Keep your eyes on the school board — we are

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006

Congratulations to the newly elected Board of Education. Unfortunately, the politicians in Prince George’s County have won. They chose to select candidates for our school board and once again failed to hear the concerns of the constituency. They simply forced their will on the people. How did they do it? They stated the board of education was a nonpartisan race, yet they mailed out their Democratic slates and distributed them at the polls on Election Day, thus endorsing school board candidates.

The politicians will continue to win unless we are better informed and recognize their agenda. As some of you know, there are many people in the county concerned about the condition of the school system. We represent parents, educators, businesses, students, entrepreneurs, citizens and church members. Our goal will be to keep the constituency informed about the pertinent issues facing the school system and the agenda of the politicians.

A recent example of the politicians’ agenda at work: They ran on the platform that education was a priority, yet not one politician was present when the state superintendent of schools came to Prince George’s County. They elect our school board and fail to be present at a meeting discussing our entire school system being placed on corrective action.

So while we are disappointed with the results, we need to stay focused on the greater challenges ahead of us. In particular, how will the new board deal with our county’s changing demographics, the exodus of some of our brighter students to private schools and the complexity of the entire school system being placed on corrective action? We fear some of the selected school board members will have allegiance to the politicians and not the constituents. We fear some of the selected school board members do not understand that they are a nonpartisan group representing the entire county school system, and we also fear some of our selected school board members will not represent those inner-Beltway schools most in need.

So where do we go from here? First, we must inform the new school board that we intend to work collaboratively with them. Second, we will keep a watchful eye on their actions and hold them accountable. Last, we will stay abreast of the school system and the politicians, and keep our constituents well informed.

Sandy Pruitt, Mitchellville; Terence Lewis, Upper Marlboro; Jerry McLaurin, Fort Washington; and Kevin Martin, Upper Marlboro, of People for Change in Prince George’s County