From Jim Warford, FASA (Florida Association of School Administrators),
as appearing in the FASA's Friday Facts E-Newsletter

There seems to be no shortage of bad ideas coming out of the Florida legislature, so it takes a while to get around to covering all of them. Many of you may not know that last session they passed a bill providing for the election of an Orange County district-wide school board
chairman by countywide vote.

The referendum has now been placed on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Orlando. Currently, the Orange County Public School Board is comprised of seven members, each elected from single member districts and each year they elect a chairman from among their seven members. This new referendum would add an eighth "super" school board member, a powerful chair, with two votes in the event of a tie.

While school leaders in Orange County now face the potential problems created by the increased "politicalization" of their school system if this referendum passes we should all be concerned about the potential for this bad idea to spread throughout our state.

Just as NAESP came to our aid because they understood that if amendments 5, 7, and 9 passed in Florida, they were more likely to spread to other states; FASA believes we should help our colleagues in Orlando stop this bad idea now.

FASA believes this referendum is politically motivated and does not have the best interest of our students at heart. There is no demonstrated correlation between student achievement and any type of school board governance model.

The creation of a powerful, district-wide elected school board chairman could lead to conflict with an appointed superintendent and discourage future, qualified superintendent applicants from working in Orlando, or in Florida if the legislature votes to expand the model.

In these dangerous and difficult times, there are many threats for our public schools. If we are to overcome, we must stand together. We must understand that we are all in this together. From Orlando, to Tallahassee, to Washington, when one of us is threatened. We are all at risk.