By a majority vote, the board could effect these reforms immediatley. The first is to do away with annual elections. Not only does the frquency reduce voter turnout, it costs the district $300,000 a year. The second is to change the election date to November, which not only reduces costs but substantially increases voter participation. The Legislature changed the election law to allow for the change. For more, read Chamber president Jim Oberwetter’s recent letter here.
Simple as these reforms are, they could meet big resistance. The system was designed to minimize voter turnout so that incumbents could more easily be re-elected. So what if annual elections meant that the board was focused more on itself than the students? The board was there to protect patronage, not to foster education.
But that was then. This is now — with the exception of Carla Ranger. (Hi, Carla! How will you vote on these?)
2 comments
I’m for the November elections and the four year terms.
98% of the people of Dallas have an opinion on DISD yet only 2% typically vote in May trustee elections and could name their trustee.
As for what you describe as “big resistance”, that comes from a fraction of the 2%. It’s not a big group but the media give it a big stage.
The fact that I’m the only one to comment here reinforces my points.
Madre de dios, this is depressing. What a patronage-ridden sinkhole. How about mayoral control of the schools?