The School Board of The Future

Boards of Education in 2025NSBA Federation of Trainers and Conference Planners

Annual ConferenceJune 25, 2015

Our Vision and Mission

We remain bullish on school boards, understanding that the challenges they face also will be the challenges that our associations face. If we can describe the school boards of the future, we can help them get there by identifying programs, services and activities that both NSBA and the state association can establish.

Trends and Challenges for School Boards and Public Education

A. World-Class education for ALL studentsB. Demographics and barriers to learningC. Social/Technology changesD. Over-regulation at the state and federal levelsE. State and mayoral takeoversF. ResourcesG. ChoiceH. Vouchers and privatizationI. Negative perception of public schools

Strengths in Effective Local Governance

Strengths in Effective Local Governance

A. Bedrock of DemocracyB. Legislative AuthorityC. Representatives of All of The CommunityD. Connections To All levels of GovernmentE. Credibility in Addressing Issues of Concern in EducationF. Taxing Authority in Most StatesG. Dedicated, hardworking Board members

Challenges in Effective Local Governance

•Student achievement•Board and superintendent relationships•Advocacy by boards•Labor unions and negotiations•Community leaders on boards

A Vision for School Boards A Call to Leadership for School Boards

A. AccountabilityB. AdvocacyC. InnovationD. CollaborationE. Customer-Service oriented

The Role of State School Boards Associations and NSBA

It is the responsibility of NSBA and state school boards associations to harness the strengths of school boards so they can flourish and serve the nation’s children

Initiatives Underway

•A. Public advocacy campaign•Key Work of School Boards

•A. A Statutory and regulatory authority for innovative School Board leadership.

•B. Legislative policy to strengthen school boards

Ideas for State and National Action

Consider:

Mandatory training for board and their members Alternative governance options, such as augmenting board

composition with appointed board members with specific knowledge or skills.

Operational or statutory changes to remove boards from perfunctory approvals of operational issues such as personnel hiring.

Collecting and illuminating the absurdities of state policy and over-regulation to bolster the case for better decision making.

Eliminating or limiting categorical funding or earmarks so schools have more flexibility to fund priorities and meet student needs.

C. Low - Performing Schools:Present an alternative to governance model we can support, or at

least support for a specified amount of time, before local control would return.D. Competition, Choice, and Charters:

School Boards must have a level playing field with charter schools and other schools of choice.E. Candidates for Board Service:

It’s important that we encourage high-quality individual to run. We also need to encourage candidates from diverse groups, such as minorities, to serve on boards.

Conclusion

• Boards use their experience, knowledge of their communities, legal authority and their roles as conveners of the community to best understand and make the best use of reformers’ solutions to the challenges in public education.• State associations and NSBA have critical roles including tools to help boards and make the case before the state and federal governments. We must provide our boards with assistance, advocacy and other services that can help get them to our idealized board of the future.• We must all work hard to save this cherished institution of our democracy. It must be a team effort.