I believe most people who seek public office do so with the noblest of intentions. Determined to right some perceived wrong or perhaps believing that there version of how things should be run is the true path. However, something really interesting happens between the victory celebration and that uncomfortable feeling you get in your stomach wondering whether you just made a terrible mistake. You take office!

There is really no way you can understand what being elected to the Board of Education is like until you get there. How could you know? I estimate that a good 90% of the activities that the Board is involved in are confidential. It appears that the sunshine laws, written to open up the activities of Public entities to the public, is trumped by the myriad of laws designed to protect the privacy of the employees, students and their families. Considering that schools are basically a service industry. Almost everything we do somehow involves the hiring, firing, managing and teaching of these persons whose privacy we hold so dear.

As if this look behind the curtain isn’t enough to blow your mind, you quickly realize one of the major differences between the business world and that of public service. Here it appears; we don’t go out and hire people with the most skill and training to serve in these posts. We elect ordinary folks by popular vote. Some of which who occasionally appear unprepared to deal with the weight of such authority and power.

The Board of Education is responsible to set policy and act as the senior level of management and oversight in this organization consisting of hundreds of employees, thousands of students and millions of dollars. It is another one of those frightening cases of ordinary people being put into an extraordinary situation- with the media and court of public opinion watching their every move.

This site is an opportunity to share an open dialogue between an elected official and the people he was elected to represent. Please use it wisely…

Thank you,

Marshall Weinberg

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