An Inexcusable Vote by the School Board Task Force

For the past several months, a task force has been considering whether the Baltimore County School Board selection process should be reformed.   The central argument is whether some—or all—members should be elected by the voters of Baltimore County.   

Community leaders and parents have testified in favor of School Board elections.  State legislators from both political parties support this change, and last month, a majority of the County Council endorsed a partially elected Board. 

Yet despite bipartisan support from leaders across Baltimore County, the task force last week dismissed the idea, like someone swats an annoying housefly.

One of the members motioned to preclude any consideration of School Board elections from any future review.   The vote was allowed to proceed—without no notification, and with several members absent. 

The task force has only two Republican members, both of whom support School Board elections.  They were absent.  One of the two Republicans, Senator J.B. Jennings, was on State Senate business at a committee visit at the University of Maryland. 

The other absent member was the County Council’s representative, Chairman John Olszewski.

Again, the issue of School Board elections is the key element of the debate.   The vote should have been publicized in advance to all members of the task force.    

As a Republican, I heard many complaints that the partisan makeup of the task force did not reflect the county’s political diversity, but I held out hope the group would act in a fair manner.  I guess I was wrong.

But as a member of the Baltimore County Council, I am appalled that my representative was not given the opportunity to vote.   Do the members of the task force who voted in favor believe the County Council—which actually approves the school system’s budget—is simply irrelevant in this debate?

There has been a lot of discussion during these task force meetings about whether Baltimore County has made enough progress to correct horrible injustices of the past.  Yet in one motion, the task force disenfranchised—in a different, but still significant way—those of us who want real, meaningful School Board reform.