The Biggest Problem Public Education Faces

Bad Boards

Dear Friend and Community Member,

I take my role as trustee seriously, and part of that responsibility is to become the best trustee I can be to effectively serve students, my community, and the district (and in that order). Since becoming a trustee two years ago, I have studied several books on board governance, attended three Idaho School Board Association (ISBA) conventions, attended at least half a dozen workshops, reviewed Idaho education law, and had countless conversations with community members. I have also sought out wisdom from more experienced trustees who have overcome daunting issues within their districts.

Through these efforts I have learned a few lessons. I’d like to share three of those with you.

Lesson One—Trustee Development

Boards will only perform well if trustees are willing and able to continue developing in their role. Every trustee has room to grow. Resources to support that growth are plentiful, but trustees have to have the willingness first. Trustees who do not put regular effort into developing in their roles stagnate and are a net negative to their students, communities, and districts without fail. District improvement cannot be driven by someone who refuses to improve themselves.

Lesson Two—Board Performance and Strategy

Boards that perform well create schools that perform well. ISBA often asks trustees and superintendents whose districts are performing well to share how they did it and the lessons they learned. The common theme that these high-performers share is that the board made a conscious decision to improve their districts, partnered with their communities, and made a roadmap (Strategic Plan) to deliver what their community considers success. Then they stuck with it. I have yet to hear a story of failure from a board that did this.

Lesson Three—Board Culture

Bad boards are the primary reason public schools underperform. The board sets the culture of the entire district, even at the classroom and student body levels—whether trustees want it to or not. Regardless of a board’s deficiencies, the focus, actions, and consistency of the board are the primary predictors of student and school success. If there is a board culture of continual improvement, there will be a culture of continual improvement among staff and students. Likewise, student outcomes and community relations falter when boards are complacent, toxic, or otherwise performing poorly.

So who is a board accountable to? Primarily you. I estimate that 10% of board accountability is driven by state compliance—think checklists and statutory requirements—while the remaining 90% of accountability comes from their local communities. In the absence of community-driven accountability, the board is accountable to itself. Lack of public accountability is a symptom of a poor-performing board, and a high-performing board will have public accountability built into every interaction through healthy, ongoing relationships with stakeholders. Poor-performing boards, by contrast, grow distant, which results in an absence of the most effective accountability: local accountability.

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself…Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls… ” ~Robert F. Kennedy

While it is each trustee’s individual responsibility to put forth the effort to become the best trustee possible, it is your personal responsibility to hold them accountable. You may feel that your efforts are inconsequential, but when you, your friends and neighbors, and community create enough ripples through individual action, change becomes inevitable. Just as it is my responsibility to be the best trustee I can be, it is your responsibility to be the best citizen you can be.

If I am ever doing wrong, or even simply not doing right, I invite you to share your concerns directly with me. If I ever become unwilling to be your partner, I hope you will remove me from office. That is the implicit contract that every elected representative makes, whether they like it or not—and it is your responsibility to act if that contract is ever breached. After all, the futures of our youth hang in the balance.

If you would like to learn more about high-performing school boards, I recommend subscribing to Rick Maloney’s Substack here: <link>.

Until next time!

Brad Howlett