxes and completely define the local school budget. They also have the power to appoint school administrators. This led to some awful budgets, poor execution, and people elected who focused on raising the budget in their pet areas (ex. very specific school sports programs)
The second problem can be summed up in two words: teacher's unions. In some cases, I have seen teacher's unions pushing puppet candidates just to help themselves. I've seen spouses of teachers, including in one local election a former teacher who was fired having her husband run for school board. He lost, thankfully, but barely. Teacher's unions will become active in these types of elections and will push their own puppet candidates. The question is will local resident's recognize a puppet versus a serious contender for the post.
Thirdly, politics are driven into the school board. Whether intentional or not, making school board members elected by definition will make the board more political. Candidates will have a platform, plan for what they want to do - will be accountable to the voters. This is a good thing, but also a double edged sword. A focus on reelection by school board members may lead to them making decisions politically based on what will give them more votes as opposed to what is in the best interest of the entire school board.
On the other hand, being elected means they are beholden to the people and will be more focused on local needs. This is good. This is why I support the proposal for a partially elected school board as discussed during the legislative session. A number of members beholden to the people and a number of members appointed based on qualifications picked by the Governor or local government (the latter I would prefer).
Baltimore County Petitions Go Online
Baltimore County conservatives fought hard to try to overturn recent legislation. They failed in that endeavor, but learned a lot about the process - also about how flawed the current process is. For Statewide referendums you need 3% of voters from the previous election to sign - that number is 10% in Baltimore County. Oddly enough, it's easier to change the charter than to overturn legislation on the ballot in Baltimore County. So, the group BaltoCoPetitions is online now with downloadable petitions. Here's their press release:
A non-partisan group of Baltimore County citizens have launched a new website, baltocopetitions.com, to support their petition efforts. The site is modeled after the statewide website, mdpetitions.com, which successfully petitioned the Maryland Dream Act to referendum last year partly through the use of an online
petition form. The group?s leaders believe the website will help citizens have a viable petition process on referendums of county bills and charter amendments.The baltocopetitions.com website allows petition signers and circulators to enter their identifying information and have access to a printable blank copy of the petition. The site will allow for multiple petitions to be posted. One of the two primary organizers, Ann Miller of Phoenix said, “Baltocopetitions.com supports the citizens? role in the system of checks and balances by allowing the people to have the ?nal say at the ballot box on legislation passed on the county level.”
The group formed in February after the passage of a controversial county bill despite fervent public input. The group then organized to petition the bill to referendum. Ms. Miller said, “We discovered at that time that the requirements for referendum petitions in the county is over three times more stringent than it is on the state level, making referendums virtually impossible in Baltimore County.” It was this, coupled with the fact that no county referendum has ever succeeded in Baltimore County history, that prompted the other primary organizer, Al Nalley of Catonsville, to initiate a charter amendment petition to lower the referendum requirements. The organizers say that the development of the website was just a natural progression from that point. Mr. Nalley said, “The petition process will become increasingly important to protect our rights in a county where one party has an overwhelming majority of the elected positions.”
The group is looking for county voters interested in signing the charter amendment as well as those willing to go a step further and collect petition signatures for the effort, which will run through early July. Circulators do not need to be county residents, but must be over age 18. The website is www.baltocopetitions.com. The coordinators can also be reached by email at baltocopetitions@comcast.net or by phone at 443-595-7020.
Baltimore County Executive Blocking School Board Progress
The Maryland Senate has passed legislation that will change Baltimore County's School Board to be partially elected, partially appointed. Currently, the board is entirely appointed by the Governor. That's right, the Governor picks who will represent a local school board that takes care of local issues. Sounds great. Supporters feel a fully elected or partially elected school board will add local accountability to the school board. I agree. I grew up in upstate New York where all school boards were elected. While there were issues with said system (such as former teachers who hold grudges trying to run for office to screw up the system or boost the teacher's union), the overall system was more accountable to the people. That does not seem to fit in with what our County Executive seems to want - he has rallied to oppose the measure supported by the Baltimore County delegation to the Senate / House. Here's more from the Patch:
A bill creating a partially-elected Baltimore County Board of Education is no closer to passage Saturday after County Executive Kevin Kamenetz lobbied the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The bill, which creates a board with six-elected and five-appointed members, was approved in the Senate Thursday and sent back to the House for a concurrence vote.
Del. Joseph Boteler, a Parkville Republican and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he spoke to Del. Sheila Hixson, a Montgomery County Democrat and chair of the committee, about the bill.
"She told me the committee has a standing policy of holding bills when county executive opposes them," said Boteler.
Boteler and others have argued that the bill is local and since the delegation has already approved it, the committee and the legislature should defer under a practice known as local courtesy...Kamenetz has been clear about his opposition to any form of elected school board.
It should be noted that Hixson's committee did pass out the original bill which created a fully-elected county school board—equally objectionable to Kamenetz.
