Place Harrisburg Schools in Elected Board’s Hands
The Patriot News editorial of May 26 regarding the Harrisburg School District is directly on point. It is difficult to imagine meaningful teaching and learning taking place in an environment where there has been so much turmoil, almost all of it caused by local politics and questions over who should run the school district.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association believes the elected board in Harrisburg is ready to resume the reigns of the school district. Earlier this year, they took the initiative to contact PSBA for training on several facets of school district operation and several board members have attended additional seminars.
These are the actions of a board that is ready to govern. To be sure, they will face huge challenges come July 1, but they will have the support of those who elected them. They also know that they will stand accountable for their actions at the ballot box in 2011 and 2013.
If the argument is that the district has not made meaningful improvements over the last ten years under the mayor’s control, what makes anyone think that it can suddenly turn around in the next three? Let’s get back to the business of educating the city’s students and bring some sense of normalcy back to the Harrisburg School District. That can only be done by allowing the Education Empowerment Act to take its course and return the elected board to power on July 1.
