The Education Improvement Act of 1992 brought Tennessee’s change from mostly elected superintendents of schools, to a system of Directors of Schools appointed by the local school board. Although only three states still have any elected superintendents, bills to revert to such have been filed every year since 1992.<\/p>\n
I wrote about this<\/a> a couple of years ago, and every word still applies. <\/p>\n Why does it merit a second look? Because last Thursday, Rep. Frank Nicely (R-Knox and Jefferson Counties) tacked on an amendment to HB3857<\/a> that would have allowed elected superintendents in his two counties. That bill was tabled, so Nicely then tried to amend HB3455<\/a>, only this time, a bunch more counties were included: Knox, Jefferson, Cumberland, Bledsoe, Roane, Union, Campbell, Washington, Meigs, Polk, Fentress, Morgan and Overton.<\/p>\n Rep. Ulysses Jones’ motion to table the amendment failed, and it was only because the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gerald McCormick, had previously agreed to refer the bill back to committee if any amendments were added that it didn’t pass on Thursday.<\/p>\n There are still a few more days left in this year’s legislative session, and there are plenty more bills out there that could be amended. After all, HB3455 was about utility districts having the ability to form public building authorities, and HB3857 provides for contracts between local education agencies for use of one another’s facilities in the event of a disaster.<\/p>\n I do wish they’d implement a rule to disallow tacking on unrelated amendments. This is the time of year, with only a few days of voting left in the Legislature, that serious mischief happens.<\/p>\n The News-Sentinel<\/a> has taken a stand against elected superintendents, as has the Tennessee School Boards Association<\/a>. The only way to keep professionalism above politics in our schools is to call your state legislator<\/a> and ask that they vote against any bill or amendment to allow elected superintendents.<\/p>\n A little more professionalism in the Legislature wouldn’t be a bad thing, either.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n postscript: SchoolMatters is covering this<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Education Improvement Act of 1992 brought Tennessee’s change from mostly elected superintendents of schools, to a system of Directors of Schools appointed by the local school board. Although only three states still have any elected superintendents, bills to revert … Continue reading