So now, legislation to enact serious reforms is being blocked by Baltimore County's executive. Contact him and tell him you disagree. Contact your legislators and tell them you disagree. Make your voice heard - one man from a distant capital should not be defining all the people who locally represent our school board. It's preposterous.
UPDATE: 08:37 PM 4/7/12 - David Marks, one of the two Republicans on the Baltimore County Council had the following to say on Facebook on this:
WE NEED YOUR HELP TODAY! A compromise bill that would establish a partially elected school board in Baltimore County is stuck in the House Ways and Means Committee today. Please call the chair of that committee, Sheila Hixon, at 410-841-3469 TODAY. Say you're a Baltimore County resident who is in FAVOR of House Bill 481. PLEASE CALL TODAY. They will register your support, and your ZIP code.
This bill gives citizens the right to vote for six of the 11 Board of Education members. A majority of our County Council supports the bill, as does a majority of our House and Senate delegation, and the League of Women Voters. EVERY REPUBLICAN LEGISLATOR FROM BALTIMORE COUNTY SUPPORTS THIS BILL.
Quotas Allowed in Baltimore County?
The newly passed Baltimore County legislation which will add homosexual and transgendered persons to the county's list of protected groups was missing something. Ann Miller of Red Maryland has more:
[T]he pre-existing law includes a Preferential Treatment exclusion which basically precludes employers from being forced to meet training and apprenticeship quotas in order to balance the number of employees from minority protected groups with those of the general population. It lists the protected groups: race, creed, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, marital status, and physical or mental disability.
However, in the new law, it fails to list the newly added groups (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression) to this exclusion, meaning [homosexual and transgendered persons] can sue employers if the percentage of employees within training or apprenticeship programs of a company (or school) from these groups does not correspond with the percentage within the general population.
As I said before, the full ramifications of this legislation were not thought through and are not entirely fixed by the couple amendments added to the legislation. I think in time we will see other ramifications that people have not yet anticipated due to the poor wording / rapid passage of this legislation.
Baltimore County 3-12 May Get Amended
After hearings today, Baltimore County Councilmembers have proposed amendments to controversial measure 3-12, which would remove bathrooms and similar public restroom related facilities from the legislation. The bill seeks to prohibit discrimination of transgendered individuals, but as I mentioned previously it's very vague. This amendment may help to alleviate some concerns regarding the legislation - but I'm sure not all. Here's an excerpt from the Sun on the amendments:
After hearing hours of testimony on a bill to ban discrimination against transgender people, Baltimore County Council members said Tuesday they would consider exempting public restrooms and locker rooms from the measure.
Restrooms have emerged as a hot-button issue in the county's debate over the bill. At public hearings, the bill's opponents have said they fear that if the law is passed, men would sexually assault women in restrooms.
Supporters of the legislation say places with transgender laws have never reported such incidents, and accuse opponents of using the bathroom issue as a distraction. The bill would add gender identity to existing county laws that prohibit discrimination in housing, workplaces, and public places.
Four of the council's seven members have signed on to the proposed amendment, which says the law wouldn't apply to public places "that are designated for male or female use, such as restrooms, bath houses, locker rooms, dressing rooms, changing rooms, and similar facilities." The sponsors are: Democrat Cathy Bevins of Middle River, Republican Todd Huff of Lutherville, Republican David Marks of Perry Hall, and Democrat John Olszewski Sr. of Dundalk.
A vote on the bill and amendments is set for next week. Other proposed amendments would exempt certain institutions, including religious ones, from the law, and would allow employers to require that workers "adhere to reasonable workplace appearance, grooming, and dress standards" as long as the employer allows employees to dress as the gender with which they identify.
Again, this may alleviate some concerns, but there are others that will remain - such as religious institutional exemptions. Next week amendments will be heard / voted on. If you have concerns, call your representative.
EDIT 10:25 PM - Bryan Sears of the Patch has more on the proposed amendments. Vote is expected Monday. Here's an excerpt:
Olszewski's amendment is one of four amendments given to reporters after the hearing.
A second amendment, sponsored by Bevins, a Democrat, and Perry Hall Republican Councilman David Marks, adds language that restates exemptions to the law that are already part of county code.
Another, sponsored by Olszewski and Marks, allows employers to establish rules governing appearance in the work place while allowing employees to dress in a way that is consistent with their employee's gender identity.
A final amendment, sponsored by Quirk and Bevins, seeks to define the term "gender identity and expression" as a "persistent, bona fide gender-related identity and the consistent public manifestation of that identity" in the appearance of an individual regardless of the person's sex at birth.
Quirk's bill has three co-sponsors, enough to assure passage.
The amendment sponsored by Olszewski and Huff has three co-sponsors, including Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, a co-sponsor on Quirk's bill, and Marks.
The council is scheduled to vote on the bill and amendments Monday night at 6 p.m. at the Old Courthouse in Towson.
Maryland Blogs / Sites
- Augie "Citizen Watchdog"
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National Blogs / Sites
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Religious Blogs / Sites
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- Thom Rainer
- TroyStouffer.com
