WHY is the NC School Board Association seeking to decrease transparency on school employee misconduct?
The Raleigh-based North Carolina School Board Association has an amazing amount of influence over our local public school systems. I’ve watched our local school board’s meetings. It seems like every month a list of “policy revision recommendations” from the unelected, unaccountable-to-the-voters NCSBA is reviewed by our local board and incorporated into our local school policies. There’s rarely much (if any) debate. The central office staff is usually quite enthusiastic about the NCSBA’s recommendations. If it’s happening in our little corner of paradise, it’s likely happening in yours as well.
In recent days, we received a policy revision recommendation from the NCSBA meant for the Transylvania County board of education. Here are the relevant portions:
State Reps. Hugh Blackwell (R) and John Torbett (R) are among the state government figures wanting some clarification and explanation about this move. Why divert this important information away from an organization that is accountable to the voters and the legislature toward one that is much more politically-oriented and only meets once a month?
Michele Morrow, the GOP’s nominee for superintendent of state schools, says she believes the 
circle of folks informed about such matters needs to be bigger. She favors sharing the information with the Department of Public Instruction, the state board of education, the K-12 education committees in the legislature, and the senators and representatives from each county-in-question, among others.
It might be a good idea to start giving “recommendations” from the SBA a wee bit more scrutiny. (I spy more than a few left-wing activists on their roster.) If this got changed in Transylvania, it’s visited your school board — or will do so soon.
Anybody happen to know where to find a complete funding list for the NCSBA?
I probably should have said it better by asking, how is NCSBA primarily funded?
Although I am sure it gets some grants here and there, the NCSBA is largely funded with dues paid by members, mainly School Districts.
There is zero doubt that the NCSBA and its orbit of insider law firms, non-profits, and other organizations is the center of the Academic Industrial Complex in NC.
The NCSBA offers a fund from which it pays legal judgements against member school districts. If not for that critical function, my guess is one-third or more School Districts would pull out of the NCSBA as their values do not align with the values of many school districts.
The NC School Boards Association seems to be a strange beast, which is run by education bureaucrats who align with the liberal education establishment. David Hensley’s explanation seems to be the reason why more conservative local boards continue to pay the freight. I wonder if some of those local boards could buy insurance policies for about the same amount they are paying this association?
One would think such an association would champion local control of local schools, but this group goes the other way. They want Raleigh control of local schools. Virtually evey school district in the state rubber stamps and adopts as local policy the policy changes sent out by the association’s staff, often without much discussion or consideration.
A good example is curriculum, which state statute clearly gives local school boards in control . The policies written by the NC School Board Association, and parroted in the policy of every school system I have seen, however, defers to the state DPI and to local full time staff. The procedure set out puts the local superintendant in complete control of the curriculum process until they put something before the elected board which they expect to be rubberstamped.
One of the most important parts of local control of local schools is curriculum but the NC School Boards Association promulgates policy and local boards adopt it that keep the elected school board members from being players in curriculum decisions unless they just put their foot down and say NO to the take it or leave it proposal put in front of them for rubberstamping.
The NC School Boards Association as it currently functions is an impediment to local control of local schools. Perhaps conservative schools boards could form a rival association or at least a caucus within this organization to actually support local control of local schools. Something like that is badly needed.