Morris News Service
ATLANTA --- State officials are considering whether to restrict who can run for school boards after an Atlanta-area school district lost its accreditation.
The proposal, included in a report about improving local school boards that was requested by the state Board of Education, is feeling a backlash from some people who fear the requirements are antidemocratic and, in some instances, illegal or unconstitutional.
Most controversial are proposals that board candidates have high-school diplomas or GEDs, submit to drug testing and not work for any public or private school system.
State Superintendent Kathy Cox said the education requirements were "judgmental" and didn't necessarily have anything to do with whether board members would act appropriately.
A provision that would allow the state board to seize control of local districts also has gained attention.
Supporters of the measures say clashes between school boards and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, including that group's recent decision to strip accreditation from Clayton County, show an urgent need to toughen state oversight.
"Somebody has to do something and set some standards here," said Brian Burdette, a state board member from Greensboro.
Only a handful of states require school board members to have a high-school diploma or its equivalent. Elizabeth Partoyan, the director of research and member services for the National School Boards Association, said a 2007 survey returned by affiliates in 34 states found only four states had the education requirement.
Still, many question whether the rule would be that much of a hurdle. Jeannie "Sis" Henry, the executive director of the Georgia School Boards Association, said "the vast majority" of school board members in the state would meet the requirement, even though existing members would be exempt under the report's recommendations.
The school board association is troubled by other ideas in the report, including a provision that suggests barring anyone employed by a public or private school or school system.
"You're talking about singling out a large group of people and saying that they cannot run," Ms. Henry said.
A requirement that candidates submit to drug testing could be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has nullified a similar requirement for legislative candidates.
The groups who helped write the report -- the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and AdvancED, the parent company of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools -- say lawmakers might be able to find a way to craft the law so the court could accept it.
Ms. Henry is also skeptical about giving the state Board of Education power to seize a school district. She said it would be better to try to help districts before things got bad enough to require a takeover, and she said there were several unresolved questions, including what would trigger a takeover, how long it would last and how the state would reinstate local control.
Reach Brandon Larrabee at (678) 977-3709 or brandon.larrabee@morris.com.
