Constitutional Math: 8 > 4

 

More changes afoot?

During the recently concluded session of the General Assembly there was a lot of talk about amending the North Carolina Constitution to overhaul the way public education is governed. Representative Bryan Holloway (R-Rockingham & Stokes) introduced a bill that would do just that, but after a few hearings and amendments the project was slipped onto the back burner. The idea was that Holloway's bill (HB823) would be taken up during the special session that the legislative leadership planned in Spetember for consideration of constitutional amendments.

Now comes a report from Carolina Journal about the September session, and the amendment on public education governance doesn't get a mention:

Politicos Brace for Down-and-Dirty Amendment Fight in September
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=8146

If the leadership has given up on the idea, it's probably just as well. Holloway's original plan was just to make the Superintendent of Public Instruction a full member of the board and give her control over all state-level appointments of administrative and supervisory education personnel. The bill as amended does that, but (and here's the rub) it also removes the General Assembly's power to confirm the governor's appointments to the State Board of Education.

True, the amended bill gives the GA four appointments of its own, reducing the governor's appointees to eight (from the current eleven). But eight is still a voting majority of the board's membership of 15 (the State Treasurer and Lieutenant Governor are also members), thus leaving an anti-charter governor in a position to lay a lot of land mines for charter schools during her term. Too many for Charter Guy's comfort, anyway. The bill would also reduce the current eight-year term of state school board members to a more reasonable six--a good thing, in Charter Guy's opinion.

It's hard to imagine why any legislative body would willingly surrender its power to determine who will constitute the majority of an important policy-making board. And to trade that power for a measly four seats seems like the kind of deal made by one who doesn't understand the equation 8>4.

If this bill resurfaces during the September session, let us hope that the leadership brushes up on some basic math first.