Vantage point: Schools must take priority over partisanship
By:
CSBA President Martha Fluor
Published: July 1, 2011
In mid-June, I had the honor of representing CSBA at a press conference that Gov. Jerry Brown had called to put pressure on the Legislature to approve a state budget by the June 15 deadline. Joining us on the podium were statewide leaders in the areas of business, law enforcement and local government services.
The message went further than simply calling for the passage of a budget. Rather, the governor and the groups emphasized the importance of enacting a budget that includes the extension of temporary revenues as a means to ensure that vital services (including public K-12 education) are able to continue without suffering significant reductions that would directly impact the ability to provide those services.
As of this writing, two weeks after the press conference, I’m sad to say that our collective message does not appear to have resonated with our elected leaders. A budget has yet to be approved, and now we’re beginning to see and hear the media use words like “gimmicks” and “creative accounting” in discussions of what it will take to achieve a budget accord.
During the press conference, I was asked to speak from the perspective of a Republican (which I am), and to articulate how I reconciled my party affiliation with my support for the revenue extensions (or taxes, if you prefer). My response was clear and simple—I was elected to serve the needs of the children in my school district. In my view, my responsibility to support those children (as well as teachers and other staff) transcends my party affiliation and my own political beliefs.
It is crystal clear that not all school board members view their roles in the same way that I do. And that is entirely appropriate, because our diversity is one of the sources of our collective strength. But on this point, I could not feel more strongly: As elected school board members, we must put aside our party affiliations and partisan principles and do our job—which is to represent the children and the local educational agencies we were elected to serve.
Individually, many school board members feel strongly about some of the key issues that are being discussed in the context of the budget negotiations. I know and respect board members who feel strongly about the burden of increased taxes, who feel strongly about the need for pension reform, and who feel strongly about the need to reduce regulatory burdens on small businesses.
But in the end, those issues fall outside the core responsibility for which we in school governance are accountable; our responsibility is to support our schools and advocate for what they need in order to achieve the standards and meet the expectations that the state of California has set for us. And that is why I will continue to advocate for revenue extensions and continue to put pressure on our elected leaders to do everything they can to protect schools and children. I ask every board member in California to join me in this ongoing effort.